ommit a violent act. 28% of prisoners convicted of murder and 20% of those prisoners convicted of sexual assault were found to be addicted to pot. And marijuana has shown to be a “gateway” drug, which means it has great potential to lead users to “harder” more potent drugs. Congress also considered the fact that legalizing pot would almost be like an official sanction of safety.Marijuana can also be a major health hazard. Besides the usual side effects, marijuana does great damage to HIV infected patients. The National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases has proven that those people who are HIV infected and choose to smoke pot develop full-blown AIDS twice as fast.Despite all these things, the government once tried decriminalization in 1972 and they found the results astonishing. Drug abuse amongst teens grew 71.4 % during this time (McCollum).On the other hand, many American people are still for the legalization process. They claim that the government, according to previous studies, will raise $21 billion dollars if pot was sold at a regulated price and kept under control. The citizens feel that drug abuse is a problem that occurs only to the mentally unstable, and not strictly the irresponsible. The results of one test given showed that if pot was to be legalized, the current drug usage rate would not increase nor decrease. Only 2- 4 % claimed they would try pot if it was available and legal. Right now, the researchers feel that restricting the availability of marijuana leads people on to harder drugs. The theory is if all drugs are illegal an individual will go with the more potent one which is usually more dangerous. Not only are they trying newer drugs, but also bringing their friends into it too simply to afford it. Since pot is illegal, people just abuse worse drugs and drag their friends down with them (Eldredge).93% of the public decided they would like to see legalization occur, ...
