Legalization Of Marrijuana Essays - Drug Control Law,

Legalization Of Marrijuana Introduction In 1620, the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock bringing with them thousands of gallons of beer and other types of liquor. This was believed to be enough for them to sell or trade with the natives in return for products like a body relaxer. The Native Americans introduced the Pilgrims to tobacco and other forms of drugs such as Marijuana. By the 1900's, the country noticed marijuana, a psychoactive drug, was dangerous and needed to be controlled. Later, between the 1960's and 1970's, the United States found itself in another period of drug intolerance. From then on the government started to crack down and began to embrace drug enforcement. The government spends an average of 2.3 billion dollars each year on drug enforcement. Also each year over 400,000 people die in the United States through drug crime and over doses. So many people talk about Marijuana like it is not even a drug. In my opinion, I think that more people smoke weed then smoke cigarettes. The government says that it is a gateway drug , but most of the people that I know that do it have never tried another drug other then marijuana. Throughout this report I will give you different views from different people on the legalization of Marijuana. The Youths Point of View I interviewed ten people for this report and they mostly all had the same opinion on this subject. Nine out of the ten people I interviewed said that the government should legalize marijuana. Most of them had an attitude of Why not legalize it? You can get it anywhere at any time. It is not like you have to go far to find it. Just ask a few people and sooner or later you will either find some or be pointed in the right direction to find some. They also made a good point that if it is legalized it might actually turn some people away from using it. If it were legal, there would be no more adventure or fun in breaking the law to try to get some, which some people like more than actually doing the drug. The one person that said the government should not legalize it also had a few good points. She said that if it were legalized, there would be a lot more cases of cancer each year. There will also be some people that if they do legalize it, they will use it excessively. Those people may use all their money to buy marijuana and become burn-outs. She also said that the government would not legalize it because they tend to make more money off of it illegally. When the police make the drug busts most of the money goes to the government anyway. The Governments Point of View According to the recent Gallup Poll, almost one-half of Americans report that either they, someone in their family, or a close friend has used illegal drugs. Twenty-eight percent of the one half characterized the drug use as moderate, while twenty-nine percent described it as a serious addiction. More than half of those who reported knowing someone with a moderate or serious drug problem were living in a household with incomes of $35,000 or more and almost all were white. The drugs are not a problem to just the inner city kids, it effects the poor, rich, suburban, and most minority groups. Every American is affected by drug problems. Also if marijuana is legalized there will be new tax revenue. The government would get a lot of money from sales of marijuana. The government would also make more money because they could charge any amount of money for it, and knowing them there will be a lot of impurities like they did with cigarettes. The Police Point of View The police look at it from a lot of different perspectives. One of their perspectives has to do with money. They spend millions and millions of dollars each year in drug enforcement. Perhaps they have not considered that when they make drug busts, a percent of that money goes to their department. So in a way the money is evened out from spending the money on enforcement, they get their money back when