Pot, Its Whats for Dinner :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cannabis, chronic, bud, weed, pot, grass, the list is endless. Harboring several names, marijuana use, is illegal in most of United States. In California, marijuana can be prescribed to cancer patients, aids patients and people who suffer from glaucoma. But the recreational use is strictly prohibited in most of the 50 United States. Considering the liable revenue, the social and health related factors of marijuana as opposed to legal substances like alcohol and cigarettes; the recreational use of marijuana should be legal for social and economic reasons. Marijuana has been proven to induce less side effects, or negative factors than either alcohol or cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes causes cancer, in several different forms, is physically addicting, and has enough other chemicals in it to kill small animals. Along with the extremely addicting nicotine, and tar-filled tobacco, cigarettes contain other chemical s such as rodenticide, formaldehyde, and sometimes even ammonia. Still, it is legal to buy, and smoke. Alcohol, another prevalent â€Å"evil† in society, too can cause severe internal problems (liver disease), is psychologically addicting, and in large quantities can in fact be fatal (alcohol poisoning). Both these legal substances have proven more dangerous than marijuana. Marijuana is not physically addicting. In most cases, especially if cultivated and smoked appropriately, it contains no other chemicals. One cannot â€Å"overdose† on marijuana or get â€Å"pot poisoning†. However, the government manages to ignore such proven facts, and maintains the legal sale and use of alcohol and tobacco products. Approximately $5.00 a day, $35.00 a week, $140.00 a month, and $7280.00 a year; smoking a pack of cigarettes a day is costly habit. But theoretically, it is not that expensive to grow. So, where do the disparities in prices come from? The federal government has an extensive list of taxes, and tariffs put on tobacco. The taxes on a pack of cigarettes make up for more than 50% of the price. The tobacco industry is viewed as this inherent â€Å"evil†, and the government does all it can to thwart the industry, including the taxation of all tobacco products. If the government were to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, the same taxes, and tariffs could be applied to the sales of marijuana cigarettes. The revenue collected from this would be astounding. With this revenue, more regulation could be enforced and it would soon be harder for kids and teenagers to acquire. And just like alcohol and cigarettes, a state license could be issued for the distribution, and a legal â⠂¬Å"pot smoking† age could be enforced.