Discuss Pros and Cons of Light Drugs Legalization (Term Paper Sample)

Legalization of Light drugs use:
Pros and Cons of Light Drugs Legalization (e.g. Marijuana)
Cleon Lewis
Political Science 304
Professor McRidis
February 16, 2015
Discuss Pros and Cons of Light Drugs Legalization (e.g. Marijuana)
Pro or against, drugs are agreeably a major influential force in our society today; therein yielding the debate on the need to legalize light drugs and as expected, stirring numerous controversies with both proponents and opposers vehemently putting forth their views as observed in the subsequent paragraphs of this essay. Light drugs or commonly known as soft drugs is a group of psychoactive drugs that are believed to be non-addictive. Or rather, mildly addictive and do pose less dangers after its use as opposed to the Hard drugs, which similarly are psychotic drugs but are extremely addictive and are perceived to be especially damaging to the entire health of the user indiscriminately. The word light in the moot topic implies that the drug causes no or insignificant harm to the user and marijuana being the ultimate epitome thus forming the basis of this thesis.[Jeffery A. Miron. The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition, (2005, June) /mironreport.html (accessed June 7, 2010).]
Borrowing from the school of thoughts of the economic and social impacts of light drugs legalization advocates, The Economic Impacts of Marijuana Legalization, David G. Evans, Esq., Executive Director, Drug Free Projects Coalition, researches on the following core points:
Light drugs legalization exhibit mammoth economic benefits to the country; legalization of soft drugs offers reduction in spending on the criminal justice costs of marijuana law enforcement and revenue losses from shifts in law enforcement policies. In The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition, Jeffrey A. Miron argues that "legalization will reduce the need for prosecutorial, judicial, correctional and police resource spending by approximately $7.7 billion-13.7 billion per year and even though some revenue from court fines and asset forfeitures would be lost, the gains surpass the loss," 1 this results to budgetary savings. Many countries` prisons, America being the case of reference, are filled to the brim with people who got long and unfair sentences for possession of the drug. Part of the attraction of soft drug, marijuana is that it is illegal; an example being alcohol in the 1920’s. Before its criminalization, young people did not take an interest in it. After its criminalization, people who did not have interest became eager and started drinking it. In addition, those who had been using it before suddenly were criminals. If alcohol and tobacco, which are so much worse for you, are legal, then why isn’t cannabis? Which similarly is a light drug?
Legalization of light drugs would see to disappearance of a major part of organized crimes globally. In America, at the Mexican border, there would be reduction in crime, mainly because the Mexican drug lords would no longer profit from drug sales, which are non-taxed and illegal; thus, marijuana should be extremely regulated by law. With that said, Marijuana can be hugely beneficial to the government and the citizens at large. Tax revenue could significantly increase with the legalization of marijuana because of its huge popularity in the society. State surveys, Pew Research Center (Seth Motel) has shown that nearly half, about forty five percent of America’s population has tried marijuana at least once, bearing in mind this is while it is illegal and harder to obtain than it would be if it were legal. That turnover calculated would be a whooping forty to one-hundred billion dollars in annual tax revenue. Thus legal marijuana production would create jobs both domestically and globally. Locally, dispensary shops would create numerous legitimate jobs for people. Globally, producers all around the world would have new job opportunities involving the production of cannabis sativa for international trade as the case of tobacco therefore helping aid in the reduction of global unemployment and jumpstarting the world over economy.
In the Providence Journal, Joycelyn Elders, MD writes, "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. In addition, it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day," recently, there has been renewed scientific interest in examining the medical efficacy of cannabis in specific patient populations. It was used as a powerful appetite stimulant, which helped patients that had HIV/AIDS, or cancer patients going through chemotherapy as a sedative for, example, both the Institute of Medicine and the NIH recently reported medicinal cannabis might be useful in the treatment of pain in HIV+ patients. HIV+ patients experience a number of clinical sequelae to the infection, even when they are otherwise considered clinically asymptomatic. Sleep abnormality being such earliest sequela. In major surgeries marijuana is used as an anaesthetic drug to avert pain during the operation thus contributing to medical success globally thus managing to curb diseases which have proven to be unconquerable in the earlier times.[Joycelyn Elders, MD, Former US Surgeon General Editorial, Providence Journal (March 2004).]
As clearly put and jotted down above, there is definitely a rejoinder on the decriminalization of light drug use and those who oppose the legalization put forth very clear reasons succinctly and with the same veracity that the proponents argue. With that, it’s now time to delve into the cons of light drugs legalization and borrowing from the research works of, British Lung Foundation, "Smoking Gun: The Impact of Cannabis Smoking on Respiratory Health, "the following vital points emerge:
In The Impact of Cannabis Smoking on Respiratory Health, British Lung Foundation argue, "3-4 Cannabis cigarettes a day are associated with the same evidence of acute and chronic
bronchitis and the same degree of damage to the bronchial mucosa as 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day. Cannabis smoking is likely to weaken the immune system. Infections of the lung are due to a combination of smoking-related damage to the cells lining the bronchial passage and impairment of the principal immune cells in the small air sacs caused by cannabis." Contrary to the proponents’ belief that marijuana is medically beneficial we do find a vital health issue from this accredited research work by modern ISO Certified health aficionados. This raises a grave health issue on the cannabis (light drug) usage which actually outweigh the cigarettes effect which widely cause lung cancer and so do oppose its legalization and actually only some components in the cannabis are medically important if extracted by qualified scientists as contradicted by raw marijuana smoking famously known in US as ‘pot smoking`.[British Lung Foundation,Smoking Gun:The Impact of Cannabis Smoking on Respiratory Health(a publicly disseminated report:Nov.2002).]
Light drugs, marijuana, just as hard drugs, cocaine, are highly addictive and do exhibit serious withdrawal syndromes on heavy users, which in clinical terms is an acute addiction. In the Marijuana Abstinence Effects in Marijuana Smokers Maintained in Their Home Environment, Alan J. Budney, PhD argues that, "This study validated several specific effects of marijuana abstinence in heavy marijuana users, and showed they were reliable and clinically significant. These withdrawal effects appear similar in type and magnitude to those observed in studies of nicotine withdrawal;...