The rates that people are being arrested for possession of the drug, marijuana, are at a record high. The FBI recently released the latest national data and it shows that in 2014, at least 620,000 people were arrested for possession, which is 1,700 people per day. More than 1 out of 20 arrests were for simply possessing marijuana. At the dawn of the war on drugs twenty years ago, fewer than 2 percent of arrests were for marijuana possession, yet it's been rising ever since.
I do understand that it's illegal, and that police officers are just doing their jobs, but it baffles me that so many people nationwide have been pushing for this drug to be legalized, yet only two states have successfully accomplished it. I do know, however, that a few states have been put on the ballot for legal marijuana in 2016. These states are Nevada, California, and Arizona. I do believe we are getting closer to this goal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/09/28/every-minute-someone-gets-arrested-for-marijuana-possession-in-the-u-s/
I have always had kind of mixed feelings on marijuana; I myself wouldn't take it but as far as I know it doesn't negatively affect you or cause addiction. However, I still don't think the use of this drug is exactly "in the clear" for it to be legal. We will have to see what our nation decides!
ReplyDeleteI think at the moment especially, weed will not be legalized for the sole reason of the impact it would have on the other legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes. The capitalists who control that industry would never allow it. I wouldn't ever smoke marijuana, but i think it should be legalized because people should be able to make their own choices. -Lincoln Anthony (8th Period)
ReplyDeleteShelby Flowers
ReplyDeleteI personally have mixed emotions like Madeleine. It is a drug that everyone now a day does. it is a drug that is so easy to get. this drug is just like candy to people ! its so good and addicting. i feel as if it should be legalized because in some cases it can help with cancer but in others it is just something that is done it has no negative affect. when it becomes over used is when it causes problems but honestly i think it is just like alcohol. alcohol can be fine but when people have to much there becomes problems
I think that the we should legalize the use of marijuana! I do agree with Lincoln Anthony that it probably wont occur because it would replace so many cigarette and alcohol companies. Medical marijuana has so many potential positive effects that haven't even been discovered yet due to the grey area that the drug is currently in. I think that the next presidential election will have a lot to do with whether this drug is shut down or continued on!
ReplyDelete