As the most mainstream and culturally enriched drug in America with a market worth just over $35 billion dollars, and almost 58% of Americans supporting its legalization, it’s almost a mystery as to why marijuana is illegal. It’s a relatively safe drug with dozens of health benefits, and an enormous culture of artists, musicians, scientists, and writers who promote the simple message of freethinking and love. Marijuana could bring so many benefits to our society from helping to bolster our economy, to being a healthy alternative medicine that it’s legalization is almost a no-brainer.

Instead of wasting billions of dollars to keep marijuana illegal the legalization would help to regain all the money the U.S. has lost with the war on drugs. The war on drugs, which has aimed to end drug use since 1971, has absolutely failed in every way. Like the 1920s alcohol ban, the “war on drugs” has helped to give power to many criminal organizations, incriminated 1.55 million Americans for non-violent drug offenses, and has cost the nation billions in tax dollars. The legalization and appropriate taxes on marijuana could be the last push that’ll bring our economy back from the recession of 2008.

It’s not just the economic reasons for why marijuana should be legalized; there are also a lot of medical benefits for legalization. In multiple different studies it has been shown that marijuana has the ability to help stop the spread of cancer, decrease anxiety and depression, or even slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. With the legalization and the easy availability of marijuana it could become a relatively cheap alternative medicine for those who can’t afford the more expensive medication.

Somebody else may not like that other people choose to smoke weed, but so what? It’s that person’s life and their choice to smoke. Just like nobody should be able to tell somebody else what to do, the government should have no right to tell a grown adult who pays his or her taxes and goes to work what they can or can’t put into their body.

Marijuana should be legalized as soon as possible. With all the reasons to support the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana, it’s really just illogical to keep it illegal.

Read the counterargument to this article here.