AN ARGUMENT AGAINST THE LEGALIZATION OF WEED

Upon reading the article entitled "Finance the bailout: Legalize
weed," published April 7, 2009, I immediately had problems with the
arguments the author provides.

The first assertion I found inaccurate was the statement that
"...Marijuana is non-addictive." While marijuana may not be physically
addictive, as other illegal drugs are, the use of this illicit
substance, according the U.S. Surgeon General, can have acute mental
and biological repercussions. Psychological impacts include the
deterioration of short-term memory and a diminished capacity to take
in and retain new information; physical consequences consist of the
degeneration of lung performance (comparable to that observed in
tobacco smokers), reduced virility in both males and females, weakened
immune response, and considerable energy loss. Additionally, use in
adolescents, which is currently on the rise, can lead to behavioral
problems and deterioration of relationships; these problems are
assumedly similarly present, if not more so, in the adult population
that habitually utilizes the substance.

Another statement I found inaccurate was the assertion that law
enforcement spends a significant portion of its annual eight billion
dollar budget on "...drug control, police agencies, ... [prosecution]...,
imprisonment, drug education, treatment and research." According to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the most frequent crimes
perpetrated in the U.S. are in fact property crimes (burglary,
larceny, automobile theft) and violent crimes (murder, forcible rape,
robbery, aggravated assault.) One would think that law enforcement
would spend the greater part of their time and money on these crimes,
rather than drug crimes.

Furthermore, the number of reported alcohol problems (liquor law
arrests and liquor law judicial affairs referrals) far outnumbers the
number of reported drug problems (drug law arrests and drug law
judicial affairs referrals), according to the Wright State Police
Department's Annual Security Report. So even in a university setting,
police and other law enforcement officials expend the bulk of their
time and effort on crimes other than drug offences.

Another point that the author of this article makes is that
"...cigarettes have more proven negative health effects than marijuana."
While this may be true, both federal and state governments recently
increased taxes on the purchase of cigarettes. The Ohio legislature
recently increased the cigarette tax to $1.25; similarly, President
Barack Obama increased the federal tax on cigarettes to $1.01.
Therefore, though cigarettes remain legal in the United States, the
recent measures instituted by state and federal governments are
helping to reduce cigarette and tobacco use, while legalizing
marijuana would clearly result in a colossal increase in the use of a
substance that has ramifications virtually as hazardous as those of
tobacco.

Additionally, the use of cigarettes and other forms of tobacco have
been decreasing in the United States, while the use of marijuana in
the United States in one of the highest in the world, despite stiff
penalties.

Just imagine the consequences if the drug were legalized.