Why Would It Be Beneficial to Legalize Marijuana in Ohio After seeing on the news recently that Colorado became the

first state to legalize marijuana for personal use and how successful this turned out for the state, I feel that now more states will follow. I believe that legalizing marijuana should be a nationwide action because there is a large amount of good that can come from this. Medical usage which is proven to treat people with different illnesses. Then the production and manufacturing of marijuana in states such as Colorado and Washington are helping their own economy by producing jobs that these states never had. Finally the nationwide war against the drug could allow taxpayers money and resources to be utilize in a more efficient way. This may also cut back on the sale of the drug illegally and allowing law enforcement to use their resources and time to focus on more dangerous criminals and issues. Marijuana has the support of more Americans today than it has ever before. David Lauter wrote that fifty-two percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana. (Poll: Marijuana Legalization Wins Majority Support Nationwide). Marijuana which has been around since the beginning of time wasn't always considered a dangerous drug. In fact it was used for a variety of reasons. Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert wrote a book, Marijuana is Safer: So why are we Driving People to Drink, that touches on the history of America's marijuana laws, the science of how marijuana creates a chemical high, and the statistics behind marijuana's continued use despite its illegal status. Research has shown that marijuana is no dangerous than alcohol and that's legal. This chart shows in 2010 marijuana had no cause of death compared to alcohol.

Annual Causes of Death in the United States

Related Overdose For facts about specific drugs, here's a list of Controlled Substance sections. 1. (Annual Causes of Death, By Cause)

Chapter:

Cause of death (Data from 2010 unless otherwise noted) All Causes Diseases of Heart Malignant Neoplasms [Cancer] Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases Cerebrovascular Diseases Accidents (Unintentional Injuries) [Total] Motor Vehicle Accidents [subset of Total Accidents] Alzheimer's Disease Diabetes Mellitus Nephritis, Nephrotic Syndrome and Nephrosis Influenza and Pneumonia Drug-Induced Deaths1 Intentional Self-Harm (Suicide) Septicemia Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis Firearm Injuries Essential Hypertension and Hypertensive Renal Disease Alcohol-Induced Deaths Parkinson's Disease Pneumonitis Due to Solids and Liquids Homicide Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Viral hepatitis All Illicit Drugs Combined (2000)2

Number 2,468,435 780,213 574,743 138,080 129,476 120,859 35,332 83,494 69,071 50,476 50,097 40,393 38,364 34,812 31,903 31,672 26,634 25,692 22,032 17,011 16,259 8,369 7,564 17,0002

Cannabis (Marijuana)3 2010 Drug Overdose Mortality Data In Detail as Reported By Paulozzi et al.4 Drug Overdose Total Pharmaceutical Drugs Pharmaceutical Opioid Analgesics

38,329 22,134 16,651

Although there are some who will always see marijuana as a drug that causes more harm than good, I believe different on the issue. After experiencing marijuana, I personally can say it wasn't the worst experience of my life. Out of all the stories we hear about a person who smokes marijuana, very rarely do we hear a person committing crazy crimes under the influence of marijuana. Today's research shows that marijuana can be an effective treatment for different types of health issues. For example, people with certain types of cancer believe smoking marijuana helps them to deal with pain. Then, there is a connection between ADHD and marijuana users also. Saundra Young said "People are coming from as far as Australia and Canada to Colorado to get medical marijuana to treat their sick children."(Medical Marijuana Refugees: This was our only Hope). The drug is believed to help AID/HIV and cancer patients. Marijuana is probably the most common use drug by many Americans. A large amount of teens have tried some form of marijuana by the age of sixteen with many still continuing to be productive citizens of society. Jason McLure said "Over fifty percent Americans support legalizing marijuana and twenty-four states and the District of Colombia allows marijuana use for medical reasons or have decriminalized the drug. (Legalizing Marijuana) Which is why I

believe marijuana should be legal. Next, theres a large amount of law effort and money spent in illegalizing the drug but no evidence is shown that the drug is controlled from entering the U.S. Kris Turner wrote "Marijuana is blooming throughout Ohio, Michigan and the Midwest through legal and illegal operations." (Pot Trade Blossoms Throughout Heartland). Plus there are more people locked up for marijuana charges with no other charge or crimes which cost taxpayers a large amount of money just to keep these people incarcerated every year. This money thats spent could go to research or education of the use of more dangerous drugs. If more states knew how to tax marijuana, I feel more would legalize the drug. Before researching marijuana, I always believed that the drug was presented to be worse than what the evidence proved. Rarely do anyone see any positive coverage about marijuana. For example, how sick patients are able to eat or hold their food down cause smoking marijuana allows them to have a appetite. Then there's the issue as to what extremes does a person go to get the drug. I understand that marijuana make some lazy or want to lie down for hours. This could be seen as a good thing too. Never do I see or hear of anyone getting in a car crash or killing people. Who knows, maybe a lot of the crimes that occurs wouldn't if some of these people were smoking marijuana. In conclusion, marijuana can cause harm to the body short term and long term. Just as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and other products that people purchase from stores daily. It also can help people who are sick or in pain. Statistics shows that many people use marijuana for either medical or personal reasons. With over fifty percent of American in favor of making it legal, Emily Swanson said, "Americans want the federal government to leave states alone whose drug

laws clash with national laws." (Marijuana Polls Finds Americans want Federal Government to Leave States Alone). Marijuana is a natural herb thats not processed as other illegal drugs. I believe that legalizing the drug will open the doors for opportunity and create a market to help our economy. Whereas keeping the drug illegal will continue to waste taxpayers money and incarcerate people for petty crimes.

Works Cited

Fox, Steve. Armentano, Paul. Tvert, Mason. Marijuana is Safer: So why are we Driving to Drink. Book. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub. Co., c2009. 13

People

Mar. 2014.

Lauter, David. "Poll: Marijuana Legalization Wins Majority Support Nationwide." McClatchy Washington DC News Bureau. 04 Apr. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.

McLure, Jason. "Legalizing Marijuana." CQ Researcher 15 June 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Swanson, Emily. Marijuana Legalization Poll Finds Americans want Federal Government to Leave States alone, The Huffington Post, 7 Dec. 2012.

Turner, Kris. "Pot Trade Blossoms in Heartland." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 27 May. 2013: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. Young, Saundra. Medical Marijuana Refugees: This was our only hope. CNN Health 10 March 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2014