Marijuana should be legalized

1. Marijuana is a gatewayNo addictive properties? A high is an addictive property. "According to NIDA, marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the U.S." [1] " It is estimated that 9 percent of people who use marijuana will become dependent on it." [2] "Some drugs are very physically and psychologically addictive and have obvious, terrible withdrawal symptoms. These are easy to identify, such as heroin, barbiturates or alcohol. Others like marijuana are psychologically addictive, and the withdrawal includes psychological symptoms like anxiety, mood swings and depression." [1] Marijuana is indeed addictive. 2. Marijuana has bad health effectsNo negative health effects? really? "In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug. This may be due to increased heart rate as well as the effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias." [3] "Marijuana smoke is an irritant to the lungs, and frequent marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems experienced by tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, and a heightened risk of lung infections. " [3] " High doses of marijuana can produce a temporary psychotic reaction (involving hallucinations and paranoia) in some users, and using marijuana can worsen the course of illness in patients with schizophrenia." [3] "Marijuana use during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of neurobehavioral problems in babies." [3] There are many negative health effects, to claim there are none is just incorrect. Further, to keep saying that is less harmful than alcohol and that is legal is implying I want to keep alcohol legal, which I clearly stated I don't, so it has no influence."Someone smoking marijuana in their home isn't going to affect someone outside the home." You don't know that. Smoke will leave that house and can go over to neighbor's house or you could have third hand smoke. Yes, marijuana might have some medical qualities, but the is about legalizing marijuana as a whole not just medical marijuana.3. Use of Marijuana is immoralIt is true they mention cigarettes, and don't mention marijuana, but you missed the point. You have to look at why third hand smoke is a problem. "Chemicals that are left over after smoking land on any surface in an area where smoking has taken place. Studies have found that of chemicals in third-hand smoke, 11 are carcinogens (substances capable of causing cancer.)" [4] It is the chemicals, and carcinogens left over from smoking. Further, "Smoke from tobacco and cannabis contains many of the same carcinogens and tumor promoters" [5] Concluding, third hand smoke from marijuana will be just as bad.The butterfly effect is mostly associated with weather prediction, and closely associated with Chaos theory. [6]4. Legalization would increase the number of children having access to itI just named 19 drugs that have decreased in use in the last 3 years, and only 3 drugs increased. Further, the major decrease in marijuana use shows it is still effective."You claim that Portugal has had an increase in crimes but provided no evidence other than your claim." You mean when I said "Portugal crime rate has not changed much and actually shows an increase of reported crimes. [5]" There is a source there, it was published by the EU tracking crime in multiple countries including Portugal. 5. Drug related arrest benefit societyI am not sure which one was suppose to refute any claim I made here like the correlation between Incarceration rate and crime rate.6. Legalization of marijuana will lead to the legalization of other drugsReally? Look at your arguments for legalizing it.X should be legal because we could tax it and make money."What people put in their own body is none of anyone's business"That drug prohibition does not work.X is less harmful than alcohol.You could apply those to any drug whether it is heroin or marijuana, so if these arguments are valid for marijuana then you must also agree they are valid for heroin too.Sources[1] http://www.psychologytoday.com...[2] http://www.drugabuse.gov...[3] http://www.drugabuse.gov...[4] http://lungcancer.about.com... [5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...[6] http://www.realclimate.org...