Legalization of Marijuana �1
Critical Examination on Why Canada Should Legalize Marijuana
Tasneem (Taz) Eggeh 400131907
HLTH AGE 1AA3
Professor G. Voros
Allison Mcneil
T04
Oct 4th, 2017
Legalization of Marijuana �2
Within our society it has been proven that the moral agendas that shapes our cultural
beliefs derive from the aristocratic members of a society. This hypothesis was validated by John
Stuart Mill and his assumptions of liberty within a society. And once again this phenomenon can
be applied to the unjust criminalization of marijuana in Canada. Due to irrational preconceived
notions from aristocratic parliamentary members we are stuck in a cultural hangover, where
marijuana is still perceived as an exotic import and, thus remains a taboo topic for discussion
(Hajizadeh, 2016). Nevertheless many countries are overcoming this defective generational
decision and paving the road towards a more progressive society willing to take into
consideration what the majority tells us is unmentionable. Subsequently, during the 70’s and 80’s
Canadians started to look critically at the laws that govern our society and through this critical
perspective, many began to oppose simple narratives that the government would force upon us.
Talks surrounding the decriminalizing of marijuana arose during this era of rejecting authority
and rather changed the nature of this discussion by provoking what others deemed important in
keeping the majority safe. This ideology of autonomy over unwarranted governance became
mainstream in the 2000’s. Until now fringe groups believed that changing the current drug status
was a sheer pipe dream that would hold no power in this country. With this in mind, one
fundamental question arises, should marijuana be legalized or not? This essay will prove that the
answer is unequivocally, yes. Legalizing marijuana is more valuable to our society than keeping
It criminalized. This argument will be supported from both an economical and medical
perspective, but will fundamentally come down to whether the government should be our
dictators or if we should be responsible for ourselves.
Legalization of Marijuana �3
To begin, The current “war on drugs” has proven to become an unnecessarily expensive
battle. Millions of dollars are spent each year trying to catch individuals selling and buying
marijuana. More astonishing, an innumerable amount of money is spent in an attempt to
prosecute and incarcerate these individuals. This process is seen as an exorbitant way to utilize
the resources of the criminal justice system. Furthermore, the money is better off spent elsewhere
rather than used to put more people into overcrowded prisons. In a study by Canadian economist
Stephen Easton, called the Fraiser institute he attempted to calculate how much marijuana
expected to gain from tax revenue if it was legalized (Thanh, Wanke, & McGeachy, 2013). This
study indicated that the current black market value for this illicit substance is $8.6...
