Medical Marijuana Laws and their Effects Keith Reese COM/156 7/23/2014 Jennifer Preus Medical Marijuana Laws and their Effects In 1936, George Herliman produced the propaganda film “Tell Your Children”, later titled “Reefer Madness”(“IMBD”, 1990-2014). This film, financed by a church group to display the exaggerated consequences of marijuana usage, was intended to inspire fear in parents and children alike. Though marijuana legalization has become a front burner topic, one would assume that our technological advances would invoke more rational responses from the general public seeking facts to support claims. However, the same type of fear induced media messages are employed today by anti-marijuana …show more content…
NORML 's website states that their mission “is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient, and affordable.” (NORML, 2014). NORML claims that their support of marijuana legalization is the result of the cost of marijuana prohibition enforcement to the taxpayers and the more than 740,000 arrests per year for marijuana related offenses.(NORML, 2014). Pro- marijuana activist, Brittney Guest of Oklahoma City, has a similar reason for maintaining support. Guest stated, “The prohibition itself is what 's creating all of these crimes and all of these inhumane things that are happening to people.” Guest continued, “Families are being torn apart by these aggressive marijuana laws that are on the books.” (Murphy, February 12, 2014). Statements like this one contradict the claims of the opposition that marijuana legalization is in the public 's best interest. The movement to end marijuana prohibition has found supporters from all walks of life, but some are more unlikely than others. One such supporter has been Pennsylvania State Senator, Daylin Leach. Leach has been outspoken about his support for the movement to legalize
NORML, or the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, founded in 1970, is a non profit, public interest advocacy group which fights for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and want an end to arresting responsible marijuana smokers. In its website, the organization states that its mission is to “move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty” (NORML website). Cannabis, the scientific term for the plant which the marijuana leaf is grown on, is used throughout the site. NORML, the oldest and largest marijuana legalization
For many years in the past, marijuana has been made to look like a dangerous drug, linked to crime and addiction. In the early 1920s and ‘30s most people still did not know what marijuana was or had even heard of it yet. Those who had heard of it were largely uninformed. The drug rarely appeared in the media, but when it did it was linked to crime and even thought to be murder-inducing. A 1929 article in the Denver Post reported a Mexican-American man who murdered his stepdaughter was a marijuana addict (Baird 2011). Articles such as this began to form a long-standing link between marijuana and crime in the public’s mind. Soon, laws against marijuana began coming into place. In 1970, Congress classified
The opponents of Marijuana point out that if the FDA hasn’t approved of the drug, then it must be to dangerous to use. They believe that Marinol, a synthetic form of THC, can be used instead of the whole Cannabis plant, and Marijuana to not be obsolete. Their evidence shows the smoking five joints of Marijuana a week is equivalent to smoking a full pack ciggarrettes a day for the whole week, in which both points out the cancer causing agents that marijuana posses is potentially high. Also one of the most famous points used as a defense against Marijuana by prohibitionists is that Marijuana is a gateway drug to worse drugs, and that the amount of THC contained in Marijuana today is 25%, compared to 3% in the 1960s. It has been scienfitcally identified that THC is stored in body fat, so many believe that regular smokers have stored enough in
Undertreatment of pain, nausea and vomiting related to cancer, seizures, PTSD, and anxiety have become a huge problem in the United States. Because of this undertreatment, many patients have begun to self-medicate with other measures to alleviate their symptoms. Some turn to alcohol, some to prescription drugs, and others to cannabis in one form or another. Some of these means are regulated more than others and some of these cause problems in themselves. Alcohol, while highly regulated leads to many problems; it can result in financial hardships, marital issues, addiction, family issues, as well as legal problems. Prescription drugs carry the same risks as alcohol, whether prescribed
It’s not hard to believe that marijuana is the 3rd most popular recreational drug in America and Government polls say some 25 million Americans have smoked the plant in the past year. The purpose of this speech is not to persuade
Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While
To explore the economic benefits of marijuana legalization we must first look at the amount of marijuana that is purchased by users. The White House Office of National Drug Policy reported that between 1988 and 1995, Americans spent about 7 billion dollars on the illegal substance, averaging about a billion dollars a year (Prislac, 2009). This means that annually there is a billion dollars out there that is subject to no sales tax. The national average for sales tax is 5%, so if you calculate the billion dollars being spent on marijuana, this means there is approximately 50 million dollars in sales tax that our government never gets
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 marijuana legalization movement is one of the most controversial social movements of the modern day. Efforts to reform marijuana policy have been organized since the mid 1900s. There are two major organizations leading the battle for marijuana decriminalization. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Marijuana Project Policy (MPP) are both looking to reschedule and eventually legalize marijuana for the use of responsible adults. These two organizations provide various strategies that, along with additional tactics from other sources, have strongly influenced the position of the marijuana legalization social movement. The mobilization of resources is strongly influenced by the two leading organizations
Marijuana has always been a very controversial topic because of its recreational use. Cannabis, Pot or Weed are other names used when referring to Marijuana. There are a lot of things made out of Weed like clothing, food, drinks, ropes, construction supplies, paper, jewelry, plastic, fuel, soil, medicine and cosmetic goods among many other things. Cannabis has been used for decades by many ancient cultures. It is believed that the plant came from Asia and arrived in America thru the colonist. In the beginning, this plant was mainly used for its healing components, but later on, it was used for recreational purposes. This plant brings a lot of benefits to people suffering from terminal diseases. Cancer
First, let’s carefully look at the views of the anti-marijuana groups. There are several groups that are against marijuana legalization. To
Purpose: To persuade my audience to: support the legalization of marijuana, because of it being able to provide many medical as well as economic benefits for the United States if legalized.
(NORML) is an organisation that does not make a profit for what they do, NORML is a dedicated organisation to legalise marijuana, NORML was created in 1970, and NORML still is and will always be the leading organisation for legalization of marijuana, NORML believes marijuana should be legal to those who will use it responsibly, like elder adults and people who need it, NORML has successfully made marijuana legal in 11 states in America and is trying to get it to be legalised on an international scale.
Legalization or decriminalization of marijuana is opposed by a vast majority of American’s and people around the world. Leaders in Marijuana prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement adamantly oppose the substance, as do many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of illegal drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing decision making thru legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate here in the United States and in other countries. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is the oldest drug user lobby in the U.S. It has strong ties to the Libertarian party, the Drug Policy Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
As the debate about marijuana’s use as a medicine continues, experts have given us information pertaining to