Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 944 Words

Introduction: Getting the audience’s attention- â€Å"Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally upon our planet. Doesn’t the idea of making nature against the law seem to you a bit†¦. unnatural?† This is a quote from Bill Hicks. Relevance- As high school students, marijuana is not unheard of. It is estimated that around 44% of teens have tried marijuana by the age of 16. (National Institute on Drug Abuse). I’m sure many of you in this classroom agree that marijuana should be legalized, as for those who don’t, I’m here to convince you otherwise. Thesis- I believe marijuana should be legalized due to it’s medical, economical and recreational uses. Body: Medicinal uses- The benefits of marijuana are plentiful. Marijuana has been used†¦show more content†¦Marijuana has a wide variety of medicinal uses. According to the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research marijuana is known to help treat and prevent diseases and mental health issues, such as alzheimer s, glaucoma, depression, anxiety, hepatitis C, cancer, epilepsy, arthritis, aids and many other conditions. Marijuana can be used to increase appetite, calm muscles, relieve pain and sedate. Marijuana is actually safer than many prescription drugs. Economical- If we bring marijuana under the legal justice system we would have control over one of the biggest cash crops in the world. It would create so many economic opportunities and save our government a lot of their time and money. If we bring marijuana under the law our police officers could focus on the real crimes. We wouldn’t waste so much money taking people to court for something as pointless as possession of marijuana and waste our jail space on people who don’t even belong in jail. Is smoking marijuana even comparable to murder? A crime implies a victim and a perpetrator. Could you imagine being jailed for robbing yourself? As crazy as it sounds this is equivalent to marijuana being illegal. According to the Drug Policy Alliance it is estimated that the government spends 7.7 billion dollars per year focusing on the prohibition of marijuana. If marijuana was legalized it could be taxed and create a huge revenue for our government. In Colorado they made over 40 million on marijuana taxes. They now have