A Plead for Weed :: Legal Issues, Drugs, Marijuana

â€Å"All Mexicans are crazy and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy,† (Anonymous, 1927). While marijuana has been seen as a malignant substance that causes insanity, the specific reason marijuana became illegal still remains unknown. Most Americans assumed marijuana was illegal due to the process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings that it was to protect citizens from the dangerous drug (Guither, 2011). However, the United States should completely legalize marijuana because it has its own benefits to improve the society. The debate over the legalization of marijuana is not a new phenomenon as it has been an ongoing controversy in the United States. In 7000 – 8000 B.C., marijuana was legal and used in woven fabric, food, incense, cloth, and rope (Guither, 2011). Marijuana remained legal until the Mexican-Americans smoked it and brought the plant with them during the Mexican Revolution in 1910. California then initiated the first marijuana state law outlawing the preparations of hemp (Guither, 2011). In addition, Latin Americans and black jazz musicians were also involved with marijuana, which played an essential part in the music scene. A newspaper in 1934 also editorialized that â€Å"marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white women twice,† (Guither, 2011). Based on history, racism became the charge against marijuana. The history of marijuana has influenced the United States’ decision not to legalize marijuana completely today. Legalizing marijuana is still a concern because the United States has failed to recognize the potential benefits of marijuana. Some states have recently legalized a small portion of marijuana only for medical purposes. The people who oppose to the legalization of marijuana have never given a chance to understand the benefits of marijuana. They should take into consideration that legalizing marijuana could create major changes to the world. The current interest of legalizing the use of marijuana has led to two arguments: The entrance of people into the field of drug abuse, and the insistence that people believe marijuana is not a detrimental drug compared to alcohol and tobacco (Bloomquist, 1967). With the strict laws prohibiting the use of marijuana, individuals have decided to use their own methods to obtain marijuana illegally. This type of criminal behavior causes the police to arrest individuals for marijuana violation (Bloomquist, 1967). This convinces proponents to believe that the current laws have restricted and violated people’s constitutional rights to smoke marijuana instead of tobacco or instead of drinking alcohol (Bloomquist, 1967).