Marijuana is a commonly used term referring to the cannabis plant. There are three species of cannabis: cannabis sativa, cannabis indica, and cannabis ruderalis. Holland is the first country to legalize marijuana, the research show that the level of drug abuse in this country is very low. Moreover, recently a lot of new information about the effects of using cannabis was revealed and marijuana related dangers proved to be minimal. Marijuana has been used for various medical purposes for treatment of chronic pains, asthma, migraines and many other diseases.
The proponents of decriminalization of cannabis cultivation point on possible positive economic effects which can be achieved after marijuana legalization ().
Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring the nation’s largest cash crop under the rule of law, creating jobs and economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illicit market. Furthermore, much higher incomes can be obtained from cannabis processing industry and related industrial branches. Even strictly controlled sells of marijuana will bring a lot of money from licenses and excise duties.
Thus, good money could be saved at the expense of cancellation of different federal programs and other “anti- marijuana efforts”. However, the legalizing marijuana will most probably lead to a fall in drug prices, the effects if a fall in prices on quantities consumed and recruitment. Estimates of price elastic ties indicate that a substantial increase in consumption by current drug users should be expected if prices decrease, whereas estimates of participation elastic ties suggest an increase in the number of users.
Also, marijuana has been used for medical purposes. Doctors prescribe it during the treatment of arthritis, epilepsy, nausea and Alzheimer’s diseases. It is helpful for the relief of muscular pains especially during paralysis and sclerosis. It has several positive effects like: relaxing, sleep-like, and hungry. According to the experts, marijuana is less harmful than tobacco, and smoking marijuana does not cause any dependence. Moreover, when the effects of using alcohol usually lead to aggressive behavior, human reaction on marijuana can be described as pacifism and non-violent behavior. Besides, marijuana medically knows as cannabis has numerous negative effects on mind and body. It is a harmful drug that can cause immediate and prolonged effects. It directly effects the memory, weakens the coordination and stability of mind. High level of intake of marijuana could frequent memory loss, instability, deceptiveness and fallacy. The effects on body, it could lower the blood pressure and cause abrupt heart attacks then usual. It is also the basis of chronic coughs, immune system, lungs infections and damage tissues. Once it is consume, it makes person addictive and abusive.
Also, many people are convinced that legalization of marijuana will help to decrease the number of crimes connected with drug dealing and abuse. However, there are a lot of opponents of marijuana legalization who built their argumentation mostly on ethical, religious or social statements related to the issue. Many consider marijuana consumption to be the first step to using other more dangerous drugs, like heroin, cocaine, etc. They underline that if marijuana is legalized, it would bring to a number of new unnecessary dangers in our daily life, including driving under effect of marijuana, making children smoke marijuana, and so on.
Last, in my opinion marijuana should be removed from the criminal justice system and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco. Now a day, the number of people in the United States who support marijuana legalization increases every year. This tendency is supposed to be global, that is why many specialists suppose that decriminalization of marijuana cultivation and distribution in the most developed democratic societies of the world is only a matter of time.