Legalizing Marijuana: Marijuana Has Got Advantages

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Legalizing Marijuana
Introduction
It has been regarded as a killer substance. In many countries, it is illegal and anybody found in its possession risks serving a jail term of not less than five years coupled with a hefty fine. However, looking at the other side of the coin marijuana is not entirely harmful. It has been proven effective in relieving pain for patients who suffer from chronic and terminal illnesses. While we all readily agree legalizing marijuana is not desirable, we must consider about the advantages it has on the society. This discussion looks at the other and little known side of marijuana and attempts to prove that marijuana has got advantages and thus should be legalized.
Background of Marijuana
Scientifically known as cannabis sativa, marijuana is a plant that contains a chemical that is psychoactive in nature. The plant which is classified as a drug is smoked to give an effect that aids to ‘cool’ the body nerves. Statistics indicate that among all other drugs that are available in the market, marijuana is the most abused, perhaps because it is more readily available than other drugs like heroine (Paul 14).
Use of marijuana began many decades back among the Chinese people after it was discovered to have a mild euphoria effect upon ingestion and thus proved effective reliever of pain. The use of marijuana later spread to other parts of the world, including the United States of America. In 1937, the government of America conducted several studies which revealed that marijuana had adverse effects on the body of a human being. Consequently, the Marijuana Act of 1937 was enacted whose main intention was to reduce the entry of marijuana in America by levying high taxes, a practice that was expected to see the production and subsequent use of marijuana terminated. This is when the controversy that surrounds marijuana began as some people felt that it was not right to make marijuana illegal considering the various benefits it has.
Advantages of Legalizing Marijuana (Paul 16-17).
If we were to toss the coin that is marijuana, we would see that there is another side to it. Marijuana is not harmful in its entirety. It has some advantages to it. The first advantage is that making marijuana legal will help reduce border violence between Mexico and United States of America. According to Rudolph (5-6), the reason why there is much violence between Mexico and United States of America is because marijuana is prohibited. The argument, therefore, is that legalizing of marijuana will help reduce this violence by up to 75%. According to Jeffrey Miron, prohibition of certain drugs like marijuana, whose demand in the society is high only creates violence as the sellers and buyers are not able to resolve their disputes amicably. Jeffrey, a senior lecturer at the University of Harvard cites the violence that was experienced when alcohol had been prohibited during the era of Prohibition. However, this violence ceased when alcohol was legalized (Rudolph 7-8).
Another advantage from which the federal government of the United States of America will get to reap big is the fact that the legalization of marijuana will see the government saving up to $7.7 billion, a he...