Why do 20 million Americans routinely break the law? Is it because they are criminals? That’s how they’re treated if they were to get caught. They will be incarcerated for three years or more, placed on probation and much more legal action that can, and is meant to, ruin their lives. The crime being referred to has never directly caused any deaths although people die every day because of it indirectly. The crime I speak of is marijuana; the only plant people kill for. Marijuana is a simple flower. Biologically, it’s similar to cherries. Economically, it’s more like diamonds, though it doesn’t deserve to be. The legalization of this substance is the only logical way to change the current dangerous state.

When I say that marijuana is economically similar to diamonds, I mean that it is expensive and valuable. Marijuana is a booming cash crop generating at least $10 billion annually. The problem is, the government doesn’t see a cent of that in the form of highly useful tax revenue. In today’s economy, money like that seems too good to waste. The government wants only one thing to do with marijuana. It wants to enforce it. Stephen Easton (Professor of Economics, Frasier University) says that the legalization of marijuana would transfer at least $40 million of illegal money into the hands of we, the people. Maybe with that money, the DEA could better enforce dangerous drugs, such as cocaine and meth.


But isn’t marijuana a highly dangerous drug? The experst would say no. This drug would probably be less dangerous than a lot of the foods we eat. Some say you’d die of a potato overdose before you’d die of a marijuana overdose. A more reliable source (Time magazine, John Cloud) said that a 160 pound person would have to smoke 900 joints in order to die. That suicidal person certainly wouldn’t have enough time for that. Therefore, it is physically impossible to die from marijuana. There is always danger in anything that’s smoked but everyday life is just as dangerous. Conscious, thinking adults know what they’re doing to their body.

Many experts argue that marijuana is also good for medical purposes. Dr. Lester Grinspoon (Professor Emeritus, Harvard Medical School) reminds that this drug is more useful and less toxic than conventional medicines. It is used to treat multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, migraine headaches, severe nausea and vomiting, convulsive disorders, the AIDS wasting syndrome, chronic pain, and many others—in the 15 states where medical marijuana is legal. Why should we exclude a valuable asset from our medicine? I’m pleased that there are states that allow medical marijuana but I’m not pleased that those states don’t regulate the business.


Marijuana needs to be taken off of the streets, out of the hands of dangerous people, and the money from marijuana doesn’t need to go to the wallets of neo-Al Capone people. Those people will be forced to give up the business once the United States of America treats and recognizes marijuana as a legitimate industry. When that day comes, that will be the end of bloody squabbles, and gangsters laughing in the face of the law. It will end the deadly cat-and-mouse games between cops and robbers.


There is a lot of opposition to my argument. People in favor of the prohibition of marijuana argue that it can be a gateway drug. That means that marijuana use can lead to use of other, more dangerous drugs. There is no evidence that marijuana is a gateway drug. Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former US Surgeon General, says that scientists have been searching for decades for proof that marijuana leads to harder drugs but still have found nothing.


Nobody in their right mind argues that drug use is a good thing, wise decision, or suggested form of recreation. But the facts are clear. How much longer will it take for the important people to realize that there has to be change? And, after that, how long will it take for something to get done? People say, these days, that when it comes to marijuana legalization, it’s not a matter of if, but when? We live in a free country that’s built on limited government. Let’s choose to apply those values on the subject of marijuana.