Marijuana Should NOT Be Legalized

The legalization of marijuana, either for medical purposes or otherwise, is entirely unjustifiable. Marijuana only suits one significant purpose, other than the feel good effects of use, and that is as a pain killer "medication. " This is reason enough for advocates in favor of legalization to use as justification for the legalization for medical purposes, at least. I view this argument as more of an excuse for legalization than a legitimate concern. Marijuana isn't the only pain killer on the market, after all, nor is it by any means the most effective. If it is reasonable to legalize marijuana on the basis that it is an effective pain killer, it would follow that the legalization of cocaine would be even more necessary as cocaine, it could be argued, has a more effective numbing effect than medical marijuana. Legalization of marijuana could induce a chain effect of similarly constructed arguments in favor of legalization for a variety of different potent drugs currently illegal. For those that favor the argument that legalization will dissuade use over time, I strongly disagree. I cite alcohol and cigarettes as basic counter examples of this flawed logic. One might argue on the disaster that was alcohol prohibition as evidence that the unlawfulness of marijuana use is no way to combat the problem, and that it only encourages it. Viewing this from a slightly different perspective, one can easily see that despite the unlawfulness of alcohol use during prohibition, use has not sufficiently declined since alcohol prohibition was abolished. In fact, it is reasonable to assume that nearly every American citizen has had at least one alcoholic beverage from the age of 21-40 based on the culture in which we live and the social pressures associated with use to make no mention of the abundance of teen alcohol abuse in society today. Along with social pressures, the legality of use is more encouraging. People are more likely to give something a try when the potential negative repercussions of first time experimental use, both from health and legal considerations, is low. One would not want the same effect to come into being by the legalization of marijuana beyond medical use. It would not be a responsible decision to allow for marijuana to evolve into as much a social norm as alcohol has become, where nearly every American citizen is willing to give it a try. It would be reasonable to take into consideration the epidemic the tobacco company has caused with the creation, manufacture and marketing of cigarettes. A few quick facts on the negative effects of cigarette use include: -- Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand, accounting for around 4,300 to 4,600 deaths per year. -- Half of the people who smoke today and continue smoking will eventually be killed by tobacco. Half of them will die in middle age. -- Globally, 1.3 billion people smoke. Each year tobacco causes five million premature deaths. -- Tobacco use is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide. If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. -- Smoking increases the risk of developing diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems. These include cancers of the lung, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and pancreas. Smoking also increases the risk of developing diseases of the urinary tract, pelvis, bladder and digestive tract. -- Etcetera. Source: . http://www.sfc.org.nz... And the list could go on, but the focus here is the parallel between the legality of cigarette smoking and the potential legalization of marijuana for general use. When cigarettes were originally introduced, their purpose was the feel good effect induced upon use, and the same could easily be said of the reasoning behind casual use of marijuana. Moreover, tobacco has become a public health priority as more and more people take up the habit, and deaths rise in frequency each year. If smoking cigarettes had been illegal, it would not have prevented people from smoking, but it would have given the government the necessary power to prosecute people for distributing the debilitating drug, thus minimizing deaths. Inaction would be immoral.