The topic of legalizing recreational marijuana in the United States has been very controversial. States like Colorado and Washington went on the offensive and legalized recreational marijuana and benefited from the high revenues generated from cannabis sales. On the other hand, other states have kept a low profile because they are wary of the possible negative consequences of legalizing recreational marijuana and are using the states of Colorado and Washington as guinea pigs to determine what should be their next line of action on this controversial topic. This is a highly debated subject not only among politicians, but also among the population. According to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, 52% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana and 72% of Americans believe that anti-marijuana laws have more costs than benefits. Recreational marijuana will sooner or later be legalized nationwide in the United States due to its popularity and many benefits. It will be legalized because teen use of alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs and other illicit drugs has declined significantly as they have turned to marijuana, which does not carry as many dangers as these other drugs. Legalizing marijuana would hurt drug cartel profits and also help the US economy in several ways; we could tax it, we would earn revenue from marijuana, and the amount of money we would spend on drug enforcement efforts and incarcerating prisoners for marijuana possession would decrease significantly. Finally, legalizing marijuana would allow us to use it for many commercial and industrial purposes. Due to the media and the rise of medical marijuana, teenagers have the...... middle of paper ......ism to do it. For some critics, marijuana is considered a gateway drug leading to harder drugs such as cocaine, LSD and heroin, which cause numerous health problems, addiction and death. Additionally, doctors have seen patients who are addicted to marijuana and have withdrawal symptoms similar to other illicit drugs. Additionally, marijuana is also a depressant and affects all types of relationships. Marijuana also negatively affects your alertness, motor skills, and perception. There are also concerns that drug cartels in Mexico are not really affected by the legalization of marijuana and are starting to target teenagers with harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. This could lead to people in the country wanting all drugs to be legalized to counter the cartels, which would have a negative impact on the country because marijuana does not have the repercussions that other illicit drugs do...