Marijuana is by far the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States and in most other countries as well. More than seventy million Americans have tried marijuana, and more than twenty million have smoked it in the last year, but does marijuana really affect people and their thinking process, and should weed be legal in the United States? I believe that marijuana should be legal because people should live their lives how they see fit.
Marijuana hit the United States hard in the 1960s and 1970s, becoming the second most popular drug after alcohol. Through this time period many people thought this drug was harmless, but it has been proven that it can be used for medical uses. There are many slang terms used for marijuana, some of the most popular are pot, weed, cannabis, Mary Jane, hash, dope, bud, green, smoke, just to name a few. .
There are many beneficial reasons why marijuana use should be legalized. Many people use this drug for medicinal use, and others use it for entertainment. In the United States, using marijuana for medical purposes is illegal. Since the 1970's thirty-five state legislatures have passed laws supporting marijuana's use as a medicine. People suffering with AIDS, cancer and chemotherapy, could be helped with the THC in pot and smoking it could decrease the nausea and vomiting associated with the diseases. Most of these infected people are unable to swallow and hold down a pill and smoking marijuana is often the only reliable way to deliver THC, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. Another pro to the use of marijuana is diminishing glaucoma; it also can be affective in stimulating appetite in AIDS patients. There is also evidence that smoking marijuana and THC reduces muscle spasms from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. Physicians have reported that smoking marijuana provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, insomnia, and chronic pain.
