comments on a paper i wrote last year

[Orion26]

hey all, jsut wanted to get ur opinions on my essay i wrote, any suggestions are welcome, jsut wanna be sure i did a good job, any new ideas are welcomed to
thx for takin the ttime to read it:

Legalize Marijuana?


The topic I’m writing about is marijuana and things that everyone should

know about it. My question is should marijuana be legalized and decriminalized? I

believe it should be legal for people of the age. Like alcohol, cigarettes, gambling,

you have to be a certain age to purchase or do these things. I have many reasons

why I think marijuana should be legalized.
My First reason is that people make it seem worse then it really is. Some say it’s an
outlet drug for other hard drugs like crack and heroin. It’s not addictive and can’t
be overdose on it like other drugs and alcohol. It’s not dangerous like alcohol is with
drunk driving you can still do normal things and control yourself. The European
medical journal The Lancet stated, "The smoking of cannabis, even in the long
term, is not harmful to health. It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a
threat than alcohol or tobacco." Here are some statistics: Tobacco use is the
number one preventable cause of death in the United States, causing one out of
every five deaths, or about 400,000 deaths every year. That is more than alcohol,
drugs, firearms, murders, suicides, car accidents, and AIDS combined. Also, youths
ages 12-17 who smoke cigarettes are more likely to use illicit drugs and 11 times as
likely to drink heavily as non-smoking youths. This information came from
http://www.usaav.utah.gov/GeneralInfo/tobrefs.pdf. Here are some more statistics
about alcohol: Alcohol is involved in 50% of all driving fatalities. Drunk driving is
proving to be even deadlier than what we previously knew. The latest death
statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
using a new method of calculation, shows that 17,488 people where killed in alcohol
related traffic accidents last year. This report represents nearly 800 more people
were killed than the previous year. These quotes came from
http://www.usnodrugs.com/alcohol-statistics.htm. Four in ten criminal offenders
report alcohol as a factor in violence. Also, there were 27,035 deaths in the United
States from Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis (2001). Chronic Liver Disease and
Cirrhosis is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States (2001) according to
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm. There’s been no recorded deaths cause
by marijuana.
My second reason is if marijuana were to become legalized, it would have three
main functions: industrial use, medical use and personal/recreational use. Hemp, a
specific species of marijuana, is composed of less than 1 percent
tetrahydrocannabinol http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5447 Hemp produces
a higher yield per acre than cotton and has a growing cycle of 100 days. Hemp seeds
provide more protein than soy. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
you can produce four times as much paper from an acre of marijuana than an acre
of trees. Marijuana can be harvested at a quicker rate than trees. Hemp yields four
times the amount of cellulose you can get from a corn stalk. Cellulose is used to
produce methanol, which has been used to power cars. Hemp has the potential to
reduce or eliminate our dependence on oil http://jackherer.com/ NAFTA and the
United Nations recognize hemp as a commercial crop. The European Union
subsidizes farmers who grow hemp, and it is currently being grown for commercial
use in Canada http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5447. Also, Marijuana can be
used to treat glaucoma, to relieve pain and nausea, to prevent some malignant
tumours, and to stimulate the appetite of those suffering from AIDS and eating
disorders. Marijuana is legal for medical use in 34 states, although federal law
prohibits doctors from prescribing it. It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as
less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco." As a plant, marijuana cannot be
corporately patented as a chemical. If made legal, marijuana could become one of
the cheapest medicines available. Help people live an ordinary life and help people
who have painful and life threating diseases.
My third and final reason for the legalization of marijuana is that criminalizing
marijuana users and growers takes resources and jail space. We waste time, money
and manpower by prosecuting those who use marijuana. If the government legalizes
marijuana, the people that are growing instead of going to jail and wasting tax
payer’s money this can become a career for them and make new jobs for people.
Crime rate would decrease and the government would be making millions and
millions of dollars off this. They can sell marijuana like they sell cigarettes which the
government already makes millions off of because of the taxes on cigarettes. The
same rules would apply if you were buying cigarettes, have to be eight-teen years of
age and show id. But, the government should make some rules and laws to fallow if
you choose to smoke marijuana. First, you have to be a certain set age to smoke
marijuana. Secondly, you can’t smoke and drive at the same time. Next, have set
days where you can smoke like weekends only because then everyone would be
smoking all the time during work. Also, when you buy marijuana, you are only
allowed to buy a set number of grams per week. But, if Canada does legalize
marijuana the United States would be furious with us and put some much pressure
on Canada. Also, they might threaten us because the U.S. is so strict with marijuana
that if you have a gram on you in the States you can face up to one year in prison.
In conclusion, I think marijuana should be legalized because it’s a safe drug
when used responsibly, it can be used in different ways besides smoking, it would
decrease crime rate and create jobs for people. In the future, I hope people will drop
this stereotype about marijuana and realize it’s a safer drug that can help people
and society in many ways. Do you think marijuana should be legalized?

[Krypto]

I can be a grammar nazi if you would like hehe=X...You messed up on some words=D

[Orion26]

go rite ahead anything

[with_his_author]

Because of the propaganda out there when you use the word marijuana people automaticly have a negative view on the subject. Start the paper out by useing the word cannabis or cannabis sativa. Then from there on use the words "The plant" so that way people will see it as a plant instead of having that alread inbeded (sp ?) negative out look on the topic. Other then that I think the statistics sould be held until the end for the dramatic affect. Get people agreeing that it's a plant then give them the info that shows how harmless the plant truly is. Trust me it worked wonders on my father a very strick Pastor. Every time he would call it a drug or have a negative tone when saying cannabis I would interup him and say it's a plant can we please just call it what it is "The plant" in discussion.

Rev. Michael T
Soldier for Christ and Cannabis God's gift