Those who want to legalize marijuana have many reasons to why this classified
“Schedule 1” drug should not be illegal. Throughout the Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society
there are no marijuana-related deaths. However, looking at the death rates associated with legal
substances such as alcohol and tobacco have shown to be significantly high causing over 90,000
deaths annually. Unlike alcohol, that can cause blackouts, increase aggression outbursts and
potentially cause violence towards others or themselves; marijuana can create a euphoric
experience, increase one’s happiness, and induces the user’s appetite. (Levinthal. 2017)
Marijuana usage is the dominant illicit drug in the United States used by forty-two percent of
Americans starting at the age of 12 and up. College students prefer to use marijuana over any
other drug and with legalizing it, the crime rate would drop tremendously. With the legalization
of marijuana, there would be policies such as an age requirement to buy (“twenty-one-years old
