Legalization of Marijuana

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the debate over the legalization of marijuana use. It describes the position and opinions of the United States Government, doctors, marijuana users and anti-drug citizens with regards to the legalization of this drug. The paper then compares and contrasts these four positions and shows in which ways their outlooks differ the most.

From the Paper:

"Marijuana users across the U.S. evidently want to legalize marijuana. If they take part in using it, they apparently want to be able to do it legally. "Among students surveyed in a yearly national survey, only about one in six 10th graders report they are current marijuana users (that is, used marijuana within the past month). Fewer than one in four high school seniors is a current marijuana user" according to www.nida.nih.gov (National Institute on Drug Abuse). This covers only half of students in high school. There are many more citizens in the U.S. that use marijuana or have used before in the past. People use marijuana for many reasons. They may see an older brother or sister use it and want to follow. They may think its "cool." They may even be peer pressured into it. Marijuana is used all over the world daily and these users believe it should be legalized. The users explain that it is less harmful to your body than drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. That is their main argument, but they also feel that if marijuana was legalized that the government would put a tax on it and it would then become too expensive to use as some people do now. Marijuana users are split pretty evenly on whether marijuana should be legalized or not based on the fact that it would become too expensive."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Division of National Drug Abuse. "What is Marijuana?,' ADA, http://www.well.com/user/woa/fspot.htm, November 13, 2005.
• Laucius, Joanne. "War on drugs is still on, US insists," The Ottawa Citizen, September 5, 2002.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse. "National Survey Results on Drug Use from The Monitoring The Future Study, 1975-1997," Volume I/Secondary School Students. NIH Publication No. 98-4345. Printed 1998.
• Tuller, David. "Doctors Tread a Thin Line on Marijuana Advice," New York Times, October 28, 2003.
• "How is Wasting Treated," http://www.aidsinfonet.org/articles.php?articleID=519&newLang=en#anchor50913, November 13, 2005.

More papers on Legalization of Marijuana:

• Argumentative Essay # 5035 : "Legalization of Marijuana and its Medical Uses"
• Persuasive Essay # 115824 : "The Legalization of Marijuana"
• Argumentative Essay # 123773 : "Reasons Against the Legalization of Marijuana"
• Argumentative Essay # 131436 : "Flaws in the Legalization of Marijuana"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: