To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether recreational marijuana should be legal, go to ProCon.org.
More than half of US adults, over 128 million people, have tried marijuana, despite it being an illegal drug under federal law. Nearly 600,000 Americans are arrested for marijuana possession annually – more than one person per minute. Public support for legalizing marijuana went from 12% in 1969 to 66% today. Recreational marijuana, also known as adult-use marijuana, was first legalized in Colorado and Washington in 2012.
Pot. Weed. Ganja. Mary Jane. There are more than a thousand slang terms in the English language to refer to marijuana. A 1943 article in TIME magazine called it muggles, mooter, and bambalacha, and referred to marijuana cigarettes as goof-butts and giggle-smokes.
Cannabis, the scientific name for marijuana, is a plant that has three species (or strains): cannabis indica, cannabis sativa, and the less common cannabis ruderalis. Marijuana and hemp are both cannabis plants, but marijuana contains higher levels of THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the primary psychoactive ingredient that causes people to get high. Hemp can be cultivated for industrial uses such as rope and burlap fabric, or for a low-THC, non-psychoactive, medicinal product. This website uses the words “cannabis” and “marijuana” interchangeably, and the words “recreational” and “adult-use” interchangeably.
Marijuana legalization refers to the practice of allowing and regulating the production, distribution, sale, and possession of cannabis so that marijuana use within the established rules is no longer a crime. There are different models of legalization, ranging from allowing people to grow their own marijuana to nonprofit co-ops to for-profit commercialization with retail sales.
PRO
Marijuana legalization boosts the economy.
Legalizing marijuana results in decreased teen marijuana use.
Traffic deaths and arrests for DUIs do not increase, and may decrease, when marijuana is legalized.
Legal marijuana is regulated for consumer safety.
Legalization of marijuana is phasing out black markets and taking money away from drug cartels, organized crime, and street gangs.
The enforcement of marijuana prohibition is racist because people of color are disproportionately impacted.
Crime goes down when marijuana is legalized.
Legalizing marijuana would end the costly enforcement of marijuana laws and free up police resources.
Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, which are already legal.
Taxes collected from the legal sale of marijuana support important public programs.
Legalizing marijuana creates thousands of needed jobs.
A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana.
The government doesn’t have the right to tell adults what they can put in their own bodies.
CON
Legalized marijuana creates steep costs for society and taxpayers that far outweigh its tax revenues.
Legalizing marijuana increases use by teens, with harmful results.
Traffic accidents and deaths increase when marijuana is legalized.
Marijuana is addictive, and dependence on the drug will increase with legalization.
The black market and organized crime benefit from marijuana legalization.
Legalizing marijuana leads to more marijuana-related medical emergencies.
Marijuana use harms the brain, and legalization will increase mental health problems.
Marijuana harms the health of users and people around them.
Commercialized marijuana will create a “Big Marijuana” industry that exploits people for profit and targets children.
Legalizing marijuana hurts businesses by causing preventable accidents and lost productivity.
The United States has signed international treaties that prevent us from legalizing marijuana.
Legalizing marijuana is opposed by major public health organizations.
Growing marijuana harms the environment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.