Effects of Marijuana on Society (if legalised)

Over the last 40 years, the legal status of marijuana has been an endless debate. Many have argued policies that would permit individual possession of small amounts of marijuana, their main argument being that it is a safe drug and that "criminal sanctions against personal use and possession represent at worst excessively harsh and at best unnecessary penalties". Although many of this is true and in my opinion marijuana is not a bad drug, many do not notice the long term effects it can have on society.If legalized people will smoke marijuana openly and no doubt statistics of users will increase greatly. Marijuana breeds a society of lazy people, after smoking the drug for the next few hours your mind is greatly impaired and the cannabinoid stays in your system for days, creating slight feelings of haziness and affects the hippocampus (How Marijuana Works) in your brain. This effects the transition of short term memory into long term.

Marijuana is currently the leading cause of substance dependence other than alcohol in the U.S. In 2008, marijuana use accounted for 4.2 million of the 7 million people aged 12 or older classified with dependence on or abuse of an illicit drug. This means that about two thirds of Americans suffering from any substance use are suffering from marijuana abuse or marijuana dependence.

If the U.S. were to legalize marijuana, the number of users would surely increase. Today there are 15 million current marijuana users compared to 129 million alcohol users and 70.9 million tobacco users. Though the number of marijuana users might not quickly climb to the current numbers for alcohol and tobacco, if marijuana was legalized, the increase in users would be rapid with subsequent increases in addiction.

Legalized gambling has not reduced illegal gambling in the United States; rather, it has increased it. This is particularly evident in sports gambling, most of which is illegal. Legal gambling is taxed and regulated and illegal gambling is not. Legal gambling sets the stage for illegal gambling just the way legal marijuana would set the stage for illegal marijuana trafficking.

There are not as many statistics for New Zealand marijuana use but our statistics would no doubt reflect those of America, just on a smaller scale. Legalizing marijuana would have the same effects here as it would in the U.S. however New Zealand has still a fragile and small economy, legalizing marijuana would only hinder our growth as a nation.