Legalizing
            
             Marijuana
             The argument of legalizing marijuana is an age-old argument. There are so many pros and cons that can be argued about this subject. Both sides have equally convincing arguments as to why it should or should not be done. The most common arguments for people that are against legalizing is that Marijuana could become a "gateway drug" to harsher, more dangerous drugs; pot making you stupid; the rates of crime increasing; and making the drug readily available to our country's youth. Compared those arguments to those of people that are for it. They argue that Marijuana creates peace and is a stress reliever; it will decrease the crime rate if the herb is readily available; it will eliminate the need of an under ground culture; medical values; and pot enhances your creativity.
             First, marijuana would be safer because customers would know what they were buying. Too often in the black market, dealers lace marijuana with foreign substances and other drugs (e.g., chronic) to produce various effects. Since marijuana would be safer, health care costs would subside. Second, the government would receive valuable revenue from taxing the product. In addition, the government would not have to fund a considerable portion of the multi-billion dollar war against drugs. These savings could be redirected toward solving more critical social problems such as violence, poverty, and under funded public education. Legalization would unclog the court system considerably. Since fewer people would need trials, justice would flow much faster and more important cases would receive proper attention, allowing the judges and the juries to make more considered opinions. The elimination of countless trials would help solve the problem of prison overcrowding and enable the police to focus their efforts on more serious crimes such as murder and rape. There for, laws that make marijuana illegal have the undesirable ef...