Should recreational drugs be legalized in the United States? I think that marijuana should be legalized because in my opinion, it is a natural stress reliever. To me, there are honestly no drawbacks of having this substance legalized. It is grown naturally and really does not cause any long-term problems that a cigarette cannot cause. Since cigarettes are legal, to me it only makes sense. I also believe that having this particular substance legalized would clear up courtrooms and jailhouses. Many people are getting into trouble and stressing out our legal system over something that I personally think is a waste of time for them.
Research shows inability to link marijuana to violent crimes, and after all, prisons are meant for violent offenders. On the other hand, I do not think that drugs such cocaine, acid, ecstasy, and “hard” drugs should be legalized because those drugs have serious health problems linked to them and even death. Although all of these drugs can impair vision and motor skills, I think it should be left up to the person taking them if they actually want to. I have different views than most people on my team and I think it is because I have seen firsthand how society around where I live works with these issues.
I can say for myself that I have tried several drugs before and the only one that did not have serious health threats to me was marijuana because it is a natural substance. However, there should be some rules if it were to get legalized. Rules that I would use are no distributing to the general population and not operating heavy machinery (cars, etc. ). Right now, if you are caught with more than ounce (in my area) you will get large fines and face some prison time. However, anything under an ounce is already legalized. The police union of Massachusetts backed this decriminalization.
The anti drug task force could use the tax payers money for better use investigating more violent drug related offender such as those involved with the production and sale of methamphetamines. During the first Bush administration, Canada did much of the same research involving marijuana and their findings concluded that it was not in fact able to be linked to violent crimes and death. Keeping this in mind, Canada decriminalized on a national level. And since certain regions in Canada have been pushing for rights to open hash bars which will provide millions of dollars a year in tourist revenue.
Following this, California decided on a state level to support medical distributors and have been taxing marijuana, reporting in large profits towards the state despite DEA interference. For all of you that think drugs should not be legalized, let me ask you this. Would you rather have your jail full of people ‘self medicating’ themselves or would you rather have these cells filled by murderers, rapists, etc.? What specific questions should be asked? 1. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of not decriminalizing recreational drugs? 2.
How much money could be saved by legalizing some recreational drugs? 3. Since it was only made illegal due to under researched laboratories, shouldn’t marijuana be put in a decriminalized state until further and more reliable research can be done? 4. How much money is spent attempting to fight marijuana use versus how much money does it bring back to the state? What research should be done? The research that should be done is looking into the fact that jails are overflowing with massive amounts of people that honestly are not doing anything wrong except abusing drugs.
More research should go into the fact that because of overflowing jails, many criminals are being let go because there is no place to put them. Also, I think research should be done on the drugs themselves. What are the reasons that people use them? What are the side effects of using them. Most importantly, what is affected health wise of using recreational drugs? Modern MRI and CT scans can better reveal the answer to these questions then the equipment used in the 1950’s when marijuana was first declared criminalized Will emotions interfere with the critical thinking process?
If so, what can be done to make the discussion more objective? Yes, I definitely think that emotions will interfere with the thinking process. Some people have past history or experiences with recreational drugs, both good and bad. In order to make this discussion more objective, I think that the students in this class should take into consideration everyone else’s feelings and beliefs. Listen to all sides of the argument before making a decision on someone else’s opinion. (pg. 208) Do not play the “I’m right, you’re wrong” card on someone because we want to use critical thinking and not emotional thinking.
When you feel like your emotions are starting to kick in and you don’t think you will be able to sit and have a discussion rationally, take a look at someone else’s opinion from their point of view. Listen to why they have the opinion that they do and not just judge. But all of us doing this, it will help the discussion stay safe and free from anger. In addition, these are the websites I researched to produce my theory reguarding legalizing marijuana in the United States. * http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Super_High_Me * http://www. drugabuse. gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/Marijuana3. html#acute
