Disagree with the legalization of marijuana?  There are quite a few reasons that this drug should remain illegal.  Most importantly marijuana is a stepping stone drug for more serious drugs.  Making marijuana legal would increase the number of accidents that are caused due to the use of this substance.  Along with the legalization of marijuana comes many health concerns from second hand smoking to damaging mental development.  Making marijuana legal would cause a number of negative side effects to develop within our society as a whole.

The legalization of marijuana will create many serious health problems.  For instance, marijuana is often used as an intermediate step to hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroine.  A National Institute on Drug Abuse survey concluded that marijuana smokers are 30 times more likely to use cocaine than those who have not smoke it.  Its legalization would simply encourage more drug use and abuse which would really turn our society upside down.  Furthermore, abusing this drug has a negative impact on an individual’s mental development.  It inhibits one’s ability to concentrate, maintain motivation, and strife to achieve goals.  Additionally, second hand smoke would become more widespread which would increase the risk of lung cancer for users and innocent bystanders.  Smoking a joint is 4 times more carcinogenic than smoking a cigarette.  Also, it is likely that this drug would fall into the hands of our nation’s youth if legalized; this could lead to abuse and other severe consequences for our country’s future generations.  The health risks that are associated with marijuana are just part of the reason that it should remain illegal.

In addition to the increased health dilemmas that marijuana created, it also would create problems within our society.  People who smoke or sell marijuana are already committing  a drug related felony and the likelihood that they will commit other felonies is greater than those that have not committed drug related felonies.  If these people are put in jail for drug related charges, then they are unable to commit other crimes.  Many times there is not enough evidence to imprison such persons for serious crimes, such as murder and rape, but if they are taken off the street due to an additional drug related crime, then society will be safer as a whole.  The legalization of marijuana would simply make the crime rates increase and our society would be a more dangerous place.

The effects on our society of making marijuana legal would be quite drastic.  The damages that this drug can cause to people because of its use and abuse can be quite tragic with regards to a person’s life.  It also is a  link in drug use for people to move on to more serious drugs.  It will increase the crime and accident rates in our country if legalized, which means people will be less safe.  There as the reasons that the legalization of marijuana is a horrible idea.