Should Marijuana Be Legalized-Canada

For Many years there have been debates on the possibilities of legalizing marijuana. There are many different opinions on this touchy subject. The opinion many have on marijuana being legalized in Canada would be a lawful act. The fact that marijuana is not as harmful as alcohol and other legal drugs would make it acceptable, and how taxing marijuana would bring in more money to Canada’s government. Also legalizing marijuana would free up police and court recourses, to fight against more serious crimes, and also how marijuana is a gateway drug is a false implication.The drug marijuana in general, is not more harmful than alcohol or other legal drugs such as tobacco (If used in moderation). Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from were determined to be a dangerous drug. But in reality it is not a dangerous drug, marijuana is no harmful than alc ohol or tobacco. To get to this conclusion has taken many tests and research. Studies have found that 69. 1% of marijuana users are from age 12-17 years old. Only 9% out of that category ecome dependent with the drug (meaning they become addicted to that substance and need it). By contrast, 15% of alcohol users and 32% of tobacco users become dependant[1].There were over than 800,000 arrests in Canada in 2008 for marijuana use and possession. We force them to go to rehab and then use those statistics to show how marijuana is dangerous and addictive. Over one third of those in treatment for marijuana â€Å"abuse† or was â€Å"dependant† did not use marijuana at all in the month period prior to admission, and more than half used it three times or less[2]. Would you call someone who rank three beers in a month an alcoholic? Like any substance marijuana can be abused, but it is impossible to overdose on. The most common problem associated with marijuana abuse is lethargic behavior, but does not cause serious health or social concerns.Overuse of alcohol will result in an inability to walk, stand, or even death, whereas overuse of marijuana will simply put a person to sleep. 40% of all fatal car accidents are caused by alcohol while no car accidents ever have been directly caused by marijuana[3]. Alcohol induces violent behavior and is often attributed to wife beating and ther violent behaviors. Someone under the influence of alcohol will experience fits if rage which has often led to their own demise or the death of others, while someone who got high from marijuana will stroll around pleasantly with a smile on their face in search of the nearest McDonald’s. It is as the iconoclast Bob Marley once said, â€Å"Herb is the healing of the nation, alcohol is the destruction†[4]. Cigarettes are another legal substance that is far more dangerous than marijuana. Smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of lung cancer in America.Tobacco cigarettes are filled with harmful chemicals uch as nicotine, rat poison, formaldehyde, ammonia, and arsenic. Both cigarettes and alcohol are immensely addictive phenomenon’s that lead to very serious health problems, predominantly cancer, and ultimately death. Marijuana is considered by many to be a dangerous substance but in reality many of our legal drugs are far more portentous. The studies of marijuana are still yet inconclusive and contradictory. But still, many doctors would agree that marijuana is not harmful if used in moderation. Dr. Hamilton is a specialist in drugs such as marijuana at the Institution of Medicine; he says â€Å"Comparing arijuana to alcohol is like comparing one apple to another apple†[5]. One apple is not different from another apple, meaning that marijuana should not be different from alcohol.Being told this from a specialist in drug’s you would think it is acceptable to legalize marijuana. Problems only accrue when you abuse the drug, but i s the abuse of almost any substance a problem? If you abuse alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, or even food, health problems are sure to follow. This follows along the same path as marijuana. There is very little evidence that smoking marijuana as a means of taking it epresents a significant health risk. Although marijuana has been smoked widely over Canada for more than four decades, there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana. Many would suspect and believe that a days breathing in any city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a days dose of marijuana. Most doctors would believe that marijuana is no more addictive than alcohol or tobacco. But even if the drug is shown to be harmful, is it not the right to every person to choose what harms him or her?Marijuana use is generally thought of as a â€Å"victimless crime†, in that only the user is being harmed. You can not legislate morality when people disagree about wha t is considered â€Å"moral. † Legalizing marijuana can also be a new source of additional tax revenues. Billions of dollars each year of tax’s come from alcohol and tobacco. Research from Jeffrey Miron, an economic professor at Harvard University says that the Canadian Government would be saving 7. 7 billion dollars a year if it did not have to spend money on policing and prosecuting marijuana activity. Then if the Canadian government legalized marijuana nd taxed it at a rate comparable to cigarettes and alcohol, another 6. 2 billion dollars would be collected by the government[6]. This is a huge amount of money raised threw government taxation. The legalization of marijuana would create another item that could be taxed.The government would have no problem spending all that extra money. Seeing how the war on drugs is an expensive battle, why would the not legalize marijuana and tax it? John Berick is from the liberal party and he says â€Å"it is an opportunity for u s to legalize marijuana and gain money from the taxation of it to help our current economic ituation†[7]. This quote proves that taxing marijuana would be a smart idea for the government; it would bring in more money to go towards helping our current economic situation. The government would be saving there time and money from trying to win a battle that can not be won on the street’s and in the end, legalizing marijuana would be free money to them. From further research, the government is spending about 7. 7 billion dollars a year on capturing the users and dealers. A great deal of expenses goes into catching them, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. In common sense, it ould seem to make sense for the government to legalize marijuana and tax it.Legalizing marijuana would free up police and court recourses to fight more serious crimes. Many consider the war on drugs an expensive failure. Recourses for DEA, FBI, and border security are only the tip of the iceberg. You must add in the cost of police officers, judges, public defenders, prosecutors, prison guards, and so on. Officer Micelle Howard from the Victoria, BC police department (department number 468) says that â€Å"We spend to much time everyday fighting against this drug (marijuana), I would ather be out fighting against a more serious unlawful act†[8]. This quote proves that the people who fight against this drug feel the same way. Legalizing marijuana would free up those people to concentrate on more important things like terrorism, harder drugs, rape, murder, and so on. In addition, an already overloaded civil court would be improved.Leading into time being eliminated to help and fight more serious court cases. But sometimes with the police force when it comes to street control, there is no police to call or lawyers to higher if you get stiffed or screwed over in a drug deal. Meaning you re left to settle the dispute by yourself, often leading into cycles of retal iatory violence. Legalizing marijuana would save time and money, also settle disputes properly. Many people also believe that marijuana is a gateway drug and will lead into other more dangerous drugs. It’s true that most people who do hard drugs didn’t immediately start out snorting cocaine or shooting heroin, but smoking marijuana every now and then does not condemn you to be some cracked out heroin feign. As it stands right now only a small portion of semi smokers go on to harder drugs and I’m sure that number will go own if marijuana is legalized.If kids could run down the street and pick up some marijuana their interest in other drugs would be diminished. The only way that marijuana could be considered a gateway drug is if it is sold alongside hard drugs. True some marijuana dealers sell harder stuff but legalizing marijuana completely negates that argument. If marijuana were legal there would be no need for side street dealers who might have hard drugs on t hem, it could be sold in any convenience store across the country. Many would say for a fact that teenagers would much rather get high legally han break the law to do so. The problem is legal highs are not readily available, the closest you can get is with cigarettes which not only taste disgusting but are extremely deleterious to your health and the health of others. Implying that smoking weed always leads to harder drugs is like saying that anyone who has ever stolen something will go on to armed piracy of oil tankers. People who steal probably did steal in their youth but that does not mean everyone who steals will end up like them. There is only scant evidence that marijuana produces physical dependence and withdrawal in humans.When human subjects were administered daily oral doses of 180-210 mg of THC – the equivalent of 15-20 joints per day – abrupt cessation produced adverse symptoms, including disturbed sleep, restlessness, nausea, decreased appetite, and sweat ing. The authors interpreted these symptoms as evidence of physical dependence. However, they noted the syndrome's relatively mild nature and remained skeptical of its occurrence when marijuana is consumed in usual doses and situations. Indeed, when humans are allowed to control consumption, even high doses are not followed by adverse withdrawal ymptoms. Signs of withdrawal have been created in laboratory animals following the administration of very high doses.Recently, at a NIDA-sponsored conference, a researcher described unpublished observations involving rats pretreated with THC and then dosed with a cannabinoid receptor-blocker. Not surprisingly, this provoked sudden withdrawal, by stripping receptors of the drug. This finding has no relevance to human users who, upon ceasing use, experience a very gradual removal of THC from receptors. The most avid publicizers of marijuana's addictive nature are treatment providers who, in ecent years, have increasingly admitted insured marij uana users to their programs. 65 The increasing use of drug-detection technologies in the workplace, schools and elsewhere has also produced a group of marijuana users who identify themselves as â€Å"addicts† in order to receive treatment instead of punishment. The Myth; Marijuana is a â€Å"Gateway† to the use of other drugs . Advocates of marijuana prohibition claim that even if marijuana itself causes minimal harm, it is a dangerous substance because it leads to the use of â€Å"harder drugs† such as heroin, LSD, and cocaine.The Fact, Most users of heroin, LSD and cocaine have used marijuana. However, most marijuana users never use another illegal drug. Over time, there has been no consistent relationship between the use patterns of various drugs. As marijuana use increased in the 1960s and 1970s, heroin use declined. And, when marijuana use declined in the 1980s, heroin use remained fairly stable; Marijuana as a gateway drug is a false implication and canno t be used in a serious discussion about legalizing marijuana. Many people also insinuate that marijuana leads people to a life of crime.The only way to test this theory is to study the results when pot is legal. Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal, has a lower crime rate than any major U. S. city. I think that soundly disproves that theory and clearly shows that smoking marijuana is not a gateway to anything illegal[9]. Through these subjects of explaining why legalizing marijuana would be acceptable, should change you outlook on legalizing marijuana. Marijuana is no harmful than alcohol nor tobacco, 47% of alcohol and tobacco users become independent, with marijuana only 9% become dependant; and taxing marijuana would bring in over 14 illion dollars into the government (from saving 7. 7 billion dollars in fighting against it, and gaining 6. 2 billion dollars in taxing it). Also legalizing marijuana would help officers to fight against more serious crimes (not spending half their da y tracking marijuana users and addicts).And finally how marijuana is a gateway drug, these are all subject that the people protecting marijuana from being legal use to persuade our minds. Legalizing marijuana would be an acceptable idea; from tests and research this statement is true. There are far more serious crimes to be worried about than a â€Å"victimless crime† uch as marijuana.Bibliography Books: John A. Benson, Stanley J. Watson, and Janet E. Joy, eds. , Marijuana and Medicine: Assessment of the Science Base. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999. Alan Bock, Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press, 2000. Richard J. Bonnie, and Charles H. Whitehead II, Marijuana Conviction: History of Marijuana Prohibition. New York: Open Society Institute, 1999. Elizabeth Russell and Beth Connolly, Through a Glass Darkly: The Psychological Effects of Marijuana and Hashish†¦.