18+ Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana (Explained)

Is legalizing marijuana right or wrong? Things you must know

Here is one of the most controversial topics. With an ever-increasing number of states, in any event, considering authorizing the use of weed- either medicinally or recreationally – the polarizing subject keeps on getting supporters on the two sides of the issue.

The individuals who need it completely sanctioned and those who need to keep it illicit have dug in themselves for a conceivably long and challenging fight. As indicated by a 2017 survey, 52 percent of American grown-ups have attempted cannabis sooner or later in their lives.

Table of Contents

Pros Of The Legalization Of Marijuana:

Improving safety and quality control:

With the legalization of marijuana, there will be an improvement in safety as well as quality control. Hence there will be relatively less burden faced by the medical system too. Moreover, the issues and risks regarding the dosage of marijuana are moderate.

Just like the industries of tobacco and alcohol, marijuana will be sold out as per the standards; hence the people will be getting the quality as per the amount they pay. Hence, there is quality control of marijuana, too, after legalization. While illegal, the black market is encouraged and flourishes as people pay more.

Discouraging the black market:

Over the past decade, marijuana is only found in the black market. Moreover, the product reaches out to the buyer through several people that are linked to the drug dealer. All these things can be eccentric to any criminal organization.

With the legalization of marijuana, these people can come out of the black market resulting in a fall in the black market and the criminal organization that has been selling marijuana. Hence, the black market will be diminished for sure.

Increment in tax revenue:

Probably the greatest of the pros that have originated from the legalization discussion is the increase in tax revenue. To clarify this, here is a figure that can amaze you. About $996 million amounted to the legal sales of marijuana in the year 2015. Well, the figure is not a small one.

This lump sum amount can be utilized for many purposes like bettering the roads, improving schools, funding public projects, and hiring more social servants like firefighters and police. Well, there are several ways betterment can be brought with tax revenue generated.

Availability of cannabis for medical purposes:

As a matter of fact, marijuana is used in treating many diseases. This is the reason why it has medicinal significance. Marijuana components like THC and CBD play a significant role in treating the following diseases:

Migraines
Epilepsy
Crohn’s disease
Cancer
Anxiety
Depression
Chronic pain
Psychosis
Inflammation
Problems arising due to chemotherapy

The availability of cannabis will improve public health by contributing a lot to the healthcare system.

A decrease in drug violence:

Most of the urban areas have been facing drug violence related to gangs. This source of conflict can be resolved with the help of legalizing the use of recreational marijuana.

Allowing the police force and court to focus more on serious issues:

If marijuana is legalized, the police force and the court will focus more on the other serious issues and violent crimes happening.

With the legalization, the tax revenue generated will be provided to the police and court so that they will utilize it to minimize the crime rate. Moreover, they will get more time to focus on other violent crimes that need serious attention.

Cons of the Legalization of Marijuana-

It is addictive:

Researchers are as yet isolated regarding the matter of enslavement. In some cases, cannabis isn’t as addictive as harder medications like break and meth. Others guarantee that one in every ten people who smoke weed is found to be addicted to it.

They point out that halting weed without any weaning period will prompt withdrawal indications like crabbiness and tension. It could be said that cigarette smoking is legalized; hence, more research is needed to decide whether weed is genuinely as addictive as its rivals.

Affecting mental health:

The person who smokes weed has an adverse effect on his/her mind and body. Well, the brain is highly affected too. There are adverse effects on mental health observed. Hence, cognitive functions are affected along with a disturbance in motor learning.

Lungs are at high risk:

This con guarantees that smoking cannabis is more awful for your lungs than smoking a cigarette. It’s assumed that the weed smoker takes the smoke further into the lungs and holds it there longer than cigarettes.

This more profound, longer presentation to cancer-causing agents can increase the probability of malignant lung growth. The hypothesis, however, doesn’t address the various frequencies with which cigarette and weed smokers share.

A change in perception:

Like alcohol, weed adjusts your discernment. What’s more, similar to alcohol, this adjusted recognition could prompt issues of debilitated driving.

Driving affected by cannabis could intensify the serious issue of driving while being affected by alcohol. The perception has a lot of alteration that leads to driving while you are high.

A gateway to other drugs:

Marijuana has been considered to be a gateway drug. If a person has marijuana, there is a possibility of trying even more dangerous as well as harder drugs. Various researchers have brought a common result that can tell that marijuana is somehow linked with other kinds of drugs like heroin and prescribed painkillers.

Hence, the legalization of marijuana can severely affect the medical system as people will be dependent upon harder drugs from where coming back needs more medical attention.

The adverse effect of second-hand smoke:

You have been familiar with the adverse effects of second-hand smoke related to cigarettes. A similar kind of impact is left by smoking weed. Research has been undergoing to state whether the second-hand smoke of weed can accumulate THC in the bloodstream.

This hot topic is still ongoing, and many things will be brought forward in front of us. At the same time, its impact on the human lungs is obvious due to inhaling the smoke.

Hence, you have got to know both aspects of whether legalizing marijuana can be effective or not. Well, both the pros and cons do justify themselves. And for this, the discussion somehow still remains to be controversial.

Whether marijuana is taken for a recreational purpose or as a medicine, its legalization still has some cons that reflect its legalization encouraging the overdose of marijuana, which encourages trying more dangerous and harder drugs. So, now, you understand how the legalization of marijuana can have both positive and negative impacts.