Marijuana should be legalized

1. Marijuana is a gateway Perhaps I didn't explain my statement thoroughly enough. Marijuana is no longer the first pick among young teens, they are being fed prescription drugs. Dealers no longer make a decent profit off of marijuana since pills can yield up to $40 a pop. The vast majority of dealers will always follow the profit. 2. Marijuana has bad health effects Obviously if someone were to smoke marijuana and then drive they are putting themselves and others at risk because it is a substance that can alter your mental state and impair motor skills though no where near the extent that alcohol does. No one is suggesting that you should be able to drive a car while under the influence of any substance that impairs your abilities. Studies have shown that the most common danger a driver is guilty of is texting and driving which is responsible for 23% of all auto accidents. Now that is a much higher percentage. It is the number one cause of teen deaths that occur while driving. Not only has there been a critical lack of information to show any harmful effects on a persons health but in fact just the opposite. Fast food is proven to be one of the most unhealthy things a person can put into their body and it causes problems like heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. All this in turn causes more health problems which in turn result in a flood of health care bills as well as more prescriptions being handed out and as I outlined the risk of prescribed drugs im sure you can see how this is highly problematic both to a persons health and the economy. But the fact remains that it is up to the individual what they put in their body regardless of the health impacts. It is our freedom to choose for ourselves. Might I add that marijuana does not cause any of the symptoms fast food does. http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com... http://www.phonearena.com... 3. Use of Marijuana is Immoral That was extremism at its prime. Drugs and alcohol-Prohibition has never worked and cost America only billions of dollars trying to enforce and the lives of law enforcement fighting an unwinnable war. Euthanasia - Another topic all together but it should be legal for those that meet very specific criteria (let me know if you would like to debate this topic) Prostitution - Already legal and millions of people take part its called porn. They are paid to have sex made legal because its caught on camera and called a "movie" Polygamy - There is no detrimental impact on society from someone choosing to live like this and their are religions that consent to this. To infringe on this could be violate someones religion such as the Mormons. Gay marriage - Man has been discriminating each other since history began such as women, Indians, blacks, and now gays. Eventually they all get equal rights. Cannibalism - Some of that extremism I referred to. People are killed and eaten in this situation, people on marijuana just eat chips or cookies. Bestiality - Ok this one threw me off...don't know what to say Incest - This is proven to have harmful side effects on offspring from to related family members. Public nudity - This is legal in established nude colonies. Hence they are allowed to but in a designated area. Alcohol has designated areas as well, cant just walk down the street with a bottle. Abortion - Unlike marijuana this involves the life of another. Dueling fights to the death - More extremism, people die in this situation. You have failed to prove consequences to health to oneself or others and used extremism as an attempt at showing similarities. If you believe these things to be relevant that is your opinion and you are entitled to it but that doesn't mean everyone believes the same things. Because people have such drastically different views on what is wrong and right it should be left up to the individual. The butterfly effects is only a theory that is not widely accepted and if one were to use this theory it could be said that religion has led the world to its current state. There is no way to disprove or prove the statement but it fits into the parameters of the butterfly effect. 4. Legalization would increase the number of children having access to it The prohibition of alcohol gave rise to men like Al Capone and only pushed the substance underground. Theres a reason they thought better of it and lifted the prohibition. Crime rates rose as did the number of murders due to the illegality of the substance. [6] increased savings? Marijuana is the cheapest illegal substance there is and it is very easy to grow it in ones own backyard. Marijuana is proven to help relieve stress and relieving stress tends to make people happier. Portugal legalized drugs and they saw a substantial drop in all crimes, overdoses and their economy began to improve from the money that would have been spent prosecuting and jailing people. I did provide videos of law enforcement and politics stating that prohibition does not work but ill provide some more all the same. Let me know if you would like to see more evidence or statistics. I have much more to show http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.youtube.com... http://www.countthecosts.org... 5. Drug related arrest benefit society If they are in jail the taxpayers are forced to support them, Florida for example spends over 1 billion a year prosecuting marijuana users. Imagine that billion being thrown into the already underfunded education system and on top of that the profits that would come from taxes put on marijuana. [10] Unable to find the source you found this in [12] As stated before incarceration costs American taxpayers billions ad often times a user can have the drugs smuggled into prison. The longer a person is incarcerated the more likely they are to become institutionalized. They often come out more aggressive and become repeat offenders. Rehabilitation would be a more efficient method but a casual drug user that pays their bills and taxes and who keeps a happy home does not qualify as someone with a problem. http://247wallst.com... (look at the bottom)