The Legalization of Marijuana

"The problem with "just getting a high" is that it will become too common of a thing."- Are you serious? People are already smoking so much marijuana. Marijuana is the most commonly used drug in the U.S. It is extremely common already. I doubt more people would use it if it was legal because we would still have those anti-drug programs that cause people not to do so. If anything, legalizing it would make it safer for those who already smoke marijuana and those around them because it would have to pass health inspections. "I do not know how you can say these are mild, when it can lead to drug cravings and when it can cause anxiety. These are both very serious symptoms. Drug cravings can lead to other drugs. Marijuana is considered a gateway drug. It can lead to even more harmful drugs if addicted to it."- These symptoms ARE mild. Many medications given to people by doctors have just as bad or worse symptoms. The people using the drug know the symptoms, and it is up to them if they want to go through that. Not to mention that those withdrawal symptoms are so mild compared to that of tobacco smokers. If tobacco can be legal and be much worse for you and harder to get off of, why not marijuana which can have good effects while tobacco has none? It is "considered" a gateway drug. So what? Those who want to do marijuana are already finding ways to get it. Those people are going to get into heavier drugs with or without legalization of marijuana. Let's make it safer and easier for those people to get a drug that isn't so harmful so that they might not turn to heavier ones. "This fact states that numerous studies show that "marijuana smoke contains carcinogens and is an irritant to the lungs," but then one case shoes otherwise. Would you believe a study that has been done multiple times or a study that has only been done once? Carcinogens are very harmful, so I don't understand why you say otherwise."- Wait where do you get off saying that only one case says that? It does not state that. They wouldn't have mentioned it if there wasn't substantial reason to say that they cannot prove that marijuana has any bad effects on the lungs. What the article said was that it is an "irritant to the lungs", not that it caused cancer or was terrible for you. "This just shows that marijuana is addictive. That many people who start marijuana continue to do it. We already know the negative effects that come with it. Why would we want more people to start by legalizing it."- This showed how uncommon it is to get addicted to marijuana. Many many more people get addicted to tobacco which is legal. ""Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses - including addiction - stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. Currently, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.4 High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals." This just shows why we should be stopping the use of marijuana."- What my opponent cleverly left out was this part of the article: "However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or reflects an attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence."- Which shows that they do not know if depressed people use marijuana to feel happy, or if the marijuana is making them depressed. This is very important. "Lastly I do not agree with your theory, of how legalizing marijuana would help the economy. Their is no way we could no this first of all. Secondly, just because it may stimulate the economy does not mean we should legalize it.. The harm that marijuana causes should be why it stays illegal."- First of all, "it will never work" is an unsubstantiated claim. You have to prove why it will never work. Obviously our government is not concerned with the peoples' health or tobacco would also be illegal. Why is it not? Because the government is given a lot o money from tobacco producers. The real reason marijuana is illegal is because it would decrease tobacco sales tremendously and those companies would greatly suffer. The government thinks it cannot afford this to happen. If marijuana was legal, it would decrease the amount of people smoking tobacco and they would be turning to a much much less addictive drug that cannot be linked to any long-term harm that is also infinitely less harmful to them than tobacco. sources: http://healthliteracy.worlded.org... http://listverse.com...