The use of marijuana has been a subject of great controversy for a considerable length of time. In the 17th century period, the use of marijuana was quite widespread in most civilizations. It was used a lot for recreational purposes. Records obtained from historical facts reveal that marijuana was used in legal tendering in several locations in North America bearing in mind that it was a rare economic resource.
As a result, there were myriads of cases when taxes, goods and services were exchanged using the product. Before the mid 1850s, there were over 8000 hemp plantations in North America alone. Tones of marijuana were harvested out of these hemp plantations. Since the hemp plant was completely legal, even the United States’ Presidents like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington grew it in their own farms (Ferner par. 2). This paper argues that marijuana should be legalized butregulated by the government as well.
Before the close of 2012, most voters in the US elections were upbeat on the legalization of marijuana in various states among individuals aged above twenty one years. In terms of legalization, Colorado voters were highly likely to support the amendment 64 by a margin of 61 percent (Ruschmann 88). This would only be supported if the use of marijuana could be controlled just like other drugs. They argue that the economy could be boosted if marijuana is legally permitted in the market since the government will be able to tax the product.
On the other hand, the government still maintains that any legalization of marijuana cannot be permitted since it is an addictive and risky drug. As it stands now, proponents of legalization of marijuana posit that the drug is still being traded in the black market since there are millions of users out there. Does this imply that the government has lost the battle against illegal consumption of marijuana?
According to Burnham (2), it is obvious that the policy behind prohibition of marijuana has been significantly weakened by the prevailing political agenda especially when key presidential candidates are seeking votes. If the legalization of marijuana can indeed lead to job creation and improved infrastructures due to additional taxation, then it explains why both the opponents and proponents of legalizing marijuana agree that it should be regulated and taxed accordingly.
Opponents observe that regulation should entail age restriction and purpose for using the product. The latter measure is not merely being advocated by the proponents of marijuana use since the legalization of marijuana has been supported by NAACP not because it fully backs the smoking of marijuana. It is due to the fact that there are hundreds of individuals who have been negatively affected by the same laws.
This organization has been on the forefront in fighting against the use of marijuana mainly due to medical reasons. On the same note, medical experts who refute the consumption of marijuana observe that it leads to aggressive behavioral patterns among abusers. As a result, violent behaviors and state of lawlessness is common among neighborhoods that indiscriminately smoke marijuana.
Marijuana still remains as one of the most popular drugs used for recreation globally. It is consumed in the same way as tobacco, caffeine and alcohol although its usage is quite lower than the other aforementioned drugs because it is highly restricted in most countries. For instance, over one hundred million Americans are believed to have attempted to smoke marijuana while another twenty five percent of the latter figure smoked marijuana in the last 12 months (Causey par.2).
This is the reason why the debate on the legalization of marijuana has been on the increase since the past 10 years. In any case, the 20th century witnessed liberal use of marijuana even by medical professionals before most governments (such as the US) illegalized it. The current debate can be traced back to the past 50 years when there was need to streamline trade on dangerous narcotics. The US government is currently working towards funding medical researches on whether the drug has any benefits or not.
This topic is fundamentally researchable because various authors with reputable credentials have written materials on the topic. Matt Ferner has worked with Huffington Post as the editor. He also written The Encyclopedia of Everything novel.Causey is a blogger, columnist and an editorial writer for journals. Burnham has been a managing editor and a reputed staff writer at both the New York publishing house and New York Times. Ruschmann has been an editor writer and researcher for more than three decades.
As already mentioned, there are potential solutions being discussed to solve the problem. For instance, medical research activities are underway to establish and conclude on the pros and cons of marijuana. Besides, the process of illegalizing marijuana has proved to be very costly (Causey par. 5).