Decriminalize Marijuana?! (Commentary)

 On Wednesday, April 2, 2014, Mr. Travis Reed published an editorial titled "Editorial: Should Texas Decriminalize Marijuana." He believes that by legalizing marijuana in Texas would be beneficial act to the state by stimulating the economy and bringing more revenue through tourism. I would have to disagree with Mr. Reed's opinion about legalizing the substance on the fact that he bases his theory only on the pros of having it legalized. He clearly doesn't mention any of the effects the drug has on a person.

According to an article from yourhoustonnews.com titled "Should marijuana be legalized in Texas?" it states that studies have shown that using marijuana "produces injury to health, including psychotic disorders and dull apathy in users." The question that comes to my mind is if we legalize this drug... "Do I really want to be surrounded by mentally disoriented people?... By legalizing this substance, you can be sure that there will be an increase of people wanting to try the drug because it would be "okay" since its no longer a criminal offense to use or own it. I believe it would lead to people making dangerous choices in their lives. Mr. Reed tries to put tobacco and alcohol products into the equation of legalization of marijuana. He states that because marijuana has similar characteristics of being poisonous and addictive like cigarettes or beer, its would be okay for marijuana to be legal. I feel that his opinion on that aspect is wrong because the substances he is comparing are on totally different levels of how they affect the human body.

In conclusion, I think that the legalizing marijuana would be a bad decision on the state of Texas. Sure, maybe the economy might be stimulated... or ...sure, maybe tourism will bring more revenue, but isn't that already happening with the influx of businesses moving to Texas and people moving here because the economy from the state they were coming from was suffering? Let's keep people healthy in Texas. Let's keep people in a less "glazed over" stature. Keep Texas Clean. Don't Mess with Texas.