The Legalization of Marijuana Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Legalization of Marijuana - Term Paper Example The legalization of marijuana Statement of the problem Marijuana is a plant through which the dried leaves can be smoked or used as an ingredient in food from which an altered state of mental perception, or a ‘high’, can be obtained. The drug has similar effects to alcohol with less danger of violence or risky behaviors due to the imposed paranoia that it creates. Over half of all arrests for drug use are for marijuana. In 2009, 1,663,582 people were arrested for drugs, with 858,408 for marijuana possession. In comparison, only 99,815 were arrested for trafficking of marijuana. The DEA’s Administrators Judge, Francis Young concluded: â€Å"In strict medical term, marijuana is safer than many foods we commonly consume† (Get the Facts, 2011). And yet, in terms of social currency, marijuana presents a danger to freedom and to financial health through the possibility of incarceration for having made the choice to use it. In addition, the use of marijuana has a far less damaging result to one’s reputation than does an arrest, conviction, and/or incarceration. One of the reasons that marijuana should not be illegal is because of the morality that it represents in the way in which a society should administer justice. Socrates defined justice as a state in which one took care of one’s own business and did not interfere in the business of others (Gardner, 2005, p. 126). Negative morality, a concept of Asian philosophy, suggests that morality should be found through stillness, though not committing an act that might cause another harm. The act of smoking pot is not specifically intrusive into another’s rights. The family of one might object, just as they might object to the use of alcohol, cigarettes, or even over consumption of food, but their rights are not violated by someone who chooses to use those vices and they are only affected if they choose to be affected by that use. However, criminalization of the use of marijua na interferes with the reputation of the user whose life and future may or may not include its future use, but will retain a public history of it if incarcerated.