STEP 2

I decided to do a little bit of investigation to answer at least all of the questions I had stated before.

This is what I figured out ..

--> what is marijuana
"Marijuana -- also called weed, pot, reefer, grass, dope, ganja, mary jane, and hash -- is the drug most often used in the US. Most users roll loose marijuana into a cigarette (called a "joint"). The drug can also be smoked in a water pipe, called a "bong" Some users mix marijuana into food or use it to brew a tea. Hash users either smoke the drug in a pipe or mix it with tobacco and smoke it as a cigarette. A new way of smoking marijuana is to slice open a cigar and replace the tobacco with marijuana, making a "blunt." When smoked with a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor, it is called a "B-40."" All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs."
--> what substances does marijuana have
"It is a mix of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa)."
--> what is marijuana used for
Marijuana is not used as a medicine. "Under US law since 1970, marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. This means that the drug, at least in its smoked form, has no commonly accepted medical use. THC that is manufactured into a pill can be used for treating the nausea and vomiting that occur with certain cancer treatments. The oral THC can be used to help AIDS patients eat more to keep up their weight, as well."
--> why it is not legal at the moment
"IT IS NEITHER LEGAL NOR COMPASSIONATE TO PROVIDE A
HARMFUL, ADDICTIVE DRUG WITH NO SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN MEDICINAL EFFICACY .. Marijuana has never been scientifically shown to be safe or effective as medicine as required by federal consumer protection laws. Congress enacted these laws to protect patients from uninformed physicians who were prescribing drugs which did more harm than good..."
--> does each state have the same marijuana laws
"Buying, selling, using or growing marijuana is illegal in every part of the United States. Penalties vary from place to place, but usually consist of jail time, a fine or both. In some states, you can be arrested for just being in a place where you know drug activity is taking place."
--> why should it be legal
"Prohibition causes Marijuana to be expensive and creates a black market. This black market creates gangs aka violence. Legal marijuana would be taxable, safer for consumers, and cheaper, thus decreasing organized crime."
"People have a basic right to make choices for themselves as long as their actions do not harm others.
Responsible individuals in a free society should be allowed to choose whether or not they use marijuana. Individual liberty is a fundamental value.
The government is wasting our time and money by prohibiting marijuana.
Taxpayers are forced to pay billions of dollars to persecute, prosecute, and incarcerate people for having marijuana. If marijuana were legal and regulated (like alcohol and tobacco) this money, plus tax revenues from marijuana sales, could be used for other purposes such as education and health care.
Prohibition is not an effective solution to the problems associated with marijuana use.
Marijuana, like tobacco and alcohol, can be abused. But prohibition is expensive and ineffective; education and regulation are better solutions. Regulating sales of marijuana and teaching people the truth about its health effects will allow us to minimize the harms and costs to society.
We have learned a lesson from history.
Alcohol prohibition did not work, and there is no logical reason to believe that marijuana prohibition is a better idea."
--> why it should not be legal
"Marijuana has many harmful effects: it is psychotoxic, addictive, cancer-causing, immunosuppressive, harmful to the lungs, reproductive system and the developing fetus. A British study confirmed that HIV positive persons who smoke progress to full-blown AIDS almost twice as fast as non-smokers. How much worse with marijuana? A 1994 study indicates that both marijuana and cigarettes have a detrimental effect on vitamin E status of HIV-1 infected individuals. These findings are of particular concern in light of the important role of vitamin E. in the immune processes. Scientific experiments show marijuana-smoking impairs motor coordination and stability in multiple sclerosis, causing gait disturbance. There is no evidence that marijuana improves or slows the progression of glaucoma. Smoking marijuana induces asthma attacks. Marijuana is a major cause of crashes and trauma. Since it is fat-soluble, marijuana's intoxicating effect lasts longer than that due to alcohol. Studies have shown that children born to mothers who smoked marijuana while pregnant tend to have lower performance on intelligence testing and more behavioral problems."
--> what is economic benefit
Scale of benefit to the economy of the local community, particularly in terms of job creation or maintenance.
--> what will be the result of marijuana becoming legal
"If we legalize marijuana, we reduce the black market and the violence associated with the sale of marijuana. "
"By legalizing marijuana, more people will use the drug and as a result, become addicted."
--> how might the government react to the outcome/result
the government won't legalize marijuana. "I have no assumption that if the US were to legalize pot it would do so as anything other than a Soviet-style centrally planned industry; this is the trend for everything the US government has done over the last 70 years and legalization of pot would be the LAST place the government would shift gears."
--> how does marijuana affect the people
"The effects of the drug on each person depend on the user's experience, as well as:
-how strong the marijuana is (how much THC it has);
-what the user expects to happen;
-the place where the drug is used;
-how it is taken
-whether the user is drinking alcohol or using other drugs.
Some people feel nothing at all when they smoke marijuana. Others may feel relaxed or high. Sometimes marijuana makes users feel thirsty and very hungry - an effect called “the munchies”. Some users can get bad effects from marijuana. They may suffer sudden feelings of anxiety and have paranoid thoughts. This is more likely to happen when a more potent variety of marijuana is used."
"Jail sentences and fines have done little to suppress the use of marijuana in the United States. Despite the health and legal risks that come with using marijuana (or any illicit drug), it continues to be the illegal drug of choice for many Americans, as it has for decades."
--> what are the penalties of using marijuana at the moment
"If you're caught with marijuana, you could receive a large fine and/or go to jail. If you are caught more than once, or if you look like you're going to sell the drug, the punishment is harsher. Marijuana laws vary from state to state. However, keep in mind that carrying marijuana around is illegal in all 50 states, and that the laws in some foreign countries are even stricter than they are here."

sources:
http://www.mentalhealth.com/book/p45-mari.html
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/dc/caz/suba/tnsa/tsglossary.jsp
http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/LocalPlan/glossary.htm
http://www.drug-rehabs.org/marijuana-laws.php?state=New%20York
http://www.mjlegal.org/
http://www.drugwatch.org/Marijuana%20not%20legal%20nor%20compassionate.htm
http://www.usask.ca/education/ideas/tplan/sslp/values/legmarij.htm
http://justinmundie.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/why-marijuana-should-be-legal/
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/117302.html

STEP 1

Topic : Marijuana should be legalized in NYS due to the economic benefit

In order to discuss this topic I need to do the following:
- research more about marijuana
- answer these questions :
--> what is marijuana
--> what substances does marijuana have
--> what is marijuana used for
--> why it is not legal at the moment
--> does each state have the same marijuana laws
--> why should it be legal [due to the economic benefit]
--> why it should not be legal
--> what is economic benefit
--> what will be the result of marijuana becoming legal
--> how might the government react to the outcome/result
--> how might it affect the people
--> what are the penalties of using marijuana at the moment