Jordan Thomas

Irene J. Peterson
English 1010
November 29th
Is Marijuana Better Off Illegal?
Marijuana, like no other drug in its history of mankind. With the current legalization in the
United States, more and more questions are being raised, some examples are, what good is it
doing for the community, is it making our generation even more stupid, does it have a toll on the
crime rate, what does it even make you feel like. blah blah blah. Down to the big papa question.
Should it still be illegal? Well some writers have been nice enough to type their stats and
standing points.
Before the drug was legal in even one state, research was done on the drug and the
consumers. Lauren Cox, a writer for livescience.com went around asking people if people have
ever smoked cannabis. and if the answer was yes, then Lauren would proceed to ask them
questions, mainly about what they were feeling and how they were thinking. The people usually
responded with being frequently relaxed and noises would just become louder, But the biggest
response was people generally felt more hungry. With a very low percentage of people however.
people would feel anxiety or panic, some would even see hallucinations. This once again this
was in a low percentage of people.
Even after the more serious affects of cannabis, marijuana doesnt even come close to the danger
as other drugs are. some examples of other recreational drugs are cocaine, heroin, and alcohol
( yes that is technically a drug, it has an addictive nature) Christopher Ingrahm, a writer for
TheWashingtonPost.com put the numbers together and found out that marijuana is roughly 114

times less dangerous than drinking alcohol. He then goes on to state later in the argument
Marijuana is also the only drug studied that posed a low mortality risk to its users. However he
then goes on to say that just because it is less dangerous. doesnt mean that it has no danger to it
Being regulated throughout a community is a whole other story though. Matt Ferner,
writer for huffingtonpost goes into the details of what has been going on since the legalization in
Colorado. Such as the taxation and what they are spending the money on. Some examples
include better schools and communities for the state, even more funding being put into the lottery
for those lucky winners, and its land funds as well. But it isnt only going into the state.
Donations summing up to 8 million dollars for the research of medical marijuana.
What has legalization done to the crime rate however. Has the number of robberies
increased because the store happens to sell marijuana? Is the rate of arresting decreased for
possession and DUIs? Susan Squibb crunched the numbers and the general rate of crime has
decrease due to legalization. less robberies have been reported, even the number of marijuana
dispensary robberies have gone down. However the most shocking is the number or DRUIDs for
marijuana are only 354 out of 5,546 which is shocking compared to previous records.
To prove that marijuana still isnt very pro with everyone is because of some writers like
Cully Stimpson who writes for cnsnews. with his article 7 Harmful side effects pot legalization
has caused in Colorado A article that is just 7 bad things about marijuana, one of the things on
his list for examples is that it is bad for your lungs like cigarettes.
A bigger article that stands out a little more was written by Chris Mooney for
washingtonpost. the article is how about how much energy actually goes in to making the
marijuana plants grow. Some things they require is Heavy/ intense lighting and vapor control. If

it was legalized in the U.S. then it could lead to an energy crisis. then goes onto state that states
should take advantage of the licensing over it.
Though many different viewpoints are still to come. With all of these positive affects still
coming, along with the negatives. Should marijuana have remained illegal? only time can tell.
and we as Americans decide.

Squibb, Susan. "Ask The Cannabist: Staking out Stats for Colorado Crime and DUID Arrests." Thecannabist.co.
Thecannabist.co, 21 May 2015. Web.

Stimpson, Cully. "7 Harmful Side Effects Pot Legalization Has Caused in Colorado."Cnsnews.com. Csnews.com, 21
Aug. 2014. Web

Ferner, Matt. "Pioneer Pot States Have Collected More Than $200 Million In Marijuana Taxes."
Huffingtonpost.com. 26 Oct. 2015. Web.

Mooney, Chris. "Ne Surprising Downside of Marijuana Legalization: Major Energy Use." Washingtonpost.com.
Washingtonpost.com, 23 Mar. 2015. Web.

Cox, Lauren. "Marijuana: Effects of Weed on Brain and Body." Livescience.com. Livescience.com, 23 June 2014.
Web.

Ingraham, Christopher. "Marijuana May Be Even Safer than Previously Thought, Researchers Say."
Washingtonpost.com. Washingtonpost.com, 23 Feb. 2015. Web.