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Medical Marijuana Should Be Legal

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Many scientists, doctors, and patients recognize the medicinal utility of marijuana. However, the federal government opposes passing legislation that would legalize medical marijuana because of its potential to be abused or unregulated. The states are continuously challenging the federal government causing complications in legislation in regards to medical marijuana. Because of its history of medicinal properties and accumulating amounts of state and local legislation, the federal government should decriminalize medical marijuana and legalize its use. Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard and an authority on medical marijuana, researched medical marijuana’s history for a legal hearing. He …show more content…

Those who didn’t comply with the regulations were jailed or fined. The law made it very difficult to obtain marijuana medically. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics used “anti-diversion” regulations, or regulations to prohibit certain exported goods, which angered physicians further. By 1941, medical cannabis was removed from the U.S. Pharmacopeia and National Formulary (Grinspoon 1-8). In the 1960s, stories of its medical properties were published in mainstream magazines, and as the legislative concerns about the recreational purposes surfaced, Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (1970). Also known as the Controlled Substances Act, this placed psychoactive drugs into five categories, with marijuana in Schedule I: the most restrictive, indicating very little medicinal value, safety concerns, and a high potential for abuse. Dronabinol (i.e. marinol), a marijuana derivative, was placed in Schedule III, allowing it to be used safely as medicine. Following the categorization, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) attempted, through several petitions and legal hearings, to encourage the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to re-categorize natural marijuana as a Schedule II drug, so it could be prescribed by doctors (Grinspoon 8-10). Also, the states began to challenge federal legislation, creating a significant conflict within federalism. Court cases also impacted medical marijuana

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