Discussions

Respond to these 3 classmates, saying what you liked and agreed with what they wrote. 60-75 words

1. I think why marijuana is the most commonly used drug amongst criminals is that it is very easy to acquire because unlike most illegal drugs it is legal in some states and it has no significant negative side effect. I think that why marijuana is associated with criminals is because it is a very common illegal drug that a lot of Americans use today. I think that marijuana can be a huge benefit to the economic growth of the United State in that if it is legalized it would be in high demand. Marijuana in my opinion seems to have more health benefits. The biggest one I see is that it will calm you down and take away some of your worries which I think is good because Americans today are too tense and too stressed out. They need a time to relax and get their mind off of things and that is what marijuana can help with. If the government put a tax on marijuana too it could benefit the nation with more revenue. If Marijuana is legalized it would free a lot of people from prison making the United State have more legal users/buyers of marijuana, growing the economy even more. I think I would smoke marijuana if it were legal but only if my babysitter was at my house though. I don’t want my child to see because their decision making skills are not the best and seeing someone smoke marijuana might influence them to try it at a very young age. I think I would use it really if it was a last resort because I try to let my body regulate what I need. For example, I don’t drink coffee or have caffeine because I don’t want my body to depend on something daily. I feel that is how I would be with marijuana and I know it is non habit forming but I still feel like I would depend on it too much. To help me sleep would be the biggest reason on why I would use it because i have done it before for that very reason and it works like a charm.

2. The main reason marijuana is commonly used amongst criminals is for two simple reasons, It's cheap to acquire and It's quickest to get you high. There have been some studies that point to marijuana as the reason some people do commit crimes but other studies say otherwise. If marijuana were to be legalized immediately you can see benefits, one of those benefits is a huge economic surge created from the taxation of marijuana. Another huge benefit of making marijuana legal is the job growth the state will get. With all that being said, I'm heavily in favor of the legalization because I know long-term the positives will outweigh the cons. If marijuana was legal I don't think I would I smoke it just because as an aspiring law enforcement officer I'm trying to set the standard high for me and my agency. BUT If that future agency is okay with officers smoking marijuana because it is legal then maybe I'll consider smoking with my fellow officers but I know that's wishful thinking. 

3. I feel like marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug among criminal offenders because it is widely available. I feel like its side effects are a lot less mild than those of more hardcore drugs such as prescription pills, or even alcohol. I feel like in areas of high crime, smoking marijuana is common because it is a "social norm" and like I said before, is widely available to people who commit other types of crime. Thats not to say that people who use marijuana commit the most crime because there have been many studies performed in states that have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use, and they have not found a positive correlation between marijuana consumers and crime rates. One huge economic benefit of marijuana legalization is the fact that there can be implemented taxes that generate tons of revenue for the federal government. Creating a marijuana industry will also create many jobs for people in the community. The amount of money having to be spent on housing inmates in prison for marijuana related drug offenses should also decrease. Lastly, people's dependence on pharmeseutical drugs will decrease and there will be less people addicted to pain pills. The only downside I can think of is in the early stages of creating a marijuana growing operation is that the price tag can be very high. If marijuana were legal, in my case, it would just make it easier to acquire. As a teenager I started using marijuana more out of curiosity and to "fit in", and the status of whether it was legal or not did not necessarily stop me. If it were legal, I would expect many people to be eager to try it because when you label something as illegal, people tend to think there is something dangerous and harmful about that particular product.