While marijuana is often associated with a life of crime, and its usage has been shunned by most respectable heads in society, the drug's true powers may actually help our country. If marijuana were legalized in the United States, its medical, economic, and social benefits would far outweigh any problems that the drug may cause.
For years, chemotherapy and glaucoma patients have smoked marijuana to alleviate the terrible pain that illness inflicted upon them. Yet, many of these people are sentenced to jail time because they are caught using the substance. Only a few states, such as California and Arizona, have allowed residents to buy prescription marijuana for medical reasons. In the states where purchasing marijuana is illegal, patients are forced to buy the drug from the black market in order to reduce the pain that medicines like Tylenol simply do not affect. The product also increases appetite, and is sometimes used to encourage underweight AIDS and anorexia patients to eat. Although several health experts claim that the health concerns that accompany marijuana are less than those of drinking, and equal to or less than those that follow cigarettes, these more harmful substances are freely available to the public. If marijuana became legal, then those suffering from painful diseases could buy the substance from a doctor or pharmacy instead buying from an illegal source and running the risk of a jail term.
The legalization of marijuana would also contribute greatly to our currently sluggish economy. Cigarette sales account for $2,885,663,000 profit annually. If marijuana sales could produce even one half of that profit, it would be an amazing help to our economy. The money would now be circulating within businesses, rather than the black market, which only benefits gangs and private drug dealers. The product would also provide new jobs for the unemployed. The plant would need to be processed, packaged, and sold, all of which would provide employment opportunities for those in need.
