People against Legalization

However, if the drug was legalized and sold by public dealers, the government can have more control of the drug composition. Stores wouldn't likely add rat poison to the drug or any other dangerous substance since the consequences for lacing weed would be high. Wouldn’t it make more sense for smokers to get their drug in a safe legal form than from a dealer illegally with the risk of poison or other toxic chemicals? A lot of the people who are against the legalization of the drug worry about the health costs that come with the drug. First off, just because the drug isn’t legalized doesn’t mean there aren’t people who get sick from using drugs. You might think that even though that is true, there will be more users of the drug so there will be more health issues. However, as mentioned above, the use of the drug decreases when it is legalized, so theoretically there should be fewer issues.

Also, for people who do decide to use marijuana, their health insurance will cover them less, which means, in the end, the risks they take with the drug will mostly have to be covered by themselves, holding them accountable for their actions and likely making them more responsible. One last point to prove that the health costs won’t be a big issue with legalization is the statistics comparing the health costs of drugs versus alcohol. The difference in cost between health issues that are drug-related and those that are alcohol-related is about 50%. We legalized alcohol years ago knowing that drinking came with risks, so how come legalizing marijuana is such a big deal? The statistics show that marijuana actually causes fewer issues plus on top of that you have the health benefits that come with legalizing the drug, something alcohol doesn’t have. So yes of course with marijuana comes health costs, but the costs would not increase, it would likely decrease with legalization and the costs wouldn’t even be comparable to those of alcohol use. This chart shows the difference in health costs between drugs and alcohol. Another reason a lot of people are against legalizing marijuana is because they believe it will make their cities and neighborhoods less safe. This assumption is actually false. First off, when people don’t have to illegally buy the drug, it eliminates the issue of people having to sneak around with the drug. They can simply ring it into their house and keep it there without any issues.

Also with the market for marijuana being moved to public stores, it eliminates a lot of the dealers that could be in your city and neighborhoods. Another way it actually makes your communities safer is that it is shown with legalization there is a decrease in criminal activity. In Portugal where they legalized drugs, the “proportion of offenses committed under the influence of drugs and/or to fund drug consumption dropped by half” (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). In Switzerland, a program was created to allow people to take drugs in special areas, including jails, so that they could be monitored and evaluated. The people participating in this program showed a decrease in felony crimes by 60% and a decrease of 80% for those who were in the program for over a year. If a safer community is something you are in favor of, then you should consider voicing your support for marijuana legalization. To recap, the advantages to legalizing cannabis is endless. Legalizing the drug is what the majority of the people want. Could this be because of the medical and economic advantages? Or could it be because use and overdose of the drug decreases while the amount of help for drug users increases? Or maybe it’s because of the added safety to the drug and neighborhood. Or maybe all of the above! So what can you do to help legalize the beneficial drug? You can write letters to your local governments or even the federal office. You could speak your mind in public about your opinion of legalizing the drug. You could get involved in an anti-prohibition group near you. You could vote for candidates who are fighting for the new laws allowing marijuana. It takes you, yes you, to help America get to legal marijuana. So get out there fellow marijuana supporters and help us all get to a better time- weed appreciate it!

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