Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized - Essay Example

Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized The use of marijuana has a lot of damage to the user and the society at large. Studies have documented that marijuana have health complications, as well as, social and economic consequences. Evans and Berent (13) argued that the combination of all the problems caused by marijuana are detrimental and can have adverse effects to the society. Crime A study conducted by Husak and Marneffe (14) on the impact of marijuana on youth identified that, marijuana has direct connection to crime. Communities that have high rates of marijuana consumption report high rates of crime. This is arguably true because marijuana is known to have damage on brain. This becomes a dangerous issue to people using the drug. In most cases, some people engage in marijuana consumption to reduce stress or with intentions of committing crime. With the high effect of marijuana, people feel relieved and shameless to do some things that normal people would find difficult to do. Husak (82) noted that most cases of rape have direct connection with the use of the marijuana by the rapist. When people have different problems in their lives, some think of the easiest ways of relieving them. For instance, a rapist could be having difficult times contemplating on an incident of the same that happened to them or witnessed other people especially family members undergoing the same. In such situations, such people think of rape, but since rape is a crime and contain some social stigma attached to it, rapists think of smoking marijuana in order to conceal the shame. There is also a correlation between crime, drugs, and poverty. Due to poverty, many people have little options left apart from indulging in drugs (Husak 84). Areas with high rates of unemployment record high levels of crime and drug abuse. Although they seek refuge from the drugs, the problem worsens as they become accustomed to using the drugs and forget of other ways that can help them solve the unemployment problem facing them. In turn, since they have no means of income, they resort to crime in order to get some money to sustain themselves and buy drugs (Evans and Berent 13). Additionally, since bang is sold in different sizes, drug addicts are able to purchase different rolls of marijuana depending on the size and the money they have. Thus, this makes marijuana affordable to even the poor people. This means that the chances of engaging in crime are higher since they can afford to buy marijuana with the little money they have. Poverty Another study conducted by Husak (88) found out that the communities that have many cases of drug abuse report high rates of poverty. Therefore, if marijuana is legalized, it means that poverty would increase. This is correct since one of the major effects of marijuana is addiction. Therefore, when individuals engage in its consumption, they become addicted. This is a very critical matter because once one is addicted; it is difficult to stop using it. In addition, one would actually leave the place of work to go and smoke marijuana. Such people would be unproductive since they mostly concentrate on smoking the drug. Some people end up being rejected or sucked from their place of work. Some studies have also documented that marijuana consumption reduces the level of concentration of the smoker. This means that even those people that have their own businesses would find it difficult to concentrate with the business. With such deliberations, people end up being lazy and do not find time to be productive (Evans and Berent 18). In a broader spectrum, since marijuana is expensive, it means that not every consumer would afford it every time they think or feel the urge to smoke. Therefore, it means that such people would have to look for alternative means of getting money to by the drug. This may include stealing and engaging in dangerous crimes. Therefore, the rate of crime increases in such a community. Health Consumption of marijuana has different health problems. The most common problem is the damage of the brain (Husak and Marneffe 17). This means that if marijuana is legalized, most people will have their brains damaged. Marijuana also causes brood pressure. Blood pressure is known to have different complications in the body. Most of the common health problems include heart diseases and other psychological disorders such as anxiety. In addition, marijuana has been cited to have three times damage to lungs than the cigarette do. When lungs have been damage as a result of smoking, this may lead to bronchitis and other related complications. In this regard, it is apparent that legalizing marijuana has different health problems that face the users. Political and economic crisis It is apparent that legalization of marijuana would mean that many people would have different complications that would require both medical and psychological help especially setting up of many rehabilitation centers to take care of them (Husak and Marneffe 16). Therefore, although the government would be earning revenue from the sale of marijuana, it would spend more money to treat people affected. This is worse because even the family members of the drug addict become affected also. In a way, such people would also need help from the government. Meaning, the number of people needing help would be higher than the number of the drug addicts. Most of the people that would tend to benefit from the legalization of marijuana are the politicians and businessmen (Evans and Berent 24). For instance, the politicians are known to engage in different arguments and issues of controversy that would help them gain popularity and fame thus gaining grounds on the political arena. In fact, studies have documented that most politicians are known to use contentious issues to control and manipulate the electorate in order to win their votes. However, what happens is that the common people are the ones that suffer in the end. For instance, if marijuana is legalized, most lives of the youth would be destroyed while the politicians benefit from the office they assumed as a result of politicizing the issue of marijuana and influenced the same people that suffer to vote for them. In another dimension, it is apparent that the economy of the areas with high number of marijuana users would be affected because the political discussions revolving around the issue causes detrimental effect on the performance of people involved in other areas of development. Many children that would be involved in marijuana use and business would most probably drop out of school to either engage in the business (Husak and Marneffe 19). This means that such children would lose the opportunity of furthering their education in order to become productive members of the society. Since drugs are known to involve money laundering, it is evident that this would be rampant if the drug is legalized. In addition, drug business is also known to have a syndicate that always wants to remain in the business. Therefore, such people would do everything possible to remain at the top of the business. This may include eliminating their competitors. Therefore, even when the drug would have benefited the society economically, people would lose their lives thus due to conspiracies involved in the business. Conclusion Legalization of marijuana has many problems attached to it. The rate of crimes would increase as well as the level of poverty. Many families would undergo very challenging moments as they try to deal with the effects of marijuana in case members of the family are victims. Morality would also be killed while societal values would be compromised. Works cited: Evans, Rod and Berent, Irwin. Drug legalization: for and against. La Salle, Ill.: Open Court, 1992. Print. Husak, Douglas and Marneffe, Peter. The legalization of drugs. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print. Husak, Douglas. Legalize this!: the case for decriminalizing drugs. London: Verso 2002. Print. Read More