Реферат: The Need To Legalize Pot Essay Research

In a Pensacola Florida News Journal, statements from an article titled,

“Marijuana use rising; foes to blame pop culture.” were pulled:

- It Beats crack,” said David Spencer, a 24-year-old Pensacolian who

smokes two or three joints a week. “Beats drinkin’, ’cause you don’t want to

get into a fight or you don’t get sick. Smoking weed ain’t going to kill

you like cigarettes will. Only thing it’ll do is make you chill out and

hungry.”

- And people in Pensacola are grabbing the T-shirts and other

merchandise with illustrations of giant marijuana leaves on them. “It sells

great,” said Joyce Smith, manager of Spencer’s in University Mall, about

pot-related merchandise. “We can’t keep it in stock.”

- “If you’re allowed to drink alcohol, there’s no reason that you

shouldn’t be allowed to smoke something that’s natural,” says Rick May,

26, a Pensacolian who smokes a few joints a year. “Marijuana doesn’t

cause the problems that alcohol does. You don’t hear about people getting

stoned and going to pick in a fight or getting in a car and driving

somewhere.”

From magazine articles to surveys, it’s almost unanimous that marijuana

should be legally available to the public. I took a survey within the school

and found out these results:

* 34 out of 45 people feel that marijuana should be legalized.

* 28 have smoked pot or at least tried it once in his/her life.

* 31 would smoke pot if the drug were to become legal.

How many times must we analyze the issue of marijuana? It doesn’t take

a rocket scientist to figure out that legalizing the drug with a heavy and

strict tax would instantly improve the economy, not to mention the medical and

social benefits from the drug. If we were to legalize the drug tomorrow, our

national debt could be cut in half and our taxes might take a dive. America’s

society is so caught up in believing what is good and bad for us. If we were