Should marijuana be legalized in America?

The Controversy
Marijuana has forever been a part of American culture. In the 1920's, it's recreational use began to grow in popularity and many historians attribute this as a result of prohibition. During this time, the drug was legal and not seen at all as a social threat. According to Narconcon International, an organization based on educating and rehabilitating the public on drugs, marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1850 until 1942, illustrating clearly an understanding of it's health benefits has always been present.
So why the change in America's mentality? In the 1930's, a new division in the Treasury Department was created; The Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Many mark this as the beginning of the war on marijuana and a turn in American sentiment toward the prominence of drugs in society. In 1937, with the help of Yellow Journalism  portraying marijuana as an illicit drug, marijuana became illegal at the Federal level.
Fighting to Keep It Illegal
Many argue that marijuana should remain illegal and provide multiple arguments to support this stance. For example, marijuana is often considered a gateway drug that can lead to the use of more illicit substances such as cocaine and heroine. This argument goes as far as to suggest that perhaps legal marijuana will lead to the legalization of those harder drugs. There is also a concern regarding the increase of intoxicated drivers under the influence of cannabis. Because marijuana leaves no definite smell , unless a driver had smoked in their car, it would be very difficult to catch those under it's influence. Many  believe that the impaired judgement of marijuana users causes them to commit other more serious crimes.
Fighting for Legality
On the opposite side, there are many who want to see a repeal in the federal ruling on marijuana. Keeping the drug illegal is expensive for the American government. Money is poured into the DEA regulating and catching marijuana producers and pot smokers alike. This money would not only be saved if legalized, but more money could be collected through the taxation of the drug. Another major argument supporting legalization comes from those who want marijuana to be legalized for medicinal purposes. Many cancer patients use the drug as a way to stimulate appetite and prevent nausea. There are multiple states that have already legalized medical use of cannabis. However, federal law always towers above state statues and federal agencies can chose to close state-run marijuana businesses at anytime. Because of this, there is an ever-growing consent that states should be allowed to provide their own ruling on the drug. In fact, there are even inerest groups such as NORML whose primary goal is to overturn the ruling on the drug at the federal level.
Marijuana's Future in America
Because 17 states have already legalized marijuana for medical use, it would seem that the drug is quickly becoming more and more acceptable in American society. Many pro-marijuana advocates hoped that Barrack Obama, who admits to smoking the drug in his younger years, would help push for marijuana reform. However, marijuana arrests have continued to rise with more than 850,000 in 2009 and in 2010. This has dismantled hopes that drug-policy will change in the near future. When questioned on the subject, Barrack Obama responded:


"What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana," Obama said. "I never made a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to large-scale producers and operators of marijuana — and the reason is, because it's against federal law." (Chicago Tribune - Obama's pot reform goes up in smoke)

So for now, marijuana reform remains stagnant. However, there have been no prosecutions of individuals who obtain a license and use the drug for medicinal purposes. Until federal law is overturned, a nationwide welcoming of the drug will never be a reality.


Interest Groups:
http://norml.org/marijuana
News Articles:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-oped-0530-page-20120530,0,5777378.column
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/the-great-marijuana-debat_n_1397250.html
Statistics:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/february_2009/40_say_marijuana_should_be_legalized
Sources:
http://www.mjlegal.org/essayspeech.html
http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/marijuana-history.html
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/