Summary and Response to Freakonomics

Constantly in our country decisions are being made by our leaders. Each citizen in the United States only has a vote to determine who the leaders will be. We do not personally vote on the issues; we simply try to support someone who will best represent how we feel on certain issues. Our representatives are the individuals who vote and set the direction of our nation. The decisions that they make affect every citizen’s daily life. Unfortunately, I believe that some decisions made by our leaders have been based on false information. One such bad decision is the criminalization of marijuana.
One blog post conversation about marijuana legalization I found on the web is located at freakonomics. The post, titled “On the Legalization-or Not- of Marijuana,” actually contains the opinions of six different individuals. These opinions differ and show both sides of the legalization argument. The main author is Stephen Dubner, and the other five are Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Dr. Robert DuPont, Allen St. Pierre, Dr. David Murray, and Richard Lawrence Miller. Several authors are for legalization and several are against it, so both sides of the argument are presented. All of the authors in this post did an excellent job presenting their argument in short paragraphs. They got right to the point and presented their opinion on the topic.
The main author- Stephen Dubner- starts the post off explaining why he thinks marijuana should be legalized. The scenario that Stephen Dubner writes about (if alcohol and marijuana were just now discovered) brings out a great point that I agree with. I believe laws concerning alcohol would be stricter, and laws concerning marijuana would be more lenient if the two substances were just now discovered. If you take away all the predetermined false information that most individuals associate with marijuana, I believe that people would see the effects of alcohol on an individual are more dangerous than the effects of marijuana. The second author Dr. Lester Grinspoon brings out the argument that laws concerning marijuana were founded on myths. Many of these myths are unfortunately still believed by people today. Allen St. Pierre (the fourth author) discusses the possibility of legalizing and taxing marijuana. He discusses how ignorant government is by taxing tobacco and alcohol on every level, but allowing such a widely used product (marijuana) to go untaxed. I agree with him, a taxation plan would be necessary for marijuana to be legalized in the United States. Richard Lawrence Miller, the last writer, doesn’t really argue any case. He states that we have become so stubborn on issues that we refuse to see the facts. I do agree with him entirely; this is applicable to any disagreement. I think that before we make a decision, we should scrutinize and take a look at both sides of the argument.
There are two authors that discuss why marijuana should not be legalized. Dr. Robert L. DuPont (The third author) states that marijuana should not be legalized, because if it is legalized more people will use it and that will cause problems. However, I’m not sure what problems would arise if more people used marijuana. The snack food industry might see an increase in profits, but that’s not really a problem. It’s not certain that marijuana use would increase if legalized. I believe it would, but I don’t believe that in any way would it corrupt or destroy our society any more than what alcohol and other drugs have already done. The fifth author (Dr. David Murray) discusses the dangerous effects of marijuana. The problems that it causes and how it can lead to dependencies on other more dangerous illegal drugs. He states that marijuana is too dangerous to legalize due to its effects.
This blog post summarizes the main points of the entire marijuana legalization debate. Both sides of the argument are presented well, but there are a few areas that I don’t agree with. The second author compares legalizing marijuana to eliminating the speed limit. I don’t think you can compare the dangers of driving a car at 200m.p.h. to smoking weed. Driving a car ridiculously fast puts your self and others into immediate physical danger. Smoking weed only puts the user in danger of getting into trouble with the authorities. He also states that if legalized weed would become more assessable to youth, like alcohol and cigarettes. Marijuana is already more available than alcohol to youth, because it is illegal. I know from experience that getting weed in today’s high schools is easier that alcohol. For a kid to get alcohol they have to get someone over 21 who is willing to buy it for them. To get weed they just have to get a drug dealers phone number. No drug dealer is going to ask for an I.D., as long as they get their money. I believe that within several generations the public will have discovered that marijuana is not dangerous and it should be legalized.
It was once thought to be a fact that marijuana was dangerous thus it was outlawed and has remained outlawed for decades by the federal government. I think through time many people have discovered (some through personal experience) that it is actually not dangerous. Still some, for one reason or another, feel that it is hazardous. I feel that when compared to cigarettes, alcohol, and even legal prescription drugs, it is not. Our current government is working hard to keep marijuana illegal, by influencing the public into thinking that it is a dangerous drug using anti-drug ads, and programs. For example one commercial I saw was set in a fast food drive through. The commercial showed a group of young people pulling out of the drive thru. Just as they do this a little girl on a bike rides out in front of their vehicle, and they slam on the brakes skidding to a stop just before they hit the girl. The next scene shows them pulling out of the same drive thru smoking a joint. This time when the girl rides out in front of the vehicle they hit her before stopping. The first time I saw this commercial I had to laugh simply because of how ridiculous it is. I couldn’t believe the brainwashing bull shit that was being pushed. I don’t think there is any statistical data to back up the message that marijuana will effect your reflex driving. The other message I got from the commercial was, by using marijuana you’re putting other peoples lives at risk. By using marijuana you will probably hurt someone. I think that it’s unbelievable and shocking that we are so clearly being exposed to a message that is untrue. Unfortunately, this message gets through to a lot of people.
I believe that right now there are too many people who think that marijuana is too dangerous to be legal in this country. I will take at least several decades before there are enough people that realize it was criminalized based on myths. Even then I do not think it will be legalized unless the government can find a way of making money off of it. Taxing it would most likely be the only way for that to happen. For now we are forced to live under laws that were formed based on untrue ideas, and laws that we didn’t vote to establish. The unfortunate part of all this is that I don’t see this changing anytime soon.
Today, most people are willing to simply form an opinion based of false information or on what someone around them believes. I think that before a decision is made concerning this topic, you must first look at both sides of the argument. I have looked at both sides of the argument, and I believe that marijuana is not dangerous and it should be legalized in this country. I hope that before you make a decision concerning this subject, you would look at both sides of the argument as well.