Discussions
Assignment:
Read the following articles:
What Most People Think They Know About Marijuana (Links to an external site.)
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Why I changed my mind on weed (Links to an external site.)
and watch the following video:
Cannabis: A Lost History(Links to an external site.)
What are the arguments for and against the prohibition of marijuana? Which position to do you agree with and why? What evidence supports your position? Your position aside, what do you see happening in the future with regards to marijuana in the United States? In Florida?
Respond to these post, and write about what you think about their post. Short and simple, write what you like and agree about what they wrote, 100 words or more
1. Some of the arguments for the prohibition of marijuana is reminding people of the past and making sure that what they think they know is what sticks. Marijuana is normally set up to be seen as a bad drug that can cause you to become addicted or lead you to other drugs. However we can see from the articles that people begin to do their research on marijuana to see what the truth really is. Some of the arguments to make marijuana legal is that it has helped people with health conditions get better and there has been proof about those cases. My position on this subject is to make marijuana legal just as alcohol is. In the past there was a time that alcohol was illegal and marijuana was legal. Things changed as time went on but to me it is the same thing. Drinking alcohol completely changes your state of mind and the way you act. I believe that in the future more states are going to make marijuana legal just as we have seen with many already in the United States.
2. Before getting into the arguments for and against marijuana, the House will vote on federal marijuana legalization for the first time later this month. Across the country alone all marijuana laws are rapidly changing which makes it hard to keep up. Marijuana being removed from the federal list of controlled substances would be the right thing to do after being the most commonly used drug in the U.S. However. we can see how people can go against it being legalized like the risk of having teens abuse it with harmful results. It would be in arms reach for teens getting their hands on marijuana like they currently do with tobacco products. Marijuana is addictive as it is, people will start to depend on the drug as it becomes legal in this country. Another issue against marijuana, this enhances the opportunity for the black market and crime groups to succeed due to the tax structure. Lastly, my biggest issue is the health side of it and increasing the harms of respiratory problems and lung tissues which all comes as the biggest con.With all these arguments against marijuana, many can argue the beneficial points into legalization. Starting off with having the marijuana industry boost our economy. Take Colorado for example, marijuana brings in three times more tax revenue than alcohol. The state that fully legalized marijuana brought in $78 million the first year the industry took off. Another plus brining flower into legal stores is consumers assuring their safety as when you go of to the streets in the search you can be intake anything harmful. Many times crime groups who grow their own plants will spray substances over to enhance the growth and make the marijuana more potent but having it legalized you can guarantee that the marijuana will be regulated. Along with millions of people that have been supporting legalization we can see that crime will go down considering it still being part of our controlled substance list.Personally, we have reached a point in this country where it is almost socially accepted everywhere. There are only 7 states left that still remain up to date with it being fully illegal and respect the rules. The House is set to vote on the Act during the week of September 21st and along with removing it off the federal list it would expunge marijuana- related criminal records. Honestly, it is about time we make the historic vote to put this natural plant safely into society. As far as Florida, our medical marijuana field has rapidly grown as the first cannabis store “Trulieve” has a wide variety of flower to offer.Wu, N. (2020, September 04). House will vote on federal marijuana legalization for the first time, bill’s future in Senate uncertain. Retrieved September 07, 2020, fromhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/04/marijuana-house-vote-federal-legalization-first-time/5678068002/
3. Whenever marijuana is brought up in a conversation, so much controversy is attached to the topic. My stance on marijuana is that it should be for medical use and maybe later down the line even recreational. There have been many studies that suggest medical marijuana is a huge breakthrough in the medical word. A study conducted by Harvard University suggests that marijuana can help with Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, and weight loss. Now on the topic of recreational use, I believe if marijuana becomes recreational the government can tax it and make a boatload of money off of it. My only concern is that the government will have to regulate it and everyone knows the government is not the best at regulating things. With that being said I’m Fully on board for medical marijuana and its benefits outweigh the cons.As for the U.S. and Florida, I definitely see it becoming more and more popular and maybe even fully recreational. If we look at Colorado for example. They made over one billion dollars on marijuana tax revenue. In maybe five to ten years if Florida can regulate marijuana I can see Florida potentially generating the same amount of money as colorado and with that money, we can invest in better housing, education, hospitals, law enforcement, etc.Peter Grinspoon, M. (2020, April 15). Medical marijuana https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085
