California Medical Marijuana

Smoked marijuana can give rapid relief from such suffering to some patients, quickly improving such patients' comfort and quality of life, a trial course of smoked marijuana should be a medical option. Instead the government will squander a golden opportunity to gain the knowledge that keeps us from legalizing a drug that can be greatly beneficial to the American people. The U.S. Government also claims that marijuana is bad for the immune system.

b. Joe Messerli of Balancedpolitics.org, states, “There are a number of medical benefits of marijuana, most notably in the treatment of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Others believe it helps in the treatment of depression unlike alcohol.”

Illnesses can also be treated by cannabis. Illness is something that someone gets over time but it eventually goes away. (The Union, Brett Harvey) Cannabis is an excellent and healthy way to relieve pain from migraine headaches. (The Union, Brett Harvey) Migraines are often caused by nausea, flashes of light, and photosensitivity. (How Weed won the west, Kevin Booth) When cannabis is taken in to a person’s body it impacts the Autonomic Nervous system which causes that person to breathe easier and relax. (The Union, Brett Harvey)

It’s proven that the use of marijuana can help people with certain illnesses and help them recover. In an article; it stated that using marijuana for a medical effect can help you with your sleeping disorders, aches, eating conditions and pains. It can also help relax muscle tension, chronic pain and seizure disorders. Marijuana has been successful at

In 1996, the state of California passed the Compassionate Use Act, which legalized the use of medical marijuana. California was one of the few states at the time to legalize the use of medical marijuana, while the federal law upholds its authority to restrict citizens from using marijuana. The Compassionate Use Act conflicts with the Controlled Substances Act, which is a law enacted by Congress to regulate the use of marijuana. Nine years later, the Supreme Court is presented the case of Gonzales v. Raich. Angela Raich, who suffered from a serious illness, decided to grow her own medical marijuana for personal use. Raich actions were legal in the eyes of California, while on a federal level the country did not approve of the idea or use of

Marijuana is composed of approximately over four hundred chemicals. According to the Mayo Clinic "Marijuana contains at least 60 chemicals called cannabinoids. Researchers are evaluating how effective some of these cannabinoids might be in controlling symptoms of certain medical conditions. For example: THC, an abbreviation for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC is the main component responsible for marijuana's mind-altering effect. It also may help treat signs and symptoms such as nausea and vomiting that are associated with a number of medical conditions. Cannabinol and cannabidiol, these compounds have some of the properties of THC, but cause less psychoactive effects — the high. [...]” Medical marijuana can be used to treat a variety of illnesses ranging from anxiety to more life threatening diseases like cancer.

In 1996, California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, which allowed for the cultivation and usage of marijuana for limited medical purposes. The proposition was the statewide ballot on the issue of medical marijuana which had been passed. It was enacted with 55% of the population in favor, 45% opposed, a fact which in and of itself

"It is very disturbing to realize that Giovanni Polli (1812-1880), was more compassionate 130 years ago than many government authorities today" (Kassirer, 1997, pg. 1185). The debates began and in 1975, the FDA established the Compassionate Use program for medical marijuana (Silverman, 1995). Marijuana is a DEA Schedule I in all forms (hash, hash oil, and cannabis) except for synthetic THC, which is schedule III. Schedule I is federally defined as drugs which have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment, and have a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision. This federal law was disputed in 1988 by Judge Francis Young, an administrative law judge for the DEA, who recommended that marijuana be reclassified as schedule II on the grounds that if a respectable minority of doctors indorse it, then it has a "currently accepted medical use" (Erowid website, 2000). In 1990, the states of California and Arizona came to their senses and allowed marijuana to be legalized just for medical purposes (Silverman, 1995). A few years later, Missouri and Michigan also legalized medicinal marijuana. As of today, no additional states have decided to follow their lead.

Cannabis, also known as Marijuana, has been used by humans throughout history for medical, recreational, as well as spiritual purposes. Its fiber, oil, and seed are also refined into products such as hemp oil, wax, rope, cloth, and paper (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2013, para. 1). With 56% voters overwhelming supported for medical cannabis, California became the first state in the United States to pass Prop 215 in 1996 ensuring the patients and their primary caregivers to “have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purpose” (California Department of Public Health, 2013, Text of Law section, para. 1).

The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 was passed by California voters which legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes. However, the California law violated the established federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which banned the possession of marijuana. After the DEA seized prescribed marijuana from the home of a doctor’s patient, a collection of medical marijuana users came together and sued the DEA and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a federal district court. The two leading individuals, Angel Raich and Diane Monson sued the federal government on the grounds of declaratory relief and injunction in October of 2002 to stop the government from violating their right to produce and use medical marijuana. Attorney Randy Barnett defended

In the last few years there have been a few propositions to legalize Cannabis here in California. In 2009 the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act was introduced to California legislators. The Act was to “remove penalties under

Some medical reasons that marijuana shouldn’t be decriminalized are that it has long and short terms effects. Examples of the short term outcomes include memory loss, difficulty with thinking, loss of motor skills and increased heart rate. According to the National Institutes of Health show that someone smoking about five joints per week is taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. There is no science proof that smoked marijuana can be used for medication. Since cannabis plants are polluted with a range of fungal spores, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of infectious organisms. Taradiff, J. "Marijuana and the War on Drugs. “Marijuana. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thomas Gale, 2008. 157. Print.

This organization was the first in the country to be granted non-profit status. By 1937, marijuana had been classified as a narcotic by all states. It wasn?t until 1972 that there was a call for the decriminalization of marijuana by the government. The American Medical Association and the National Council of Churches endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana. One must believe that support from an organization with such influence in the medical field that marijuana must have some medicinal purpose. In 1996, California passed Proposition 215, which legalized possession of marijuana for patients with a doctor?s recommendation who are suffering from AIDS, cancer, Glaucoma, and other illnesses. In September of 2000, federal Judge William Alsup of the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco ruled that the government could not punish doctors who recommend the benefits of marijuana to their patients. This verdict gave ill people a sign of hope that they will be able to take whatever medication necessary, even marijuana, to treat their sicknesses.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen 's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen 's responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Martin Luther King Jr. Many people ask “why should marijuana be legalized”? when the real question that we should be asking is “why shouldn’t marijuana be legalized”?. Marijuana also known as hemp is a naturally grown plant that has been around for decades dating back to around 2697 B.C., when the Egyptians would use it to cure many common ailments, and the Chinese would use it for therapeutics. Using marijuana not only to cure common illnesses but for your pleasure as well should be up to you the free citizens of California and not to the government. The first major reason

In 1996 California passed Proposition 215, which allowed the use of medical marijuana (4444). Since then, six other states have made medical marijuana legal; Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, and