Why is Marijuana Illegal
I was surfing the Internet this week and came across some interesting articles in Digg and reddit that related to a site called criminal justice university. The blog on the site had a couple of articles that made it to the upcoming sections on Digg and reddit that discussed crime stats for the U.S. Vs the globe. I found it interesting and so I began reading the comments on the article and came across a straightforward one that declared legalize pot. So some crazy person had the idea that all the nation’s crime Problems would leave if we just legalized marijuana. Well, that was clearly a stretch, but it started me pondering why marijuana is illegal and simply led me to the statement that it must be illegal for a reason. So I made a decision to do a little research to determine if I could get to the bottom of this somehow.
As some further background information, i want to divulge up-front that I haven’t used marijuana nor do I think I ever will. This is a private choice on my part and to the best of my capabilities I’ll try to keep that personal slant absolutely out of this article. If it sneaks in and by chance a comment comes my way along the lines of don’t knock it till you try it, and so on. Well I simply do not want it to go there. Enough related on that, so let’s begin with a bit of research. I assumed that marijuana is illegal as it has some bad effects on the body so let’s begin with that idea.
So I ran the following search in Google ‘marijuana effects on the body’ of course it had millions of hits. The first is an article from doitnow.org. It is located at and is an interesting read if you get an opportunity. It does a fairly decent job of laying out some basic effects that marijuana has on the body like the following:
· Marijuana is a complicated drug in that it consists of four hundred different chemical components. This makes it a challenge to pinpoint the effects in might have on any given individual ( so effects will vary ).
· THC ( delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol ) enters the bloodstream and sets up camp taking anywhere from 3-5 days to leave to several weeks. The impact of this endurance though is clearly unknown.
· Pot’s universal effects include an increase in heart rate as much as 50% quicker than standard, which may cause problems.
· Pot causes a rise in appetite ‘the munchies’.
· There is also a potential chance of lung cancer though no direct connection has been revealed.
· Pot also causes a short term drop in hormone production and causes lower sperm counts in men and throws off women’s menstrual cycles.
· Pots effect on the brain fundamentally remains a mystery according to this article
okay, so based on this first review, it isn’t crystal-clear why marijuana is not lawful ( at least as it refers to the effects on the body ). It certainly has some negative side effects, but so do plenty of other recreational drugs ( alcohol, cigarettes, and so on. ). So let’s keep looking for a better answer why marijuana isn’t legal.
The following article in our search results from Google is “As a Matter of Fact… MARIJUANA’ located here: . So let’s examine what it asserts about the results of marijuana. So some of the side-effects of using marijuana include:
· A faster heart beat and heart beat rate
· Bloodshot eyes
· A dry mouth and throat
· Causes a reduced ability to focus, short-term memory loss and slow reaction times.
I will skip to the end of this actual article and tell you that it does not actually provide any new information. It really doesn’t obviously make the case for why marijuana should stay illegal based primarily on the effects on the body. So this went on for a couple of hours and truthfully, I never saw anything new re the effects that marijuana has on the body. So it is safe to say that the proof is lacking to justify it being illegal on the idea of what it does to your body.
My next thought was along the lines of what’s the effect on the user’s mind. However, I quickly realized that in reality all of the other articles I had read answered that question too. It simply is either unknown or varies depending upon who you believe. Mostly it essentially seemed like the effects were no worse than having 2 lagers. So, let’s skip that thought too.
In fact, I quickly started to become doubtful of the indisputable fact that marijuana is illegal for a reason as I could logically counter virtually every argument. As an example, my next thought is that it is not legal thanks to the fact that so many crimes are committed around the production and distribution of marijuana. However, it seems highly likely to me though this is caused as it is forced underground. If it weren’t illegal, you would likely see less violence around it. Another argument is that the strength of the marijuana is unknown and that may be dangerous. Well, much like moonshine. If it is grown and produced underground that is the case but if it was legal and the subject of central authority standards you might know and control the strength of the marijuana ( just like we do today with commercial beers, and so on. ).
So this leads me to the end of the article and honestly a conclusion that I was hoping to not find to be true. I can’t see any legitimized reason why marijuana isn’t legal but alcohol is legal. Alas, I will not find a good reason why marijuana is illegal. I hope somebody else can find one. As for the moment, I will be able to continue to refrain and can hopefully convince my family members to do the same. That decision though is fully separate from my opinion about whether it should be legal or illegal.criminal justice universityShould Marijuana be Legal
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