Should Marijuana (Cannabis) be legal?

Marijuana has been a hot topic over the years. Should it be legal or illegal? This seems to be the main question. 

Cannabis has become legal in 28 states and Washington DC for medical marijuana use or for recreational along with medical. Research has shown that the use of Marijuana can be very beneficial for people. Benefits include: controlling seizures, decrease anxiety, ease pain, help with nausea, etc...

All of these are amazing benefits!! Marijuana is a great option for chemo patients who may be experiencing pain and nausea. There are also people who enjoy the use of Marijuana for recreational purposes. Reasons for recreational use may include: just to relax or to help them wind down from such a stressful day. 

Many people in the United States may be nervous about legalizing a Marijuana because it is a drug, but alcohol is legal which also alters a persons mental state maybe even more than Marijuana. Therefore, we as a whole need to look hard at the benefits of Marijuana at least for medical purposes. So many people can gain the positive affects of using Cannabis. 

Another thing we need to think about is even though Marijuana may be illegal in a state, that does not mean people are not purchasing it. The government might as well legalize the use of Cannabis (at least medically) and tax it. More than half of drug busts are for Marijuana! Another positive effect that the legalization of Cannabis would have is it would clear out space in jails, so the issues with overcrowding would be closer to being resolved. 

On February 27th, 2017 the Editorial Board of the New York Times posted an editorial called Mental Illness, Untreated Behind Bars. 

This editorial is about how a large percentage of the population in jail/prison are mentally ill and how that costs taxpayers a lot of money. The mentally ill are constantly in and out of jail because they are not being treated for their illness, just thrown behind bars.

This editorial is arguing that mentally ill people in jail should have the opportunity to get treatment for their illness.

This is a really great editorial with great information on creating a better system to help the large population of mentally ill people. There is a initiative called Stepping Up which helps local agencies develop ways to divert people that are no threat to the public into treatments.

In this editorial it states that a jail will distribute 700 prescription per day and spend $8 million per year caring for the mentally ill.

The intended audience for this editorial is going to be adults and those holding positions in office that can make the decision to become a part of the initiative to divert mentally ill people to treatment rather than behind bars.

The credibility of the authors is not to great. They may have had good sources of information, however they are not directly linked to the prison/jail system nor are they holding governmental positions that deal with this issue.

To sum it up, this editorial supports the funding of programs to help jail/prisons divert mentally ill inmates that are no threat to society into treatments. I agree with the view of this article because it 1) helps those people so they can be integrated back into society and 2) it is more cost effective for tax payers in the long hall.