Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 2147 Words

All Drugs Should be Legalized in the US Over the past twenty years we have made a tremendous amount of changes in terms of what should be considered legal and illegal substances. For example, we can focus in on one specific drug that has become popular in controversial debates recently, marijuana. Until this point, marijuana was considered illegal. Recently, a handful of states have made the decision to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. To date there has been 23 states that have legalized the use of marijuana in some form. In November of 2012 Colorado and Washington states legalized the use of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. In a survey conducted in 2013, a Gallup pole showed that†¦show more content†¦They all also contribute to death in their own way. While these drugs contribute to death, whether it be directly such as overdose, or from an accident resulting from the side effect of the drug, many other aspects o f our lives can result in death, but we don’t argue to make them illegal. As of 2014 there was an estimated 1,195 deaths due to automobile accidents. Although people have died in automobile accidents, the thought of making driving illegal sounds absurd to most people. Aside from driving, there are annual fatality rates for skydiving, roller-coaster/carnival rides, and snowboarding; If all of these things cause death but are still legal, drug use can also be legal with minor restrictions. The war on drugs For forty-five years the United States has been battling the prohibition of drugs, but despite intense law enforcement attempts and millions of dollars spent, the â€Å"War on Drugs† continues to be fought today. On June 17, 1971 Nixon named drug abuse as â€Å"public enemy number one† and declared this long lasting war. On October 27, 1986, Reagan provided $241 million for drug treatment. Despite the large amount of money toward treatment, Reagan contradicted his efforts when he allowed for $97 million to be used toward building new prisons, and when he created mandatory minimum penalties for drug offenses that included at least 10 years