The War on Drugs Vs. the War on Morality

The constant amount controversy associated with the on going effects of the drug war, have been consistently mentioned throughout time since marijuana was initially banned in 1927. Since then, the subject has become a timeless discussion amongst all Americans, overall acting as a question of morality. The entire topic is indefinitely based on a matter of opinion, but still the raw facts are the only real evidence in proving anything further on either side of the argument. The pros and cons concerning the legalization of marijuana vary widely as a result in personal aspects and experience.

Still a highly debated conflict today, the drug war continues to grow as the number of the US prison population rises due to the overwhelming amount of people getting arrested everyday for just possession. Certain myths and statistics also convey the downside of keeping marijuana illegal, and add more and more reasons to why the drug should be legal.

In the year 2000, more than 734,000 people were arrested in the US for marijuana -related offenses alone. This does not only show a very negative aspect of America, but is also a major issue for tax payers. Throughout the 1990's, the number of people arrested on marijuana charges was nearly 5.9 million; larger than the entire state populations of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. However, the interesting part is, that 12% of these arrests were made for the reason of "sale", the remaining 88% was simply for possession. Overall, this indicates that every 45 seconds, one marijuana smoker is arrested in the US. This fact alone is quite unfathomable when you think of all the people arrested just for personal use, not hurting or harming anyone or anything in any way. Meanwhile, this extremely high number of arrests exceeds the combined number of arrests of violent crimes like murder, rape, robbery and assault. These are crimes that tax payers don't mind giving up their money for, crimes that endanger society and need to be funded. In the end, when you think about the amount of tax money just being given towards arrests made on the part of innocent pot smokers, it is enough to be quite aggravating. The ironic part is, that people who choose to smoke pot have to pay these taxes as well. They are funding the government to arrest them for their own daily habits. Not to mention, they are still just everyday citizens working hard in this country for their loving families. The underlying factor is that they should not be considered criminals, especially with the amount of real crime taking place in this country everyday. Suddenly when these average citizens get caught smoking pot, they are arrested, forced to jail, and often times, their children are placed in foster homes as a result. This causes immense pain on the part of everyday American families. Financial hardship and emotional suffering reign through when this occurs, all when such an innocent crime was committed. This factor also creates distrust and disrespect for the law and criminal justice system as a whole.

Once the facts are known, the results of this undying question seem obvious. There is a high number of valid facts that proves this point. First off, the health reasons against smoking marijuana are not half as severe as one might believe. According to a study done by the United States government National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Morality Statistics, marijuana proves to be the least harmful of a number of everyday "drugs". Tobacco contains 400,000, alcohol contains 100,000,all legal drugs contain 20,000,all illegal drugs contain 15,000, caffeine has 2,000, and even Aspirin has 500. Marijuana contains absolutely no chemicals, close to Rat Poison which contains only 30. It seems as though marijuana is not physically as harmful as any of these drugs, even the legal ones like Aspirin. Though marijuana contains no chemicals, it is still somewhat harmful to the body. It is overused which results in minor cases of bronchitis and memory loss. It also induces lethargic behavior. Still, it is not anymore harmful and if not less, than a pack of Newport cigarettes. A 1997 UCLA School of Medicine study (Volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiritory & Critical Care Medicine) conducted a study on 243 marijuana smokers over an 8 year period reported the following: " Findings from the long term study of heavy, habitual marijuana smokers argue against the concept that continuing the heavy use of marijuana is a significant risk factor for the development of chronic lung disease." "The study concluded: No differences were noted between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and non smoking of marijuana."( Pure THC.com). This one study alone proves that marijuana is definitely illegal for a reason more than that of health risks. Not only is marijuana not as potentially dangerous to the body as most think, but it is also used for medicinal purposes. It is most likely the most natural choice for a painkiller, and is used most of the time for cancer patients. Despite it's illegal reputation, most of the population is for the medicinal uses of marijuana. It benefits everyone from doctors to potential patients.

Another backbone to reasoning behind the legalization of marijuana