After researching and interviewing for my previous story on this topic, I am able to form an opinion on the legalization of marijuana within Kansas. Personally, I think that marijuana should be legalized both medically and recreationally for people 21 years of age or older. 

Legalizing marijuana medically in Kansas would be beneficial for a multitude of reasons. Medical marijuana can help a multitude of diseases, including severe chronic pain, side effects from cancer treatments, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, and many others. Marijuana causes an increase in appetite and muscle relaxation while allowing many to take it and still feel like themselves afterwards, unlike many medications to treat these illnesses (Harvard Health Publishing). More information on the use of medical marijuana at “The National Library of Medicine”. Marijuana could be revolutionary for people with these conditions, especially since all of these have no cure, which is why I think it’s important for marijuana to be legalized at least medically in Kansas.

Although the addictive nature of marijuana prevents its legalization in many states recreationally, I think allowing it to be legalized could have its positives. In a state where marijuana is illegal, if people want it, they would be desperate enough to go to the closest person who sells it. This could lead to it being laced with other substances like heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl (American Addiction Centers), all of which are incredibly dangerous. 

If marijuana was legalized recreationally in Kansas, people would go to regulated shops in the area and drastically decrease the risk of it being tainted with other substances. This means that legalizing marijuana could possibly make it safer for those who are trying to use it, even if the choices they are making are not safe either way. 

Although the abuse of marijuana is the main concern when it comes to legalizing, there are other drugs with the potential for similar abuse; the one in which I will be talking about is alcohol. Side effects of alcohol use that are similar to marijuana would be memory loss, lack of judgment, and worse cognitive functions overall (Healthline). They both also greatly affect driving although, it varies more with marijuana due to tolerance. Along with having similar side effects, it is proven that alcohol is more addictive than marijuana. Even with this being true, many people still assume that anybody who dabbles with using marijuana is an addict the same could be said about alcohol use. 

Overall, the use of alcohol is far more normalized, especially within teens. It’s such an issue that people just expect students to be partying on the weekends in the presence of alcohol and some don’t think much about it. The fact that this is normalized within teens is ridiculous and can impact the way that the brain develops, especially considering just how addictive it really is and how many people don’t realize that. 

On top of all that, alcohol has no real medical benefit, yet it is still legalized recreationally just because it has been legal for so many years and it’s deemed “socially acceptable”. Getting drunk on the weekends and ruining your body is acceptable and not a worry to the majority of people in society. Yet a substance that has actual benefits and has been proven to be helpful among many diseases isn’t legal due to a fear of abuse and addiction, even though that’s already extremely prevalent with alcohol and not much is being done about it. 

If on your 21st birthday, you want to go to a bar and have a beer with friends, don’t get in the way of someone wanting to smoke a blunt on their 21st as well; because, be honest, how different are they really?

For student body opinion click here: https://stampedenews.net/9845/showcase/my-way-or-the-highway/