Marijuana and Alcohol
Why is the government still thinking
about legalization of Marijuana? That issue should have been resolved long time
ago. I can assume that most of us including me are for legalizing the herb now
that 58%
are pro marijuana. Drinking while intoxicated could and has been lethal and
so many people have died because of drunk drivers and consumption of alcohol.
Some studies have shown that in a driving test, a driver under the influence of
marijuana overestimate their
impairment and show greater distance between cars versus drunk
driver who have the most difficulty passing simple tests.
The
government has to put it all in a balance and make the decision knowing that alcohol
is worse than marijuana. According to both researchers; D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University and Daniel
Rees of the University of Colorado at Denver from Journal of Policy Analysis
and Management report there has been a decrees in teenage drinking from ages
ranging in the 18- to 20-years and a 5% decrease in alcohol sales.
the “green light” to legalizing marijuana could and
would make the streets safer. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and other
organizations against drunk driving would have part of a solution to the
problem. Also, when have you heard of someone having an overdose on marijuana? Or
that someone feels the need to kill someone, rob a bank or kidnap someone
because they were under the influence of marijuana? Government has to get on with
the program and legalize it. If they would just tax it like everything else,
even drug trafficking over the borders cold decrees.
While I agree wholeheartedly that the legalization of a certain green, leafy substance, especially when compared to other currently legal recreational intoxicants, should be a no-brain-er. Unfortunately, the issue is much, much more complicated than simply legalization and taxation of said substance. We have no way of testing for marijuana "intoxication" levels (example: You cannot be over X% high and be behind the wheel). Basically, reform in the area of recreational drug use would have to be accompanied by reform in other numerous institutions. Hiring companies across the U.S. would have to adopt a more lenient approach to the hiring process, as they certainly could not be expected to discriminate against marijuana users. Can you imagine answering yes or no to "Do you imbibe in any way, shape, or form Marijuana or any of its derivatives?" on a job application? I certainly could not. Answering a questions like that geared towards alcohol is illegal. Provided you do nothing to introduce alcohol into your own work environment, your work/management has no right to know what you do on your own time. While the disparity between damage done through Alcohol vs. Marijuana is without question, the age-old arguments for marijuana legalization have not worked historically because they do little to answer the more important issues of implementation. I have no doubt that the U.S. will get there, in time. Hell, when it does happen, it may just be the political re-alignment everyone's been waiting for.
ReplyDeleteCommenting on my classmate's blog, Eddie Valle " Marijuana and Alcohol". I totally agree with him that the Government should have solved the issue of legalizing Marijuana long time ago. The points he mentioned are very logical regarding the comparison of consumption of alcohol and Marijuana. In general alcohol is not good for human health but still the government allows it, and to mention all the accidents that happens because of drunk drivers and all other problems like addiction. I personally don't "smoke" marijuana but at the same time I don't see why the government is against legalizing it at least specially for medical purposes . As we all know the government can not stop people from marijuana, people have been and are still able to get their hands on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with eddie's blog about 90 %. The only thing is that there is no level to measure if you are "to high". being to high can really affect your driving as well making your reaction time alot slower, and almost be as dangerous as driving drunk. This would have to be one of the very few cons about legalizing marijuana. Other than this I feel that legalizing marijuana would definatley have a ton of benefits for the country as a whole. I believe that one day the government will eventually legalize it, but they will drag their feet to keep it illegal as long as possible.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Mr.Valle's blog post. This is a topic that should have been resolved many decades ago. Comparing the affects of both Marijuana and Alcohol, if something like alcohol can be legal and readily available why cant marijuana also be. I personally have never smoked or drank, and I probably never will. but I have seen the affects of both on people and I honestly have never seen or heard of an angry pot smoker rather than the many times I have heard of alcohol causing someone to completely loose their judgement and do something they will regret later. Legalizing could also benefit the US in many ways such as taxing it, like the tobacco businesses. There are a lot more Pros to legalizing Marijuana compared to its cons. Of course there must be a lot of research done on marijuana before to find out such things as how high you can be to continue daily activities such as driving. Many states have already legalized, now we just have to wait for the rest of the nation to get on board, which i'm sure will be soon.
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