Growing up, I remember teachers and parents telling me over and over again, “Drugs are bad.” As a child, I listened to these authority figures without question; without fully understanding the reasoning behind this statement. Growing up, I watched marijuana almost glamorized by mainstream media. These media sources depicted people enjoying the "high" they received from the drug, making it seem more pleasant than harmful. I began to wonder, what is the appeal of this drug in getting people to break the law? After having my own experience with this drug and its effects, I find it difficult to understand exactly why this drug is illegal worldwide. Since the drug has become widely used, I think the real question should be: why not? Why exactly was marijuana made illegal in the first place? It is certainly not illegal for health reasons, if it were, alcohol and tobacco products would also be illegal. The fact is that we live in the land of the free, but we are continually limited in what we can and cannot do by politicians. One of the fundamental principles on which our country was founded was freedom of choice. If that freedom of choice involves indulging in vices such as alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana that can be considered detrimental to our health, that should be a decision we make as individuals and us alone. Think about alcohol for a minute. Alcohol is a substance that we are accustomed to and is associated with parties, celebrations and relaxation. What else is alcohol associated with? What about drunk driving and thousands of deaths every year. Now think about marijuana. Pot has a reputation for being something taboo and associated with sin by religious people. But how many people are killed each year from recreational marijuana use? A tenth of the total alcohol-related deaths. The government adheres to a strict policy and imposes prison sentences on anyone caught in possession of this substance. Should anyone be jailed for a beer? The fact is that there are legal substances that have far worse consequences for their use than marijuana. Marijuana use is said to be harmful to health and, by the gateway theory, it leads to the use of harder drugs. We are not saying that this view is entirely wrong; any inhalation of a substance is harmful to your health and, yes, it sometimes leads to other drug uses. The flaw in this view is that there are many legal drugs; caffeine, tobacco products, prescription or over-the-counter medications, etc. If we want to say that smoking marijuana leads to cocaine use or prescription drug abuse, we also have to say that alcohol does the same thing. Additionally, it is argued that the distribution of marijuana through state dispensaries undermines the idea that it is the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens from unhealthy substances. This is illogical due to studies that have been conducted which prove that the health risks of processed tobacco are considerably higher than those of marijuana. Citizens have the right to make their own decisions and be responsible enough to take care of themselves based on their own beliefs. Another opponent of legalization is that marijuana use clouds a person's logical decision-making and is addictive.