Can marijuana save America? This question has been the subject of a lot of controversy in the past couple years. The legality of Marijuana is at a high right now, with twenty-three states currently having laws that give marijuana some form of legality. Why then, is marijuana still federally illegal? In order to make a decision yourself, it is important to know what effects marijuana has on the body.

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Marijuana affects the same area as other drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, even heroin. This pleasure center in your brain produces large amounts of dopamine, which gives off the feeling of euphoria commonly associated with these drugs. Why than, if this drug is so seemingly harmless is it illegal? The federal government defines marijuana as a schedule 1 narcotic right next to drugs like heroine and ecstasy however, does it belong there? Some scientists are proposing that the medical benefits of marijuana far outweigh the reasons that the government has to outlaw the substance.

Marijuana has a vast number of health benefits. Some include reducing the number of seizures an epileptic person has, other effects include slowing the spread of cancer and reducing the effects cigarettes have on your lungs. If you would like to see more on the health benefits of marijuana please visit this website.

Not only can marijuana literally help save people’s lives, but it also could help save the United States economy. There are only a few examples in the U.S that can show us how much legalizing and taxing marijuana can help the economy. One great and fairly famous example of this effect would be Colorado. The state of Colorado was one of the first to legalize marijuana for recreational use. According to drugpolicy.org as of last October marijuana taxes brought Colorado more than $40 million, and that is just on the taxes from state regulated dispensaries. Think about what this kind of money could do on a national level if made federally legal? The change in the economy would be staggering, maybe even enough to pull us completely out of this seemingly endless “recession”.

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What do you think? Does America even need saving? Could the legalization of marijuana for recreational use be an answer? I think so.