This debate over whether or not marijuana should be legalized has been waged for years. Some believe that the cost to society of legalizing it outweigh the benefit. Therefore, it should not be made legal. And I wholeheartedly oppose to that argument from two important parameters: economic and social.

From an economic perspective of supply and demand, the one best way to control, suppress or discourage demand is to increase supply. This same rationale could be used in the case of marijuana. The best way to discourage its consumption is to decriminalize it. Doing so will automatically increase supply, which, in turn, will bring demand down.

The argument that most of the people who are against the idea of legalizing cannabis are presenting is that such measure will turn more people into addicts than ever before, which will have a negative toll on society’s welfare and well-being. Such argument is to me baseless and preposterous; I refuse to be bought into it.

Alcohol, a more potent of a drug than marijuana by most researchers’ accounts, is legal, is it not? I believe it is. Does that make everybody an alcoholic? Absolutely not!!! So do not tell me that legalizing marijuana will turn more people into addicts. That argument is refutable.

Go on this website http://bit.ly/a7VLRG to access 25 scientific research studies published on the facts about marijuana and why legalizing it will not cause any more health-related harms than most of these legal drugs out there, such as alcohol and tobacco.

Marijuana has become a lucrative crop because of its limited supply on the market to meet the demand. Hence, now you have people making a living out of selling it; they are even willing to kill over it. If you legalize it, supply will increase and more structured points of access will be made available to the consumers, meaning all the violence that surrounds the distribution and sale of the product will cease.

Also, what seems to be funny, though, is that people are making a living out of the sale of the substance, yet the government is not getting its share of the pie. How stupid is that! If we legalize it, the government will tax it, meaning more tax revenue to go into our treasury. And the more money we have coming in, the better off we will be economically and socially speaking.

Criminalizing marijuana is to some extent destructive to the foundation of our society. People are getting years behind bars just because of a small possession of marijuana. And when they do get out, because of their criminal record, it is hard for them to find jobs and be reintegrated into society. What impact you think that is going to have on these people? Of course, they are going to go back in jail because they are left to commit illegal acts to survive. That’s the vicious circle of the American penitentiary system.

Those are my motives for being an advocate for the legalization of marijuana, though I have never smoked it in my life. I believe it is causing more harms to the people and the economy by keeping it illegal. Legalizing/ regulating the production, sale and consumption of it is the way to go and the right thing to do.