Ethics Of Legalizing Marijuana

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Legalizing Marijuana Shenedra Rollerson SOC120: Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility Instructor: Tim Carter May 19, 2012 Marijuana is considered an illegal drug in most of the states in the U.S. Marijuana is also the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it is a dry shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. Why is marijuana not legalized? There has been a huge debate over legalizing marijuana for decade. This paper will provide the ethical reasons why legalizing marijuana will benefit our society in a utilitarian view and the relativism stand point behind…show more content…
(Mosser, K 2010) According to utilitarianism, legalizing marijuana has many positive contributions in the medical field. The THC chemical in marijuana is used for the treatment of weight loss due to AIDS complications and for nausea, vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy. Marijuana is also a treatment for chronic pain and been used by mouth to treat millions of people for symptoms of multiple sclerosis. (Pros and cons of legalizing marijuana) A source from WebMD, marijuana is smoked for glaucoma which is an eye condition that develops when too much fluid pressure builds up inside the eye which can lead to blindness without treatment. (2012) The utilitarian might agree the legalizing marijuana would be good because this would increase the happiness and longer life for a very large number of…show more content…
If the doctors is prescribing marijuana for the help of medical conditions and contrary to the fact that marijuana does not cause serious health problems such as cancer, birth defects during pregnancy, emphysema, liver damage like those caused by tobacco and alcohol than why continue to fight against it. Death from a marijuana overdose is impossible. In all of world history, there has never been a single human death attributed to a health problem caused by marijuana. (Legalization of
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