ENGL 100 Composition and Reading

Introduction

The relatively harmless pleasures of consenting adults has turned into a topic of argument between government officials in Minnesota. Marijuana has been considered harmful by governments, from which Minnesota is no exception. There are arguments for and against its legalization in Minnesota and the situation has been long standing. Many states in the US, like Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and California have already legalized its use for recreational purposes. Minnesota must be the next, for a lot of positive reasons. Its legalization would help in making Minnesota more sensible, more just and alleviate suffering (Chatterjee, Debanjana et al.).

Discussion

In Minnesota at present, the law has assumed that marijuana is more harmful than alcohol. However, researches state otherwise. Other than creating societal problems like addiction and impairment, marijuana is less risky than other legal alcoholic products. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 37,000 people die every year of alcohol abuse, whereas none die due to marijuana use. Research has also shown that marijuana is much less addictive than alcohol and the health costs related to alcohol are eight times higher than costs related to marijuana. On the basis of this facts, making marijuana illegal and alcohol legal makes no sense at al. Equal treatment of these two vices under the purview of law would help Minnesota become a more sensible and honest state (Gundersen, Doris).

Prohibition of marijuana has made the state of Minnesota unjust. Making the use of marijuana a crime and initiation of a multi-billion law enforcement war in its opposition has brought upon a huge amount of damage for the people, especially blacks, who are more likely to be arrested than whites for possession. This war against marijuana is affecting and destroying more lives than the use of marijuana itself could have (Wegman, Jesse).

Minnesota has a separate medical cannabis law that permits the usage of specifically dosed cannabis based oils and pills. These medicines are custom made for specific medical conditions for limiting or eliminating the side effects. For example, children who have seizure disorders get the option of using specific doses of a purified formulation of cannabis oil which possess no intoxication side effects anyhow. Minnesota’s medical laws are responsible and their Department of Health has found that around 90% of their patients are getting better results from these kind of medicines. However, production of these medicines are expensive and the insurance companies do not have rules of covering them. Therefore, multiple ailing Minnesota patients just cannot get admittance to these medicines for getting relief from their suffering.  In accordance, an amount of the state revenue acquired from the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes can be dedicated for the reduction of the cost of these medicines, in turn reducing the suffering of the Minnesotans who desperately need help (Bostwick, Michael).

Even though the use of marijuana in medical situations is recommended, smoking it is just not good for health. It is opium poppy derivative, and heroin is not healthy at all. It makes one stupid, it is bad for the brain, lungs and heart. However, even if it is harmful, every individual has the right of deciding whether to take it or not at their own risk. Since marijuana is highly addictive, majority of the users go on developing dependency over it. Stopping it can create withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and anxiety. However, weed is less harmful than legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Cannabis has proven health benefits like treatment of glaucoma to prevention of epilepsy. No health grounds are there for keeping it illegal. Tobacco is much more addictive than cocaine, however, there is no sign that marijuana results in any physiological addiction (Caulkins, Jonathan et al.). Legalization of cannabis would be taking the trade directly out of the hands of criminal gangs, which would be reducing their reprehensible effect on both cannabis importing nations and the production places. Legalized marijuana can be in a proper manner regulated for ensuring safety and quality, similar to any other product. Its illegal selling on the streets would leave it uncontrolled, with no control over what could be mixed with it (Caulkins, Jonathan et al.).

Conclusion

From this discussion it has been proved that the assertion on legalizing marijuana in Minnesota is not completely baseless. It is going to make the state more free, and that is what every society must be. Minnesota can become a sensible, fiscally sound and humane state, and its high time that it does, following the footsteps of other US states.

References

Bostwick, J. Michael. "Blurred boundaries: the therapeutics and politics of medical marijuana." Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Vol. 87. No. 2. Elsevier, 2012.

Caulkins, Jonathan P., et al. "Marijuana legalization: Certainty, impossibility, both, or neither?." Journal of Drug Policy Analysis5.1 (2012): 1-27.

Caulkins, Jonathan Paul, et al. Options and issues regarding marijuana legalization. Rand Corporation, 2015.

Chatterjee, Debanjana, et al. "Experience of abuse, household dysfunction, and early use of alcohol and marijuana among Minnesota youth: the moderating role of internal assets." Journal of Adolescent Health 58.2 (2016): S12-S13.

Gundersen, Doris C. "The legalization of marijuana: Implications for regulation and practice." Journal of Nursing Regulation 6.3 (2015): 34-38.

Wegman, Jesse. "Opinion | The Injustice Of Marijuana Arrests." Nytimes.Com, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/opinion/high-time-the-injustice-of-marijuana-arrests.html?_r=0.