Civil Rights and Civil Liberties - Essay Example

General opinions are that just as prohibition was ineffective through rebellion, so is likely to be the case with prohibiting use of such recreational drugs as the marijuana. The exercise of imposition of such an amendment is definitely much high and this would caution ratification for the impending likelihood of inefficiencies as people would reason thus supporting the legalization of the same. Among pointed out arguments in support to the legalization of these recreational drugs is increased government income through tax and the likelihood of controlling drug abuse.

Reasons against the success of the prohibition revolve around the likelihood of the ban to lead to increased drug abuse besides heightened crime, as was the case with the 18th amendment. There have been heated debates within the US in support of or against legalization of such drugs as marijuana, which are considered recreational. According to Swift, 7the support to legalization of Marijuana has increased substantially to double since 1970. The boost to the increase in acceptance comes with the flexibility exhibited by the current administration under president Obama who shows high flexibility on the topic.

Swift points out the increased acceptance in the use of marijuana for medical reasons as a reason enough to support the benefits that would be derived in the legalized use of the same. However, he also points to the shortcomings that are pointed out from the medical perspective in increased use of the same. It is argued that increased use of marijuana has the potential of increasing health problems such as through respiratory complications, memory problems and increase in heart rate. These are arguments that would be raised to counter the presumed benefits that would be derived from the legalization (Swift, para 1-6).

It is worth noting that marijuana is currently a prohibited drug within US under federal law though recent moves have seen increased legalization of the drug among member states, a move that the Obama government appear to support. For instance, Washington as well as Colorado had voters approve the legalization of such drugs in November last year through referendums. Other states are already in the record of decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and allow the public to be found in possession of small quantities of the substance.

However, there are still rising concerns among medical specialists on the associated health drawbacks that result from the uncontrolled use of marijuana as a recreational drug (South Atlantic news agency, 2013, para 1-5). This are arguments that contradicts the arguments advanced by supporters of the legalized use of these drugs who argue that marijuana, for instance, has been in use for therapeutic purposes long enough and has accompanying benefits. This therefore points out to the existing tags between supporters who would advance reasons to favor legalization of such recreational drugs and their counterparts who advance support against legalization of the same.

In my opinion, I would consider legalization of recreational drugs as an appropriate step within the modern world as it concerns US. This is because; prohibition has potential of resulting to increased crime in black market operations involving drug