Happy 420!

Happy 420 to all of the pot heads, and former pot heads out there! As many already know, I'm a supporter for pro-legalization of marijuana in the United States.  :) Although I don't currently smoke anymore, because it's illegal in the state of Texas and I don't believe it's worth losing my daughter over, I did in fact smoke before becoming pregnant. Not on a daily basis, but enough. People who didn't know that I smoked, never knew that I did because I didn't look like your typical "stoner". So, I'm pleased to say that I broke that stereotype. :) But, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I quit. The consequences of "getting busted", or losing my job just weren't worth it to me anymore.

Do I miss it? Not really. Will I ever smoke again? Maybe. Do I think it's dangerous? No more than alcohol or cigarettes. It's just gotten a bad rap. And just like with anything else, there are people who would/ do abuse it. That's just life though. So in honor of April 20th, I recently integrated my marijuana page with an essay that I had to write at the beginning of the spring semester for my English class. It's updated, with more current facts and statistics. Enjoy. ♥

::::Edit::::

I've taken the page down, and have instead posted the essay below. 

Marijuana 

A short essay by Sonia Rosenbalm 

Click for source credit

Marijuana should be legalized. This plant seems to be feared without real reason. It all goes back to people being afraid of what they don’t understand. If you grew up during the time period that produced films like “Reefer Madness”, which was intended to frighten people and discourage the use of marijuana, then I can see how you’d think it was dangerous. During the 1930’s anti-drug propaganda, paid for by the same campaigns that paid for this film, was at an all-time high. Those anti-drug campaigns along with more recent ones have taken a plant that really isn’t much different than alcohol and tobacco, and turned it into what many like to call a “gateway” drug. Its reputation has been tarnished without even considering any of the benefits.

According to the American Journal of Public Health, tobacco use kills more than four hundred thirty-five thousand people a year. Following close behind is alcohol, which kills over eighty-five thousand people a year. And these numbers are only growing. But the one thing that stood out to me is that marijuana was listed at the very bottom of this study, which claimed a total of zero lives. There were few cases where marijuana was in the deceased’s system, but there were also other drugs or alcohol as well. It was not just marijuana itself. So how does something like this happen? How can two other drugs that not only kill thousands of people, but also cause cancer, still be legal and marijuana not be?   

Tobacco	435,0001
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity	365,0001
Alcohol	85,000 1
Microbial Agents	75,0001
Toxic Agents	55,0001
Motor Vehicle Crashes	26,3471
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs	32,0002
Suicide	30,6223
Incidents Involving Firearms	29,0001
Homicide	20,3084
Sexual Behaviors	20,0001
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect	17,0001,5
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin	7,6006
Marijuana	07

           The short answer would be the government. But upon further research it seems that not only is the government involved, but so are several billion dollar pharmaceutical corporations. Lack of education on marijuana also sets back many legalization movements.  Not because they don’t try to inform or educate. It’s just that for many years society has put such an awful stigma on marijuana that it’s hard for many to break away from those beliefs. So any type of education seems to fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, this is costing us time, money, and possible cures.

If we legalized marijuana the United States, we the taxpayers, would save thousands of dollars. It has been calculated that we spend well over a billion dollars annually to incarcerate marijuana offenders. The estimated cost to house a single inmate is roughly one hundred twenty nine dollars and four cents per day. With well over eight hundred thousand pot offenders arrested each year, that amount is predicted to grow. If legalization passed we could cut the amount of time and money spent on minor possession charges, and short term prison sentences for distribution completely out. We would finally be able to turn our focus to more serious criminals, and harder drugs.

We would also have the benefit of making money and boosting our economy. If we treated marijuana much like we do tobacco or every other product, we could tax it and make millions of dollars. According to NORML founder Keith Stroup, a public-interest attorney, several surveys amongst the public would have no problem paying taxes on marijuana. All pro-legalization campaign members encouraged it as well. According to Jeffrey A. Miron, a senior lecturer at Harvard University published TheBudgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition which shows that the United States would generate $8.7 billion on tax revenue alone if it were to tax marijuana at the same rate as alcohol and tobacco. Also, with every new product comes a new market that would lead to several farming businesses. These businesses would bring in several job opportunities just like we see in the agriculture or dairy industry. Being that marijuana is a plant, it can be grown within the U.S. which would cut out the cost of importing, saving us even more money.

Profit aside, one of the major “cons” that anti-marijuana supporters constantly bring up is that it is dangerous. However, scientifically, the side effects to marijuana are less severe than any of the other drugs it has been categorized with that are currently legal. Addiction is always a risk. The same can be said for alcohol, tobacco, or any other drug. However, tobacco causes gum disease, infertility, low bone density, respiratory problems, premature births, and several types of cancer.  Alcohol causes liver failure, cancer, kidney disease, permanent brain damage, and thousands of drunken driving related deaths. Marijuana has not been proven to cause any cancers or diseases. It is known that it could potentially increase the risk of lung cancer much like tobacco, but without proper study this statement has not fully been proven. The only other side effects of marijuana are temporary short term memory loss, slow reaction time, infertility in men, and low birth weight in babies whose mothers smoked while pregnant. And a few of these are also dependent on how the marijuana is digested. Some of these risks can be dismissed completely if it is smoked through a vaporizer, a bubbler, or eaten with food.

Unfortunately, there aren’t very many resources to go through because of marijuana being illegal. There are several scientist, universities, and medical research facilities currently trying to get permits allowing them to grow and conduct research on marijuana. Several have received no response, or like the University of Massachusetts have been denied. So further studies to see if marijuana could potentially be a cure for brain tumors, or even aid in certain illnesses has been halted almost entirely by the government. Regardless of the setbacks, there are over ten medical societies that have given the go ahead for patients to be treated with medical marijuana through dispensaries because they believe it is much safer to use than many of the more modern medications out there. In fact, there is a pill known as Marinol that has been FDA approved since 1985 which active ingredient is Dronabinol, otherwise known as THC. It is available to anyone who has a prescription. But in a world where the public being sick creates profit for some, this is not what many big pharmaceutical corporations want to hear. Reverting to marijuana and dispensaries for treatment would put a dent in the pockets of people who produce and invest in prescription drugs.

Even with those facts, the biggest improvement that would happen with legalization would be a lower crime rate. The underground marijuana industry serves as over half of the black market business. Allowing marijuana to be legalized, would not only shrink the black market, and reduce marijuana trafficking on our borders. Currently the majority of arrests made with regards to marijuana are either for possession or distribution. They do not involve violence, murder, abuse, rape, or other narcotics. So why waste our police officers time if there really isn’t being a crime committed?  There are other countries, like the Netherlands or Spain, that have passed marijuana legalization laws that have not only profited but also reported less use by children between the ages of 15 and 19 years of age. Along with this, they have also seen less use of other harder drugs since legalization. In turn has reduced their crime rate to half of what the United States is, and bringing to light that legalization helped stop people from turning to harder drugs. Because of this violence, prostitution, and other drug related deaths dropped. With such positive changes in those countries, why not have the same for us?

Legalizing marijuana is definitely a step in the right direction. We have the opportunity to give it a medical purpose. We could use it to help and heal.  It would offer the United States a great deal of savings, profit, and a new job market. It would also present several opportunities to cut crime rates, and focus on harder more dangerous drugs and criminals. These are all positive changes and advancements, for us. We truly have the potential to gain so much from legalization, but only if we allow it.