Marijuana LegalizationDespite late controversy regarding weed or as most professionals now call it medical marijuana, I have a strong opinion regarding a substance given. I think marijuana should be legal, but I will discuss this issue more in my essay. Some topics I would like to discuss would be: should it be legal, is it beneficial for medical purposes, the economy, job growth and reducing crime rates.BackgroundHemp Plant industrial (“Hemp, industrial hemp field”)For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. This is not a newly discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time it is used. Its known uses date back to over 7,000 BC (“Hemp, 2013”). The marijuana and hemp plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. Over the centuries, the plant has been used as food, incense, fabric, rope and much more. The plant has been well known since the early 1600s, but did not become publicly known as a recreational drug until the early 1900s. America's first marijuana law was enacted in Jamestown Colony, Virginia, in 1619. This was a law “commanding” all farmers to grow Indian hemp seeds. There were several more compulsory cultivation laws over the next 200 years (you could be imprisoned for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and for most of that time, hemp was legal tender, so you could even pay your taxes with hemp. Hemp was such an essential crop for many purposes, including essential wartime needs like rope, that the government did everything possible to encourage growth. In Russia, until the late 1800s, hundreds of garments called "Rubaha" were made from marijuana plants. The 1850 U.S. Census of Agriculture shows...... middle of document...... Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd =&cad=rja&docid(=GoUODtBgCE7NpM&tbnid=aw-VDiNqt8troM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.cafepress.com/+legalize-marijuana+posters&ei=oX2mUoHVKrKnsQSqroCYCA&bvm=bv.57799294,d.cWc&psig=AFQjCN Ex u_u95iuIL0439GlfyyR4ZmLOSg&ust=1386729239249192NORML, W. (2013, 03 11). Retrieved from http://norml.org/marijuana/medicalPaul, A. (2007, 2 9). /pot_prisoners_cost_americans_$1_billion_a_year (2013). Marijuana Ordinance [Print Photo]. ://legalizationofmarijuana.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Grow-the-Economy-300x229.jpeg