legalization of marijuana

The legalization of marijuana has been a hot topic of debate for several years now. The common belief is that marijuana is an addicting drug with harmful effects that leads to more serious drugs and crimes. In my opinion this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Unlike cigarette smoke there are absolutely no addicting substances in marijuana, and the tar and nicotine along with other bodily poisons found in cigarettes prove to cause thousands upon thousands of deaths a year that the natural cannabis plant does not. So aside from the fact that it is physically impossible to overdose on marijuana , and there has never been a death reported due to marijuana smoke what are some other reasons why we should legalize it? Well as many of you probably know the economy is at an extreme low right now and the country is in need of a solution marijuana could be the cash crop that brings us out of this slump. Our government spends millions of dollars a year on keeping people in prison on marijuana charges , 41,000 people to be exact. In my opinion that money that we spend housing and feeding these people in prison should be going towards more legitimate needs. Not to mention the fact that if it were legalized there wouldn’t be drug dealers using violence and other illegal activities to try and stay away from prison. My final argument is that there are states in this country that have already legalized it for medicinal purposes! How are you going to tell me that hospitals in California and Denver feel that is should be used as a medicine to heal and prescribe to people yet the rest of the country is worried about how harmful it is? Marijuana is not a mind altering substance, it does not affect or blur your vision nor does it affect your mental stability. Clearly several doctors in California and Denver believe that marijuana can be used to help heal people and cause less stress, so why should the rest of the country be deprived of that same right and opportunity of getting better just because of where we live? Now I am not saying that we should full on just let people go crazy buying and selling in the streets with no limits, if we regulated trade and had farmers leading the way with the cash crop and even suggesting a limit to the amount you can have on you at one time (so not to suggest intent to sell) then there is no reason in my opinion why marijuana should not be legalized in the united states.