Richard M. Nixon, the former President of the United States of America, was a controversial president, who ended his presidency in a controversial manner. It seems like this is the only way to open up a topic as controversial as the former president himself. Should marijuana be legalized? A debate on the legalization of marijuana, although not scientific, on debate.org (a website that organizes debates on different topics) provides an overview of the different points of view for and against legalization. A simple Google search will yield many results covering this ongoing debate as well as many scientific articles that argue or simply provide research or experimental results regarding the production and consumption of marijuana. To better understand the topic of marijuana legalization, let's first describe what marijuana is. . First of all, it is understandable that many think that marijuana and cannabis refer to the same thing. While this is true when talking about a psychoactive drug, from a botanical perspective, cannabis is the correct term. Cannabis is a plant that belongs to the Cannabaceae plant family, in the order Rosales. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word marijuana may have roots in the Spanish word for prisoner (Oxford English Dictionary). As far as historical records go, in terms of cannabis, the cultivation of this plant probably began in ancient China for fiber production (ElSohly). The first European mention dates back to classical Greek times, where the historian Herodotus described the use of the cannabis plant in a funeral ceremony (Deitch). Why is this plant considered controversial then? The problems come from the chemical content of the plant. Marijuana is made up of more than 400 chemical compounds including...... middle of paper ...... with a divided history. Algora Publishing, 2003. Print.ElSohly, Mahmoud A. Marijuana and cannabinoids. Totowa, New Jersey 07512: Human Press Inc., 2007. Print. Nordqvist, Christian. "What is marijuana? What is cannabis?" June 18, 2013. Medical News Today. Internet. 7 May 2014. Oxford English Dictionary. "marijuana, n.: Oxford English Dictionary." 12 2000. Oxford English Dictionary - The definitive record of the English language. Internet. May 6, 2014. .Soros, George. Why I support legal marijuana; We should invest in effective education rather than ineffective arrests and incarceration. New York, NY, October 25, 2010. Web. Stimson, Charles. “Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No.” » September 13, 2010. Heritage.org. Internet. May 7 2014.