Legalization of marijuana

1. Yes the government has every right to enforce laws, but it's important to control which laws should or should not be imposed. Enforcing a drug law is completely irrational. The government has no right to control what citizens of the country put into their bodies. It's completely irrelevant to what our country stands for, in my opinion. How can the government dictate what we do to our bodies? Try giving me a logical explanation to why the government had the right to control our lives to this extent. Yes, there are dangers, but there are dangers to everything! There are side effects to just about every drug, prescription and over the counter, but they're legal. Alcohol and cigarette smoking are just as equally destructive. In fact, DUIs are very prevalent. Drinking under the influence takes 10,000 lives of people in the USA per year. Alcohol is still legal, and honestly, I think there'd be just as many issues in the world if alcohol was illegal. If people want to harm themselves and do crazy things, they don't let the government stop them. They find ways, so your argument regarding "how do you expect for it to stop" has just been proved wrong because in your article http://www.drugabuse.gov... it states that 42% of 12th graders have used marijuana in their lifetime, so obviously this law hasn't given much effect to these people. They don't care. If they want to do it, they'll do it. It's a drug. It's much easily hidden than killing someone. Do you know why? Because it is not an easily regulated law! Therefore, it's useless. Things like DUI, rape, and murder are much easily regulated because the evidence is not easily hidden. 2. Marijuana was seen as a racism contributor because a newspaper wrote "Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: 'Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men"s shadows and look at a white woman twice.'" Once this article came out, it started many new issues. Many believed that people wanted to make marijuana illegal because it was causing African Americans to disrespect or feel superior to white people. This article proved to be very controversial and arose many new issues to the table regarding making marijuana illegal. 3. It's more expensive if it's illegal! "Washington state"s war on marijuana has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade. Every one of Washington"s 39 counties has spent millions of dollars enforcing these laws." Taxing marijuana would solve those issues. But hey, if it's taxed, maybe it'll decrease the usage too. That's what happened with cigarettes, right? People finally realized... $5.50 per day gives a monthly average of $165.00 spent on cigarettes. If, instead of spending it on cigarettes, you were to just save that $165.00 every month in a cookie jar where it earned no interest whatsoever, you would have the following: $9,900 in five years. $19,800 in ten years. $39,600 in twenty years. Of the 45 million Americans who smoke, 70 percent say they want to quit. From 2000 to 2011, total consumption of all combustible tobacco decreased from 450.7 billion cigarette equivalents to 326.6, a 27.5% decrease; per capita consumption of all combustible tobacco products declined from 2,148 to 1,374, a 36.0% decrease. Taxing, educating, etc. helps. Making something illegal makes people want what they can't have even more. Mike Moffatt says, "I suspect that marijuana is appealing to some people precisely because it is illegal; humans have been tempted by the "forbidden fruit" since the time of Adam and Eve. It's possible that once marijuana has been legal for a period of time, it will no longer be seen as "cool" and demand will drop off." 4. Enforcing laws is cruel when the law is so contradictory. The majority of people agree that killing is wrong, even the murders know it! But a drug.. Please. It is the decision of each individual to make regarding what substances they want to put in their bodies, not the government's. The Quinnipiac University poll finds that 51 percent of New Yorkers support the legalization of marijuana, while only 44 percent oppose it. Voters 65 and older were the one age group opposed to a change in the law, so that means the majority of people disagree with the enforcement of this law. 5. Refer back to number 3 because you are incorrect. The temptation for something illegal makes the product used more than it is as a legal product. One source says, "There is no good evidence that prohibition decreases drug use, and there are several theories that suggest prohibition might actually increase drug use (i.e. the "forbidden fruit" effect, and easier accessibility for youth). One unintended effect of marijuana prohibition is that marijuana is very popular in American high schools. Why? Because it is available. You don't have to be 21 to buy marijuana -- marijuana dealers usually don't care how old you are as long as you have money. It is actually easier for many high school students to obtain marijuana than it is for them to obtain alcohol, because alcohol is legal and therefore regulated to keep it away from kids. If our goal is to reduce drug consumption, then we should focus on open and honest programs to educate youth, regulation to keep drugs away from kids, and treatment programs for people with drug problems. But the current prohibition scheme does not allow such reasonable approaches to marijuana; instead we are stuck with 'DARE' police officers spreading lies about drugs in schools, and policies that result in jail time rather than treatment for people with drug problems. We tried prohibition with alcohol, and that failed miserably. We should be able to learn our lesson and stop repeating the same mistake. SUMMARY: Prohibition does not work. Education and treatment are better ways to address the drug problem." 6. (Marijuana Use Prevalence 2011) "In 2011, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 18.1 million current users. It was used by 80.5 percent of current illicit drug users. About two thirds (64.3 percent) of illicit drug users used only marijuana in the past month. Also, in 2011, 8.0 million persons aged 12 or older were current users of illicit drugs other than marijuana (or 35.7 percent of illicit drug users aged 12 or older). Current use of other drugs but not marijuana was reported by 19.5 percent of illicit drug users, and 16.2 percent of illicit drug users reported using both marijuana and other drugs." Compare the numbers of usage to reported cases. It's very irregularly monitored. There's a distinct difference between murder and marijuana usage. A source claims his opinion as this: The first and most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why should marijuana be legalized?" but we should ask "Why should marijuana be illegal?" From a philosophical point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves. The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so according to his or her own free will. The government also may have a right to limit individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual. But this argument does not logically apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs which are legal, such as alcohol and tobacco. I wasn't comparing marijuana prohibition to slavery. I was comparing the government's constant unnecessary rule over our lives. An assumption regarding myself trying or not trying is irrelevant. http://www.madd.org... http://www.drugwarrant.com... http://www.aclu-wa.org... http://www.cdc.gov...