The United States has been deceiving its people for over 50 years, the government continues to say that marijuana is harmful to health and well-being, however the positive aspects of this drug far outweigh few negative aspects. There have been countless studies that have attempted to pinpoint at least one serious side effect of smoking or ingesting marijuana, but these studies have ultimately been unsuccessful. Marijuana, in fact, has many health benefits, which can cure or suppress many modern diseases, some of which can put modern medicine to shame, why would we need anything else? There are many other more dangerous drugs on the market. Tobacco, alcohol and prescription pills, these three things kill hundreds of thousands of people every year, but the government continues to keep these killers on store shelves? The US government is greedy and will do anything to make money. The tax revenue they receive from these products has increased by more than $50 billion, which sounds great on paper, but all that money comes at a high price. Marijuana should be legal, it's great medicine, it's safe for recreational use, and it will make the government billions every year without costing people's lives. Some may argue that marijuana is dangerous, that it will permanently damage your health or well-being. , yet nearly 100,000 people will die this year from prescription drugs, how many people will die this year from ingesting marijuana? Not a single person will die; there is not one death directly attributed to marijuana in its 10,000 year history. “It is a fact that a person can die from taking too much aspirin, drinking too much coffee or too much wine. (Smith)” Marijuana, in fact, has countless health benefits unlike all the side effects you might experience when using...... middle of paper ...... inez, Michael, Miguel Marquez, Ana Cabrera and Sara Weisfeldt. “10 Things to Know About the Nation's First Recreational Marijuana Shops in Colorado.” CNN. Cable News Network, January 1, 2014. Web. March 2, 2014. Giddingson, Jack. “Chicago Medical Marijuana.” Cannabidiol: the side of marijuana you don't know. Np, November 20, 2013. Web. February 28, 2014Ferner, Matt. “Colorado Recreational Pot Sales Exceed $14 Million in First Month.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, March 10, 2014. Web. March 27, 2014. Goldstein, Marco. “Caffeine may be more dangerous than marijuana.” Collegiate times. Np, March 1, 2010. Web. March 28, 2014. Smith, Dave. “10 Health Benefits That Legitimize Legalization.” http://www.ibtimes.com/. Np, August 8, 2012. Web. March 29, 2014. Christensen, Jen. “Is marijuana as safe as – or safer – than alcohol?” CNN. Cable News Network, January 22, 2014. Web. March 31. 2014.