Legalizing Marijuana: Pros and Cons Essay -- Drugs, Pros and Cons

The war on drugs is a movement of prohibition and military aid being undertaken by the United States government intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade. In the year 2010 the U.S. government spent $15 billion on the war on drugs, at a rate of $500 per second. State and local governments spent another $25 billion as well. In 2007, $42 billion was spent on the marijuana prohibition. That is more money than the war on drugs spent on all types of drugs three years before when $40 billion was spent all together. Why is our government focusing on a drug that can be called merely harmless to those who use it? Why is this drug getting more money spent on it than drugs that are highly addictive and life threatening? Marijuana is not as dangerous as people may want it to seem. Marijuana is a product of the Cannabis stavia, a hemp plant, and it is usually referred to as the plants leaves and flowers. Marijuana has become a popular drug with its recreational use that produces a feeling of well-being. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 21.1 million people were current users of illegal or illicit drugs, and of these people 75 percent reported using marijuana. Illegal in most countries this drug has many monikers such as pot, weed, grass, mary jane, etc. This drug is generally dried, crushed, and smoked in pipes or hand-rolled cigarettes, but it can also be consumed in food and drink. This drug comes with feeling both physical and psychological effects (Gale). The article â€Å"Is Marijuana Good?† by states that marijuana affects the brain with it’s key ingredient THC. The author asserts that â€Å"THC, a key ingredient in marijuana, attaches to cannaboid receptors throughout the body. Several areas of ... ...n Horse: Anti-communism and the War on Drugs." Contemporary Crises 14.1 (1990): 39-55. Print. Hardy, Quentin. "Cost of Marijuana Prohibition: $42 Billion Per Year." Green Change. 01 Oct. 2007. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. Web. Klein, Joe. "Why Legalizing Marijuana Makes Sense - TIME." TIME.com. 02 Apr. 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. Web. "Marijuana." Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. "Physicians and general public agree on medicinal marijuana use." PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News no. 480 (2005), 11-11. Print. Sophia Prashad, et al. "Smoking marijuana gives teen `normal' life." New York Amsterdam News89.3 (1998), 18-18. Print. Welch, William M., and Donna Leinwand. "Slowly, Limits on Pot Are Fading." USATODAY.com. 09 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. Web.