The very district that runs our nation has surprisingly given in to the forbidden leaf. Washington D.C. has now joined the few states in the US that allows the consumption of marijuana for recreational use over the age of 21. Not only are residents able to use marijuana, they are also allowed to grow up to 3 marijuana plants in their households. Who would have guessed that our nation’s capital, the very place where marijuana is discriminated by the leader of our nation would legalize the use of it.

Although it is still illegal to sell marijuana of any type for profit, the District of Colombia is still debating whether marijuana should be sold and distributed for profit. The reason why many people don’t want the district to allow the selling and distribution of marijuana is because they believe it would give them a bad name. Crime is also expected to increase because of this decriminalization of the drug. On the other hand imposing a tax on marijuana would really benefit the economy, just like how it benefited the state of Colorado when they grossed over 25 million dollars since the day this selling and distributing was allowed in November 6, 2012.

Colton’s very own R.O.P graphic communications teacher, Tom Wurz, says he is against the legalization of cannabis stating,”Marijuana is just like alcohol. It is a bad substance and has a negative effect on people.” There are many sides to this debate on the legalization of marijuana through out the states and another opinion on this situation is CHS year book teacher Lucas Drake’s. Drake strongly supports the district’s decision on legalizing the use of marijuana for recreational use stating,”Each persons in the United States has the right to run their own states, for the people by the people. The District of Columbia has these same privileges and they decided to legalize the consumption of marijuana. All that’s left to do now is to make a profit off it.”

Is this nation on a fast track to legalizing marijuana everywhere across the US? We could soon be a marijuana legal nation but no one know when or if this would actually happen. We all have a voice in this debate and it is up to us to make the decision to legalize the drug through out all of the states. The legalization of marijuana could have many benefits that come with it, but there is no doubt that there will be many problems that come with it as well.