One of America’s ongoing debates is the debate over whether marijuana should be legalized. With 28 million recreational users of marijuana and zero deaths due to overdose of marijuana (according to drugwarfacts.org), I believe marijuana should be legalized.

Marijuana has many health benefits to it. According to businessinsider.com, marijuana helps people who have cancer, people who have seizures, and other diseases (such as glaucoma).

According to the American Medical Association, marijuana can increase lung capacity in some cases. In a small case study, researchers from the AMA tested 5,115 young adults and their lung function. They concluded that tobacco smokers lost some lung capacity over time, while marijuana users actually showed increase in lung capacity. The American Journal of Medicine suggests that marijuana also helps your metabolism and according to businessinsider.com it helps keep you in better condition.

If marijuana is legalized it will help create jobs. Here’s an example of how. According to naturalscoiety.com after marijuana was legalized, the state of Colorado created 10,000 new jobs soon after marijuana was legalized in the state. It also will bring in more for the states and U.S. governments, as Colorado in the month of January in 2014 pulled in $3.5 million in tax revenue and was on pace to make $40 million.

At the end of the day I see marijuana as a mostly safe drug that should be legalized because of its health benefits, the amount of money that it could make for our economy, and how many jobs it would make.