Alright, alright, alright! It is time to end the war on drugs. Specifically, on the use of marijuana. Some states are finally realizing that still having the use of marijuana be illegal is completely ridiculous, but not nearly enough are changing their laws.I could talk about how I think marijuana use should be legalized and make this completely opinionated but let's stick to the facts.

Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The plant contains the mind-altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other related compounds. It is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. When someone smokes marijuana, the THC quickly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream which is carried to the brain and other organs. THC is absorbed slower when its eaten or drank, the user can feel the effects then after 30 minutes to an hour.

THC targets brain cell receptors that ordinarily react to THC-like chemicals that are naturally found in the brain that play a role in the normal brain development and function. Marijuana over-activates parts of the brain with the largest number of these receptors and causes the high that marijuana users feel. Besides feeling high (increase in happiness, feeling relaxed, and detached from reality) users may experience being tired, increase in appetite, red eyes and dilated pupils, dry mouth, dizziness, and slower reaction time. However, smoking marijuana can have less pleasant effects on some users. These could be a distorted sense of time, paranoia, anxiety, depression, and short-term forgetfulness. These effects tend to end a few hours after using the drug.

Comparatively, numerous studies show the use of tobacco causing cancer, heart disease, strokes and many other terrible things. 480,000 people die every year from smoking tobacco-related illnesses and 16 million Americans are currently living with a disease caused from smoking tobacco. Not to mention, 88,000 Americans die every year from alcohol related causes, making it the third leading preventable cause of death. People don't overdose on marijuana. High school kids don't get wildly crazy from smoking too much weed and have to be taken to the hospital for marijuana poisoning. It is hard to slip a pill into someone's bowl or joint whereas slipping a pill into someone's drink is easy. Marijuana is chemically safer to consume than both alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol is more addictive, damaging to the body, and more likely to contribute to acts of violence and reckless behavior than alcohol. Both alcohol and tobacco kill where with marijuana, a consumer would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to be at risk of dying. This means that a smoker would theoretically have to consume about 1,500 pounds of marijuana within 15 minutes to have a lethal response. Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, and Seth Rogan could not smoke this much if put in a room together for 15 minutes and if these three can't, I am sure the rest of us are also safe.

Marijuana can affect brain development. When use begins in the teenage years, the drug can reduce thinking, memory, and learning functions as well as affect how the brain builds connections for these functions. These effects can last a long time or even be permanent. A study that followed people who started heavily smoking marijuana in their teens and continued using lost an average of eight IQ points between the ages of 13 and 38. Mental abilities didn't fully return in those who quit smoking as adults. However, those who started smoking marijuana as adults, after their brain was done developing, didn't show IQ declines. This is why in states where marijuana is legal, there is an age requirement of 21.

Marijuana has proven to have many health benefits and twenty-five states and DC legalized the medical use of marijuana. It may be used to treat Glaucoma, reverse the carcinogenic effects of tobacco and improve lung health, stop cancer from spreading, decrease anxiety, slows progression of Alzheimer's, help veterans suffering from PTSD, reduce pain and nausea, and so much more.

In 2014, the number of drug violation arrests totaled 1,561,231 and 700,993of those were for marijuana law violations. Now, I'll do the math for you- marijuana accounted for half of all drug violation arrests. And in 2010, police made a marijuana bust every 37 seconds. Even though caucasians and people of color use about the same amount of marijuana, people of color are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. However, in some states (Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois), people of color were up to eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possessions than caucasians. If marijuana is going to be illegal, there has to be set rules for arrests. Police should not be able to abuse this to a point where, for the same amount of marijuana, some people get away scotch free, others pay a fine, and others are arrested.

For a country that is so worried about the economy, we sure do waste a lot of money on enforcing marijuana laws, $3,613,969,972 annually to be exact. Colorado brought in over $270 million in 2016 first's quarter. And if, let's say, California were to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana it would generate about $1,400,000,000 annually. Not only would legalizing this major cash crop bring a shit ton of money into the United States, but it would also generate a lot of jobs in the formal market rather than the illicit one. At the end of 2015, Colorado had issued 26,929 occupational licenses to workers at medical and recreational cannabis companies. That was a 68% increase increase since the end of 2014. People are creating jobs that didn't exist before. It is projected that by 2020 the cannabis industry could become a $40 billion industry annually. The United States should take this and run with it. They could tax that by making it legal. Getting a percent of that money would be beneficial for our economy since it is projected that by the end of the fiscal year of 2017 the gross US federal government debt is estimated to be $19.5 trillion.

On November 8, you should not only vote for the next president of the United States, but you should also vote yes on question number 4 on the ballot if you have a Massachusetts ballot. This question would legalize recreational marijuana for individuals at least 21 years old. If both alcohol and tobacco are legal (and they kill!) so should marijuana (it doesn't!).