Should Marijuana Be Legal Essay

Submitted By willingvessel
Words: 366
Pages: 2

Should Marijuana be legalized?
Yes! The first and most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no good reason for it not to be legal. Some people ask 'why should marijuana is legalized?" but I ask, "Why should marijuana be illegal?" From a philosophical point of view, individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves. The government only has a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. This does not apply to marijuana, since the individual who chooses to use marijuana does so according to his or her own free will. The government also may have a right to limit individual actions if the actions pose a significant threat to the individual. But this argument does not logically apply to marijuana because marijuana is far less dangerous than some drugs which are legal, such as alcohol and tobacco. Individuals deserve the right to decide whether or not they should use marijuana. The government should not tell individuals what to do as long as they do not harm others. Responsible individuals in a free society should be allowed to choose whether or not they use marijuana. Individual liberty is a fundamental value. The second reason is its incredibly expensive to keep marijuana illegal.
Nobody knows exactly how much money is spent to enforce anti-marijuana laws because there are so many factors to consider. The cost of keeping marijuana illegal, cost of active law enforcement, cost of prosecution (and defense!) of
accused