The Over Baked Marijuana Debate

The truths about marijuana are slowly starting to resurface, the government keeps ignoring that cannabis could one day be as powerful for the U.S. Unfortunately, these truths about marijuana are under a lot of criticism because of the stereotype of what people see as a "marijuana or cannabis smoker." There is a great difficulty in this law because marijuana is still recognized as a harmful and dangerous substance in some states. This can cause problems because each state has their different views and opinions on the matter, and have their own rules and how the rules apply towards it. The twenty-six states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form, but California, Massachusetts, and Nevada just passed the law for recreational use. The states that have medical marijuana and recreational legalization are Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Alaska. The states that only have medical marijuana legal are Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii (Ingraham). However, legalizing marijuana could have some benefits instead of being a drug with some bad reputations. Marijuana should be legalized because of medical reasons, safety reasons, and have some benefits to society.

First, from 1900 to 1940, marijuana, including opium and cocaine were considered part of everyday drugs. As time went on, the U.S. cracked down on crack and opium, eventually outlawing them, but continued to be very “loose” with the use of marijuana. Hoxter a weed smuggler explains how he began in the 1960’s trying weed and years later saw himself unloading four hundred pounds of pot in Vancouver. The story of this man ends in his isolation and argument of why he couldn’t smoke weed even if he stopped selling? He asked a parole officer and she didn’t know what to respond. It is true what Hoxter states, fifty years ago alcohol was illegal and now it’s not, was it bad then? Will weed be legalized? And will the conflicts have been in vain? (Schou 8). Around the late 90’s and early 2000’s, scientific studies started to produce jaw-dropping results. Scientists started to discover that marijuana can significantly help people who have become ill. Medical Marijuana has been tested to help people with cataracts, cancer and severe depression (Zeese 1999). With this new worldwide discovery, the argument about medical marijuana ignited. States wanted to only make medical marijuana legal so it may help sick people, but the government did not want any form of marijuana legal. The law that was known throughout the United States was any form of marijuana was illegal. But now with this new discovery, doctors in states across the country want the

Cannabis is the most hated but yet very beneficial drug in the world. The United States has had strict laws against the use and distribution of marijuana since 1937. (The Union, Brett Harvey) Federal and state laws on medicinal marijuana are very different from each other. Cannabis has a lot of health benefits, this is the reason California was the first state to legalize it for medicinal purposes. (How weed won the west, Kevin Booth) People in America have been getting arrested for the use and possession of marijuana since it was outlawed. Charlie Lynch was one of those people in 2008. (Lynching Charlie Lynch, Rick Ray) I believe medical marijuana should be a legally taxed substance in the United States.

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.

Medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial topics in politics for years regardings its legalization and any possible benefits. Marijuana is commonly referred to as the “gateway drug” and has been thought to be what causes the downfall of our youth in today’s society. This has caused Marijuana to earn a bad reputation due to the immense surrounding propaganda and bias opinions. Cannabis is the scientific name of the plant which is absolutely natural and free of chemicals, but the psychoactive components in the plant has been proven to be of medical use. If medical marijuana is prescribed correctly it has the potential to help thousands of patients due to the variety of benefits it can medically provide. Medical Marijuana should

The use of medical marijuana is a controversial topic because many find it beneficial as others find the usage to be recreational. Many people may find that the usage of medical marijuana may eventually be over prescribed. The use of medical marijuana has increased over the years for treatments to multiple diseases and conditions, but it was not always this way. Although it has been dated to early years, there were periods of times where medical marijuana was illegal. In my opinion, I think treating patients whom are

The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is a long-standing controversy. For centuries marijuana was prescribed to alleviate symptoms associated with a variety of illnesses. Anti-medical marijuana sentiments began with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act banned the use of marijuana completely, categorizing it as a drug with no medicinal value, high abuse rates, and detrimental health effects (http://www.farmacy.org/prop215/apha.html). Since 1996, numerous states including California, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have passed medical marijuana initiatives supporting the right to prescribe marijuana for seriously or terminally ill patients (http://www.marihemp.com/marimed.html). The American Public Health Association and the Institute of Medicine represent two organizations that have recently researched and endorsed advancements in the study of medical marijuana. Both groups support the use of marijuana for specific treatments, such as reducing nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, stimulating the appetites of AIDS victims, and limiting spasticity in MS patients.

The medical marijuana debate is an interesting one because there’s such a wide diversity of opinions and views that oppose each other. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug. They consider these drugs to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse and to be some of the most dangerous drugs, because they’re highly addictive and may cause severe psychological or physical dependence. Other Schedule 1 drugs include heroin, LSD, ecstasy and meth. Many who are against marijuana believe the drug is dangerous, harmful and feel it should remain illegal.

    According to a survey by pubmed.gov, “92 percent said that medical marijuana alleviated symptoms of their serious medical conditions, including chronic pain, arthritis, migraine, and cancer.” 86 percent of the United States believe that Cannabis has valid medical uses, says statista.com. Definitions.com states that, “medical marijuana refers to the use of cannabis or marijuana, including constituents of cannabis, THC and other cannabinoids, as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy.” Medical marijuana should be legalized, because it can be a safe and effective treatment for a plethora of illnesses.

Why Medical Cannabis is still federally banned? Well Marijuana has been illegal since the 1950’s, due to the enactment of federal laws like the “Narcotics management Act of 1956” that set necessary sentences that relate to drug-related offenses, as well as marijuana. A Montana grower is now in prison. “Chris Willams a Medical Marijuana grower in Montana now faces the rest of his life in prison because a Medical Marijuana law was canceled.”This law didn't include the medical use of Marijuana. I believe Medical Marijuana ought to be legal below tax and distributed to only patients with treatable diseases.

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

Medical marijuana should be legalized at the federal law for medical purposes because the federal government does not like the idea of legalizing marijuana and bans the use of medical marijuana, but there is a growing number of states that feel differently, so that is why it should be legalized. Back in 2012 18 states including Washington, D.C., legalized medical marijuana. These states legalized it for people with conditions such as epilepsy, cancer, chronic pain, and etc. These states still cannot stop the federal government from imposing its own laws. These federal drug laws were unreasonably extreme. Consider the case of Chris Williams, who opened a marijuana greenhouse in Montana after the state legalized medical marijuana. Many people feel the need to legalize medical marijuana so why not legalize it? The only thing holding people back is the federal law.

Some medical reasons that marijuana shouldn’t be decriminalized are that it has long and short terms effects. Examples of the short term outcomes include memory loss, difficulty with thinking, loss of motor skills and increased heart rate. According to the National Institutes of Health show that someone smoking about five joints per week is taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. There is no science proof that smoked marijuana can be used for medication. Since cannabis plants are polluted with a range of fungal spores, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of infectious organisms. Taradiff, J. "Marijuana and the War on Drugs. “Marijuana. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thomas Gale, 2008. 157. Print.

The debate over whether or not marijuana should be legalized has been active throughout the United States for nearly a century with arguments from both sides, pro and con, posing quite valid points. Research has proven that cannabis, in various forms, has been used for hundreds of years for recreational, medicinal and industrial purposes. Contrary to common misconception, cannabis, or marijuana, is not smoked in all forms. Only the flowers, or buds, and leaves are harvested for recreational use. Some believe that the legalization of marijuana could save the economy and would lower crime rates in certain areas. Marijuana can also be prescribed medically in certain states across the U.S. and is a Schedule I controlled substance, but THC, the

According to article, “Recent Research on Medical Marijuana,” written by Paul Armentano, and published on NORML.org in 2015, he mentions in the United States, federal prohibitions outlawing cannabis ' recreational, industrial, and therapeutic use were first imposed by Congress under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In the article, “23 Health Benefits Of Marijuana,” by Jennifer Welsh and Kevin Loria, published on Business Insider.com in 2014 they emphasizes: “There are two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think have medicinal applications. Those are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which has pain relieving and other properties” (Welsh and Loria 1). In “Medical marijuana could reduce painkiller abuse, study suggests,” article published in an online newspaper the Los Angeles Time, in 2015, Melissa Healy wrote: “Could medical marijuana be an antidote for the nation 's scourge of fatal overdoses caused by prescription pain medication? A new study suggests the answer is, “yes.”