Blazing a New Trail: What Would Really Change With the Legalization of Marijuana?

What do the words weed, pot, dope, blunt, Mary Jane, blaze, grass, 420, cannabis, ganga, and last but not least marijuana bring to mind? For many there is an automatic negative stigma assigned to it, for others there is a sense of relief or happiness that will be heard, and for some it will even be able to heal them. I’d like to start off by saying that in this post I do not intend to promote the recreational use of marijuana, but I will bring up some controversial parts of marijuana use. As many people are probably in the same boat, for most of my life I was pretty sheltered from illegal drugs. I didn’t know much, when I heard any of those words in the first sentence my only thought was “bad”.
As some of my other Cobbers have posted, marijuana is currently a Schedule 1 drug and has been since 1961; meaning that it is considered to be among the most dangerous drugs in the world and has no medical uses. Methamphetamine is considered to be in the class below marijuana. Picture in your mind the weed smokers and the meth addicts, does that picture make sense for meth to be considered safer than marijuana? With the current benefits that we are finding cannabis to have I believe that there is a reevaluation that needs to be done of marijuana.
Without changing marijuana from a schedule 1 drug we really can’t observe the potential negative effects scientifically and we cannot do the research on it that is needed. Being a young, college student I am very aware that even though it is illegal this is not stopping a lot of my peers. I also don’t think that it is that difficult to get your hands on if you wanted it. I truly believe that if it was legalized not a whole lot would change among college kids. Right now there are many people who do not wish to smoke weed and I don’t know why the sudden legalization would change many people’s minds. Cigarettes are legal yet many people still choose not to use tobacco products.
The potential benefits from legalizing marijuana blow my mind. The amount of tax revenue we could get from selling and producing marijuana, that is already being done under the table. Colorado has been able to bring in around $19 million to fund educational programs and has reported a drop in violent crimes.
One of the negative stigmas that go along with weed is the crime that comes with it. Since it is illegal, but also very common, many kids find themselves in prison for what seems to be just a petty crime. On top of that there are the head honchos, where weed is causing problems among gangs and violence on the streets. Not that all of the drug crimes would disappear with the legalization of marijuana, but it would take one of the most popular drugs off the black market. That would save a lot of money in the prison systems.
The medicinal uses of marijuana have just barely been dabbled in, who knows its potential health benefits for those who are sick. With the availability of weed in this day and age I can say that I have been presented with the opportunity multiple times, but I have never once been appealed to the recreational use of marijuana. After doing some research of my own and just listening to my peers, I’ve discovered that the legalization of marijuana is the best choice. To be honest, I don’t believe that much would really change within the culture and the potential health and financial benefits that this country could reap would be worth it.