Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 1581 Words

Mikayla Szathmary Mr. Cooper English IV February 5, 2015 Research Paper Although there has been a â€Å"war on drugs† since the late 1900’s, the legalization of marijuana has been a popular topic within the past couple of years. This topic is very controversial due to the fact that many people are unable to see past the bad rap that cannabis has accumulated over past years. Among the other aspects that have already given marijuana a bad reputation, some people are trying to find more and more reasons to postpone the legalization of marijuana. Since the legalization of cannabis in Colorado, Washington and Oregon the debate of legalizing this â€Å"drug† in every state became a very important topic. Cannabis has shown how effective it can†¦show more content†¦After evolving throughout all of Europe and Asia cannabis started spreading to other countries as well. The use of cannabis was widely accepted and encouraged in America during the 1600’s through the late 1800’s, but soon afte r the Mexican Revolution the recreational use of marijuana was first introduced to the United States by Mexican immigrants. After this happened fear and resentment towards immigrants increased, which directly affected the population’s opinions and views of cannabis. The first state to make marijuana illegal was Utah in 1915, and then in 1931 cannabis was illegal in 29 states. Even though the fear of marijuana and its effects continued to increase and get stronger, hemp began to show how valuable it can be and how much this resource actually benefits others around the 1940’s. During World War II hemp was used for marine cordage, parachutes, and other important supplies the military needed. After the war the laws and restrictions of marijuana became stricter and the consequences for this increased. In the late 1950’s a sentencing for a first time possession of marijuana was a minimum sentencing of 2-10 years with up to a $20,000. After this happened it became a la w that you cannot arrest a person for possession of a small amount of marijuana. In the late 1970’s President Nixon declared a â€Å"war