Persuasive Essay On The Legalization Of Drugs

Pollan mentions the idea that it is difficult to try a drug like psilocybin unless it has been proven to work and is not legal. I do not like the idea of opting for treatments that have yet to be proven successful. However, many of the patients in Pollan’s article do not mind that it has not been proven to work. Unlike the majority of the patients in Pollan’s article, I am not suffering from a terminal illness and therefore I do not feel pushed enough or like I have exhausted all my options. Pollan proposes the possibility of psychedelics to treat people with severe anxiety or addictions (38). If I were to ever reach a point of my life where I had a terminal illness, unmanageable anxiety, or an addiction, I would not be opposed to trying psychedelics if they have been

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.

Thesis: There are many misconceptions about magic mushrooms, but I believe that they could be incredibly important for the future treatment of mental health.

We should decriminalize drugs in the U.S. instead of legalizing them. Decriminalization refers to the lessening of criminal penalties of certain acts. According to De Marneffe, “… the legalization of drugs … [is] the removal of criminal penalties for the manufacture, sale, and possession of large quantities of recretational drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine” (346).

Even mentioning how psychedelics can be used as an alternative option for medicine has become a taboo topic to talk about. However, as of most recent, scientists are able to conduct research on different psychedelics medicinal properties with the government’s permission. In Jennifer Byler's “A Doorway To Change,” Blyer does a phenomenal job of discussing how the use of psychedelics can be used as a cure to help beat addiction.

By the 1960s, psychedelics saw widespread use within the hippie counterculture, with LSD becoming the most popular of all. LSD then became the face for the young, rebellious hippie movement, and lead to mind exploration and political dissent across the United States. This widespread recreational use ended up catching the eye of state and federal government and ended up being made an illegal substance in 1967. LSD was quickly deemed a drug of abuse and placed into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in 1968.Schedule I placement brands psychedelics as among the most dangerous drugs of abuse and are regarded as having no medical application. This means approval for research involving this class of drugs, especially with humans, is very difficult. To this day clinical trials have been very secluded and not many are approved. A recent resurgence of MDMA in the 90’s spurred a lift on bans for studies on psychedelics medical safety and possible uses as medical treatments. Psychedelics are effective as therapy assisted treatments for addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and should be legalized for clinical

The Atlantic article “Seeing Opportunity in Psychedelic Drugs,” by Matt Shiavenza, had several promising sources but alas no leads. Drenched in discouragement, disaffected, and suffocating in a sea of endless links, the Guardian article “Healing trip: How psychedelic drugs could help treat depression” by David Derbyshire, was the breath of sweet truth I’d been so desperately craving; pure objective data with direct in-citation links to universities’ and medical institutions’ research and journal publications. Finally, I knew the article was not delusive, but instead, based upon inalienable scientific knowledge.

This is wrong because getting addicted to a psychedelic is almost zero to impossible. Psychedelics tend to build quite a fast tolerance, increasing the dosage doesn’t give much of an effect because people simply don’t feel the need to constantly be on the substance like cocaine, methamphetamine, crack, krokodil and noz users begin to get after being sober for a while. Cravings and withdrawals begin to occur to the user and fortunately, Psychedelics is one of those substances that doesn’t have any connection with withdrawal or addiction. Is it possible that one of “ the greatest threat facing the country today is possibly going to be more dangerous than the Vietnam war? Is it possible that these psychedelic drugs that are labeled as one of the most destructive and dangerous substances out there can actually make everyone’s life better? Over the past decades since the substance was first synthesized it’s be shown that psychedelics actually might be the opposite from being harmful. Scientists claim to have discovered hallucinogens can help sick people and erase possible alcohol

In a country where tobacco products and alcohol are legal, I have always wondered, why not cannabis? Why did this plant still have the stigma of being illegal when it does not cause any deaths, is not nearly as physically addicting, nor as harmful as its legal counterparts? Clearly, the law of marijuana prohibition is one that is up for debate and one that is up for change. Currently, many state laws have been passed that are either decriminalizing marijuana or allowing it for purely medicinal purposes. Although these laws are moving towards legalization, they do not come close to the actual goal. The definition of “legalization” advocates are striving to reach refers to legalized wholesale production, distribution, and sale to all marijuana users even for recreational purposes. Citizens have to realize that legalization is a realistic change that our country might be facing in the near future. Although liberals are leading the fight to end prohibition while conservatives are helping the law stand firm, this fight should not be one divided by political party. Every individual ought to be educated on the issue before saying yes or no to legalization. Before voting on this issue, I ask: What would the country actually be like if marijuana was legal?

The legalization of marijuana has been debated to be a harmful substance for so long. Marijuana is a drug that is always being talked about all over the media. There is constant debate on whether it should be legalized or not. It's also, debated on if it were to be legalized, how would it would affect society. All these questions are things the government takes into account every day. There is a big divide between people’s beliefs on this matter. Some people think it should be, others think it shouldn’t, and some think it should be with some modifications on the usage. When you look at the benefits, there is no question that marijuana should be legal throughout the entire country. There are way more positive things that could come out of

Thus, throughout this essay, I plan on analyzing the pros and cons of psychedelics in clinical trials and aim to better educate the public about the usage and dangers of such drugs.

Prior to the countercultural revolution of the 1960’s, the legal experimentation of psychedelic drugs were widely researched for the treatment of alcoholism and various mental disorders. The term psychedelic means “mind-manifesting or altering” and was given to hallucinogens like marijuana, LSD, MDMA, and psilocybin in 1956 by psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond (Taylor 1). The studies grew rapidly but medical progress was quickly halted because of the legal ramifications in response to the hippie culture and escalated pressure of other governments. People strongly object to such experimentation with little practical application and questionable ethics thus fueling the controversy in regards to the continuation of the psychedelic research. Although

When the term marijuana comes to mind, most people think of drug addiction, because that is all they know about the drug. In reality, marijuana has a substantial amount of health benefits, including stimulating an appetite, pain management, and benefits to chemotherapy. The legalization of marijuana would also be a boost for the economy of America, which is in dire need of help. Defenders of marijuana not being legalized believe all the drug does is impede judgment and impair speech, as well as a few other effects. The overall health of Americans has decreased substantially in cases of mental illnesses, cancer, etc. The use of cannabis oil (derived from marijuana) has proven to be effective in treating these illnesses. In order to please both sides, a 28th amendment should be added to legalize marijuana in a fixed amount prescribed by a certified doctor, for medicinal use only.

The legalization of cannabis has been a very popular topic lately. A large majority of Americans feel that cannabis products should be legal in the United States. With new research we have found that cannabis is basically harmless, and is safer then legal products such as alcohol and tobacco. Most states have already legalized medical usage, and more states are following the trend of Colorado to legalize recreationally.

To all the cancer patients or people with AIDS, marijuana has made all the nausea and appetite loss go away. The seed alone is only second to the soybean in nutritional value, with all its source of vitamins. For hundreds of years, the plant was used to produce our paper and clothes, and it is capable of producing four times the fiber than that of trees. I believe that the legalization of marijuana in The United States should happen, mainly for the use of medical usage. Many people will argue that it is only used for recreational use, but its oils have been used to help people with severe seizures or with constant pain. If marijuana was made legal it could be used to save so many lives. My goal with this paper is to reduce the ignorance and prejudice that marijuana gets, and inform the people of all the known and potential uses.