Reforming Marijuana: Marijuana Should Be Legalized

Marijuana is a naturally grown plant that has beneficial properties and the ability to create textiles, paper products, and other goods. Marijuana is currently illegal in many states in the United States. The legalization of Marijuana will produce enormous tax revenue, reduce crime, give us a renewable resource, and give sick and suffering patients a new effective medicine. The legalization of Marijuana in the United States would both benefit the well-being of its citizens as well the economy.

The most versatile plant in the world, with over 25,000 known uses, is currently illegal to grow and produce in the United States. These uses range from hemp paper to hemp biodiesel and even include food products. The raging problem of deforestation can ultimately be solved with the help of hemp industrialization in the United States. Hemp as a biodiesel could relieve our dependence of fossil fuels. Opening up hemp farms and factories to produce the product could create thousands of jobs and a new business for our country. The only thing holding back this wide market of positivity is hemp 's family member, cannabis marijuana. Hemp should be legalized in the United States of America as an industrial product. Its uses date back

One of the first things about marijuana history that the American public still doesn 't understand is that cannabis, was once very legal to grow in the United States. In fact, up until 1883 it was one of the largest agricultural crops in the world, including America.(The Union) But it wasn’t grown for the psychoactive plant cannabis sativa. Cannabis hemp, which carries a fraction of the amount of THC, (the compound in marijuana that attributes to the high feeling) was and is used all over the world, producing the overall majority of Earth’s fiber, fabric, paper, and medicines.(Herer,20) Hemp has a deep American History as well, from the gardens of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to the 8,327 American hemp plantations counted in the 1850 census.(Herer,15) Yet the Federal government now recognizes cannabis as a Schedule I drug with no medical value, and 23 States have legalized cannabis for medicinal use. (The Union) Even though some western states such as Oregon and Colorado are making legal changes to marijuana policy at the state level, the most beneficial marijuana law we could pass is and always has been the Nationwide legalization of industrial Cannabis Hemp.

First and foremost, majority of society is uneducated and unaware of the many benefits legal marijuana can bring about. These benefits are for us as individuals, for our economy, and for our government as a whole. You can have thoughts and opinions, criticize ones who use marijuana, say that they are a drug attics or bad people, but you would clearly be uneducated having said that. The plant, cannabis, “marijuana”, has a class of

The main idea behind legalizing drugs is it's medical advantages. Marijuana is said to have many uses as healing drug. Marijuana being used as medicine has been studied for many years. In many cultures it is used as medicine and stems back many generations. The first recorded use of marijuana as medicine was in China. It has been said that in Pen Tsao Ching during the first or second century, boiled hemp compound was used as an anesthetic for surgical patients. The compound is said to have many uses including, clearing the blood, cooling temperature, clearing fluxes, undoing rheumatism and discharging pus from patients. China isn't the only country to use this drug in early times it was introduced in Southeast Asia in the sixteenth century. Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam are said to have current uses of marijuana for medicine. In Cambodia they have an enormous list of uses, including, treating malaria, reliving asthma, calming the nerves, regulating the heart and treating paralysis. In Thailand, it's used in folk medicine as well as in the official medical reports. In folk medicine, people dry the leaves and then boil them to treat migraines and dizzy spells.

Smoking marijuana, in some ways, is like smoking cigarettes. Marijuana can produce airway injury, coughing and wheezing, some of the symptoms of cigarette smoking (Marijuana). But the downfall to smoking marijuana is it contains almost 50% more benzopyrene (the cancer-causing chemical in tobacco) than a cigarette (Fact Sheet). Marijuana contains cancer causing agents and toxic particles that can lead to bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer (What to Teach Kids 3). People do not realize how much more serious the risks of smoking one joint are compared to smoking one cigarette. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day (Marijuana). The affects of smoking marijuana are much severe than smoking cigarettes.

Marijuana is one of the most popular drugs in the world. Users most commonly use it by smoking its leaves, stems, buds, or flower to experience some sort of high. Scientists have discovered that not only does marijuana have an intoxication effect, but that it could be used for medical reasons as well. Marijuana has been tested by many scientists who would all agree that it should be legalized

Marijuana has been used by people over many centuries for medical uses. It is a natural pain killer used today as a recreational drug by people all over the world. According to Noel Merino in, “Introduction to Gateway Drugs: Opposing Viewpoints”, “a drug is something other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body”. Marijuana is a very controversial drug and has been outlawed in many countries for its affect on the function of the body. “Effects may involve hallucinations, impaired judgment, and mood swings.” Describes the effects of marijuana in “Marijuana” Current Issues Macmillian social science library. During the past century Marijuana has been legal, made illegal, strictly enforced, decriminalized,

On the patients for medical marijuana website I found the next article very interesting. It states that scientists have shown that smoking any plant is bad for your lungs, because it increases the number of lesions in your small airways. This usually does not threaten your life, but there is a chance it will lead to infections. Marijuana users who are worried about this can find less harmful ways of taking marijuana like eating or vaporizing. It is there opinion that marijuana smokers generally don’t chain smoke, and so they smoke less. They also believe that marijuana is not physically addictive like tobacco. The more potent marijuana is, the less a smoker will use at a time. While other articles state otherwise, this one says that tobacco contains nicotine, and marijuana doesn’t. Nicotine hardens the arteries and may be responsible for much of the heart disease caused by tobacco. It also reminds us that research has found that tobacco use may also cause a lot of cancers. This is because it breaks down into a cancer causing chemical called `N Nitrosamine’ when it is burned (and maybe even while it is inside the body as well.) There are currently no cases of lung cancer resulting from marijuana use alone according to this article. They believe the more legal marijuana gets, the safer it is. This article added that researchers were

Researchers from Conference of Quebec University Health Centers state's, “marijuana can actually improve lungs, Smoking weed isn’t actually that bad for your lungs, and smokers actually have improved lung function when compared to both cigarette smokers – and people who have never smoked either.” Researchers from around the world are testing marijuana on lungs and results are coming back that marijuana is actually strengthening them. According to Rob Waugh, “In what could be a key moment for advocates of legal cannabis, the U.S. government has admitted that the drug can shrink cancer cells.” (use different examples) There are multiple health advantages when it comes to smoking marijuana but, most of the population that smoke marijuana just use it to get high.

     Marijuana is one of the most controversial drugs today. Everyone is talking about it, and the question everyone is asking is why is it not legal? Many studies have been done on this drug for medical uses. Also to find what harm it can do mentally and physically. Marijuana has many different parts that can be used for everything from a medication to a bedsheet. Many countries use marijuana everyday, they use it for medicine, textiles, religious aid, and recreational use. Scientists are finding use of marijuana in our history. They found evidence that the founding fathers grew marijuana, mostly for hemp (the fiber from the cannabis plant used for textiles, which contains a very low

The legalization of marijuana has been a debated subject in America since the 1970's. The pro-marijuana society in America has made claims as to how marijuana can help cure or lessen the effect of some diseases and that by legalizing the drug; the use of pot will actually decline. The fact of the matter is that marijuana is a drug that can be placed into a similar category as cocaine or heroine. Like these other drugs, pot (marijuana) smoking carries with it serious side effects that can effect the user forever, and sometimes-even cause death. Marijuana was first cultivated in America during the colonial time period and was used as a fiber for rope and even clothing. The plant was not used for its psychoactive properties until 1910,

Way before marijuana was ever used as a popular recreational intoxicant, it was used as a widespread industrial product. Originally brought over to America by British settlers, marijuana hemp was prized for its versatility. It was also used to make a lot of things like, paper, rope, and cloth. In fact, it has been established that both George Washington was not only the father of the United States and a cannabis plantation owners, but also a user of the plant for relaxation and merriment (Schwartz, 2008). There are way more cons than pro’s.

Cannabis, formally known as marijuana is a drug obtained from the tops, stems and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis. The drug is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Only substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are used more (“Marijuana” 1). In the U. S. where some use it to feel “high” or get an escape from reality. The drug is referred to in many ways; weed, grass, pot, and or reefer are some common names used to describe the drug (“Marijuana” 1). Like most drugs, marijuana has a very long history. People have been using the plant around the world for thousands of years. The oldest record of the marijuana plant dates back to 2727 B. C. in China where the plant was used as a medical herb for treating conditions like rheumatism, gout, malaria and even absent-mindedness (“Cannabis, Coca, & Poopy: Nature’s Addictive Plants” 1). Slowly, the plant started spreading around the world. By 1545, cannabis was starting to appear throughout the western worlds. Being introduced to South America by the Spanish to be used as fiber. The crop also had many other common uses around the world. In North America, cannabis was often used to make paper, ropes, clothing and other materials (“The Origins of Cannabis” 1).

Many studies have shown that the “more marijuana one uses, the more likely one has the risk of developing head and neck cancer” (Giannasio). This is why marijuana is as harmful as tobacco because the more one consumes it for medical uses or even just as an escape from reality then, the bigger the chance that person will develop head or neck cancer. In addition, “it has been proven that a smoke of marijuana “contains 50%