Should Marijuana be legalized?

One of the most common questions asked by our society is “should marijuana be legalized?” According to a poll taken by the huffingtonpost.com most people think that marijuana should be legalized but the voters also believe that it should also be taxed and regulated like alcohol.
One of the main reasons people believe that marijuana should be legalized is the fact that regulated marijuana brings in a large amount of taxes. In the state of Colorado, free-market marijuana is one of the largest parts of the states economy. The IRS taxes the marijuana sold in Colorado and this has greatly stimulated the economy of the state.
Another major reason that people believe that marijuana should be legalized is because marijuana is no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol if used in moderation. Marijuana can be bad for you if you use it too often but if used in moderation it is equivalent to alcohol or tobacco in moderation.
Like anything else that is illegal there are reasons people believe that it should not be legalized. One of those reasons are that by legalizing marijuana more drug lords and gang members will be in control of the substance as well. In general, there would be more marijuana out there if legalized so in turn more evil people would be in possession of it.
Another reason that people don’t believe that marijuana should be legalized is because it is a gateway drug to other drugs such as heroin and cocaine. This would be dangerous for us as a society because these drugs are extremely addictive and cause erratic behaviors in people.
This is obviously a very controversial question so that means it must be deliberated until we (the american people) decide what the answer to this question should be. Please state your opinions in the comments. Thank you for reading.