February 26th, 2003 - "Legalization of Marijuana"

this is a paper i wrote for college writing and i got a B- on it AND i was WICKED high when i wrote it... go me

My topic of this assignment is not so much an experience as it is a belief. I believe marijuana should be legalized. I am not writing this paper to tell people smoking pot is right, or that people should do it. I am also not writing this paper to be funny or typical. I am writing this paper to let people know why I think it should be legalized. Marijuana legalization is a strong belief of mine. I don’t have strong views on politics, religion, or abortion, just simply marijuana. I can understand why people make such a big deal about religion. I can also understand why someone would try and stop abortion, or at least debate it. But I cannot understand why anyone would actually feel the need to keep marijuana illegal.
Marijuana is a mind-altering substance. Smoking marijuana can result in many different things. If you smoke it enough you will end up forgetting things. When you are high, your reaction to things will slow down, vision can become blurry or delayed, and a possible stammer when trying to speak may occur. After smoking you usually get what we call “munchies.” Munchies are a typical problem among marijuana users and can usually be taken care of with a bag of whatever is closest. Cottonmouth is another consequence of smoking. Whether you have smoked before or not, you know what cottonmouth is like. All you need to do is grab yourself a nice refreshing beverage, and your cottonmouth is cured! If it is your first time smoking, or you are smoking in an uncomfortable environment, you have a chance of becoming very paranoid. Some people are paranoid when they smoke no matter what. That is also a consequence of smoking.
People smoke for many different reasons. Marijuana can be used for many things. It can put a stop to restless nights, loss of appetite, extreme pain, and nausea. All too often those symptoms are from a serious illness, and it may even be legal to use marijuana to subside those symptoms. If you do not actually have a medical problem, marijuana could still help any and all of those symptoms.
I am not saying marijuana is good, and has no bad effects. Clearly, after smoking enough you can “burn” brain cells. It can also result in weight gain (from the munchies), lung cancer (from smoke inhalation), laziness, and quite a few other things.
Marijuana is not so much a debate as it is a judgment call. I don’t think the government should be able to limit us on our decisions as to how we live our lives. If I chose to smoke marijuana whether for sleeping purposes, to cure glaucoma, or even just to be “high,” it is my decision. Everyday we put marijuana dealers in prison, taking up valuable space where we could be putting child molesters and homicidal maniacs.
My experience stems from someone I know. This person, we will call her Beth, smokes marijuana. Since I have been young I have been exposed to her smoking habits. She used to try and hide it, but after awhile there was no avoiding it. I was upset. Yes, there was a time in my life where I thought marijuana was stupid. I couldn’t believe that people would voluntarily waste their money on a stupid feeling that would only last about an hour.
When I reached a certain age where I felt comfortable enough to talk about it, I did. Beth tells me that she has been smoking since she was about 13. She uses it to calm herself because she is very high strung. It wasn’t until I tested this theory that I realized it really did help. OK, so I tried smoking, no big deal, right?
I am not going to sit here and write a detailed paper on when, how, and where I smoke marijuana, or if I even do. This isn’t about me. I have realized that Beth needs it. If she doesn’t have something to calm her nerves then no one around will be happy. Beth had the option of taking anti-depressants for her mood. Unfortunately, Beth is very medication sensitive, so pills didn’t work out for her.
What worries me is what Beth’s life would be like if there was no marijuana. If marijuana were legal, Beth wouldn’t have to try so hard to hide her habit. She has hidden this habit from friends, parents, faculty and even family for a longtime. The sad thing is that she has to go out of her way to hide something that benefits her mental stability. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
In the end I truly believe that marijuana use should be no one’s choice but your own. I don’t just think it should be legalized for medicinal use, I think it should be legalized in general. If we can go out and kill ourselves with alcohol poisoning in one sitting, just because we are trying to drown our sorrows, why not just smoke marijuana and pretend it doesn’t exist? I also believe legalizing marijuana would take a lot of anti-depressants off the market. People could be so much happier and more relaxed without prescription drugs. Once the government realizes that marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol, maybe we will get somewhere.