This November, five states, including California, will be voting on the legalization of recreational marijuana and four states will be voting on the legalization of medical marijuana.

Marijuana has developed a negative connotation in our society for a reason, so why are we so eager to decriminalize a substance that the government has made illegal for the benefit of the general welfare?

There is a stark difference between personal experience and scientific research.

In regards to medical marijuana, much of the field is flooded with positive anecdotes, but when you look at the concrete evidence, any medicinal benefits marijuana can provide is uncertain and lacks long term research. Medical marijuana does not meet the standards of modern medicine and legalizing it will encourage its use in lieu of prescription drugs.

While it’s true that cigarettes pose more of a health hazard, they don’t include the mind altering effects of marijuana that pose a danger to not only the users, but those around them too. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the amount of drivers involved in fatal car accidents with THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis,

in their system doubled in Washington after the state legalized marijuana. It would be remiss to ignore these statistics and hope they do not repeat themselves in subsequent states.

Even in states where medical marijuana has already been legalized, recreational use should be restricted. If we are going to treat marijuana as a prescription painkiller, so to speak, it should be held to the same standards.

Opening up a substance like morphine for recreational use is unimaginable, and the same should apply to marijuana.

State governments should  refer to the following case which the U.S. presented Canada

in 2003 in an attempt to dissuade parliament from loosening their restrictions on marijuana: The legalization of marijuana is a betrayal to the anti-drug cause. U.S. officials also argued at the time that legalization would increase drug tourism, marijuana abuse, and negatively affect Canada’s relationship with not only the U.S., but with all nations.

If the government still holds the health of the people in high respect, it would not allow for the legalization of marijuana. Should marijuana be legalized, what will stop the masses for using this as their case to legalize other substances, once universally agreed to be harmful? It’s best to put the fire out now, before it grows into something larger.