Should we legalize Marijuana?

Nowadays, the legalisation of marijuana is the theatre of serious discussions in the mouths of politicians on the international scene, especially in America, Canada or France.
However, the population is divided into two opposing camps, on the one side which are for and on the other those who are against. At the same time, some Internet writers did not fail to recall, through information websites, the important points supporting the position of the respective camps. This summary will aim to compare the views of John Hawking who is against the legalization and Renee Jacques who supports it. It will be separated in three parts, firstly, we will see the opinion of the editors about the two biggest contradictory arguments which are addiction and Health and finally we will see the different extremes caused by the Cannabis.

First of all, let's compare one of the main points that is put forward, addiction. John Hawking (2014) argues that a certain portion of the population is likely to be addicted to Cannabis. According to Dr. Drew Pinsky's research, the drug that requires the most effort to get rid of it is Marijuana. However, from the point of view of Renee Jacques (2014), who himself exposes the research of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, cannabis would be no more addictive than the pseudo drugs that are already in circulation than tobacco and alcohol. In conclusion, cannabis makes addicted a small part of users, but remains less addictive than other drugs. Nevertheless, in a populous country, this addicted user part is not to be neglected. 4.3 million Americans have had a dependency or abuse of marijuana for example.

Secondarily, our two writers, have a mitigated opinion as regards the health and the safety of the smokers and the non-smokers. Indeed, the health is also at the heart of this conflict, Renee Jacques puts forward thanks to the truthfulness of the words of different organizations such as « Clinical Pharmacology Therapy » (1976), « National Cancer Institute », « The Lancet » (2010) … etc. that the cannabis is recognized as being a plant intended for a medical use, it allows to look after sleeping disorders, to limit the pain or to allow the victims of the HIV / AIDS to fill their problem of hunger. In addition, he adds that one of the benefits of Cannabis is that it does not cause any direct deaths following an abuse unlike the others. Thanks to a graph published by the scientific journal The Lancet, one can see that the nuisances caused by alcohol are more than 3 times higher than those related to the Marijuana. In response to this, John Hawkins is very convincing in taking support on the future of the new generations. It is true that Marijuana causes mental health problems (schizophrenia, problem of concentration) as well as physical problems (Sterility, Lung Disease). However, its problems are even more amplified if drug use begins during adolescence. At the same time, he recalled that the legalization of Cannabis in Amsterdam, the most famous city in the world, as the tourist destination of the "potheads", was not positive as expected. Children are much more exposed to drugs, which could hamper their future. It also follows security problems, in fact, this legalization was accompanied by an increase in crime.

Thirdly, unlike the prejudices mentioned by John Hawkins, Cannabis consumers should not be considered depraved, there are some extreme cases that can lead to a miserable life, but there are also smokers who have managed to hoist themselves at the top of the hierarchy. A lot of famous Americans cannabis user are respected, such as Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman or Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Dog. Some American scientists have shown that Marijuana is not so much the cause of descent into hell as tobacco or alcohol.

In conclusion, in spite of a common vocabulary, each editor has been able to defend his point of view in the best way however they are arguments are opposed, while some still stand without foundations. This conflict will still remain in the minds of people over the next 50 years as it will be increasingly subjected to a topical subject. Addiction, health and safety are preoccupations that must be taken into account, however, we must not limit ourselves to extreme examples. The question of the legalization of Marijuana also leaves room for great questions both economic and social, indeed, this underground world market weighs hundreds of billions of dollars, but is governed by criminals. Should we let their misdeeds become legal? This is another part of the problem that the two writers didn’t take in account.

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