Marijuana Case Study: Gonzalez V. Raich

Legalizing marijuana is a concept that can potentially benefit the public as well as the local economies. There has been a nationwide debate on whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The major consensus is that marijuana is not only bad for one’s health, but it is also dangerous to the community. These allegations are not true. Marijuana actually has health benefits that most people overlook. The following essay will address these health benefits in an attempt to present this concept in a way that the audience can better understand how legalizing marijuana can beneficial to an individual health, how it can give an increase to the economy.

Cannabis began being outlawed all across the U.S. during the 1900’s and has remained illegal ever since, until recent years when states began legalizing it (huffpost.com). Although many people believe that the reason behind the prohibition of cannabis was based on genuine concern for the possible consequences it may have on the well-being of people if it remained accessible to all, the truth is that the drive behind the U.S.’s prohibition of cannabis was founded on racism. During the early 1900’s cannabis was considered an “ethnic drug” due to the fact that many Mexican immigrants smoked the plant (huffpost.com). With the tension in Western states regarding the migration of Mexicans into the states, laws concerning the use regulation of

Ever since the federal criminalization of marijuana in the United States in 1937, there has been a large underground drug market (Paul). Much like how the prohibition of alcohol simply forced imbibers underground, those who chose to partake in marijuana are forced to stay away from the prying eye of the law because of present marijuana laws. This means the drug world is concealed from the average citizen, hiding the dangers of drug deals gone wrong, police shootings, and other dangerous occurrences. In a way this allows the government to mask the fact that their well-funded ‘War on Drugs’ is ineffective, a ‘War’ with a budget of roughly twenty billion dollars; which is not profoundly effective in the curbing the use of drugs (Jillette). If

The General perspective that society throws on marijuana is that equal to any drug; negative. However, many researchers have found that the effects of marijuana for medicinal purposes can be beneficial to the right patients, as well as the United States government. The negative effects from marijuana use in a medicinal environment are far less than that of most over the counter drugs, while the benefits remain the same. There are instances in which marijuana was legalized for people with prescriptions from licensed doctors; however, full legalization is leaps and bounds away from the current status. Another way full legalization could help is money the government uses to try and fight marijuana

In that same year, Congress heard testimony asserting the same notion from the Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Examining Board of Pennsylvania, Dr. Christopher Koch. Dr. Koch warned about “Chinks” who keep white women as their “concubines” in their opium dens. In addition, he said, “The colored people seem to have a weakness for it (cocaine)…It produces a kind of temporary insanity. They would just as leave rape a woman as anything else, and a great many of the Southern rape cases have been traced to cocaine.” Whereas, just minutes later in his testimony he rationalized that white professionals “take morphine to quiet them, and they take cocaine to brace them up.”

There is an intensive debate in society, today, about legalizing marijuana. Supporters of marijuana highlight that legalizing will not increase its consumption, and in fact will provide individuals with a legal choice. Opponents argue that legalizing marijuana will increase consumption, which would expose consumers to health risks as extreme as cancer. I believe marijuana should be legalized by the federal government. It is already being consumed in the society, and legalizing marijuana will facilitate monitoring its growth, usage, and help collect taxes. Marijuana has overwhelming support in the medical field as an alternate medicine. Also, marijuana will provide a legal alternative to individuals who rely on illegal and dangerous drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. Legalization will significantly reduce marijuana trafficking and curtail black market activities. Furthermore, legalizing will divert the cash stream from black markets to the states and the federal government, in the form of taxes. The additional revenue can be used to do additional research on

Mr. Ted Cruz, I would love to see the decriminalization of marijuana in Texas, as well as the the medical usage of such. I know of the Compassionate use program, it is in need of serous changes to function properly. The war on drugs just does not work, the cost of which is atrocious regularly diverting funds from we social welfare programs to do so. Texas should be taking note on the amount of success states like Colorado have had putting significant amounts of money back into the school systems by way of the taxation of marijuana. In a 2013 pole, 58% of Texans support the overall legalization of marijuana. One of the most dangerous things about marijuana is that it is illegal, which can actually make it easier to access by minor, the dealer

The article "Common Sense Is Needed in Marijuana Policy." By Cathy Young talks about how Marijuana should be legalized to reduce crime rates because experts believe that if marijuana were to become legalized it will reduce the amount of drug dealers, which would then get rid of many crimes revolving around narcotics. The legalization of marijuana would lead to less possession charges if it were legal to carry and it would reduce the smuggling process if marijuana were legal to grow in the United

I support the New Democratic Party because I completely agree with their choice to repeal the law. No one should have their privacy exposed, if there is something the government would like to look at they should need a warrant. The government has no reason to know everything someone does on the internet, it makes people uneasy. It’s also important to understand that it shouldn’t be a problem to have access to what you do, because you shouldn’t be doing anything you shouldn’t. If I was the Prime Minister I would never legalize the right to anyone’s privacy, there should always be a reason for something personal about someone, and all information should never be accessible without a warrant from the court.

With alcohol and tobacco butchering substantial portions out of the general public each year, does it really make sense for something that helps people, has so many positive aspects in the medical field, and is natural without the need for additional things to be done to it like marijuana to be illegal? It can be easily understood by most why heavy man-made drugs, such as methamphetamines and LSD, which are almost guaranteed to cause addiction and contain harsh chemicals would be illegal; though marijuana grows naturally and it has been around so long, the exact date it came about cannot be determined for certain. “The earliest cultural evidence of cannabis comes from the oldest known Neolithic culture in

Marijuana is probably the safest drug available, meaning a drug that won’t damage the body or have negative effects on the body and mind. Marijuana has helped army veteran Jose Martinez. Martinez had lost both of his legs and his arm in 2012. Then later in December, he had got into a car accident. He smokes marijuana to relieve his ptsd, or posttraumatic stress disorder. For him, marijuana helped him calm down instead of giving him an adrenaline rush causing his mind to race. “It relaxes me and helps me sleep at night.” It takes away the nonexistent pain of his missing limbs. Martinez now advocates marijuana legalization. Martinez isn’t the only soldier that has ptsd, and many other veterans use marijuana as an escape from their traumatizing

Why should marijuana be legalized? Marijuana can be argued for different reasons. In my case I will be arguing the medical purposes for legalizing marijuana. Marijuana has positive features, and how people prefer using marijuana. Marijuana helps individuals get through a variety of things that they suffer. Marijuana provides relief from pain, rather than other medications out there. Many individuals prefer marijuana over anything else to relax. An argument on why people using marijuana spend more time in jail than actual criminals. So you can say the greatest risk of using marijuana is the risk of arrest. Marijuana should be legalized at the federal law for medical purposes.

The voters of Massachusetts through a referendum, legalized medical marijuana. This referendum made Massachusetts become the 18th state to legalize medical marijuana in the country(Marijuana Passes). The law was placed into effect on January 1, 2013, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health had 120 days to issue regulations for the law (May 1, 2013). Under the medical marijuana law, a patient must be diagnosed as having a debilitating medical condition by a licensed physician in order to obtain and use medical marijuana. The Department of Public Health provides a registration card to the patients that are qualified to use medical marijuana (Marijuana Passes). Other important

Prohibition has been initiated many times throughout history in attempt to control and deter civilians from the use of substances or from different types of behaviors that are believed to be destructive. More recently, several types have been discussed in terms of the social problem of substance abuse and ways that can be implemented in the methods of attempting to prevent the continued global spread of this problem. According to MacCoun, Reuter, Pacula, et al, “The appropriate legal response to marijuana possession has been a matter of public debate in the U.S. and Western Europe since the 1970s…” (Do Citizens Know Whether Their State Has Decriminalized Marijuana?..., 2009, pg. 348). The growing problem of illicit substance use has

Legalization of marijuana is one of the most controversial topics in American society today. Surveys done by the US Government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive showed that 95 million Americans have used marijuana. There are two opposing sides that have strong stances on whether it should become legal or should remain illegal. We have one side that is anti-marijuana and the other is pro-marijuana. Each side provides valid and strong arguments supporting their views. The purpose of this paper is to carefully examine each opposing side and try to find some way to come to a compromise.