Club's Customers Use Marijuana example essay topic

Current laws enforcing marijuana prohibition further overcrowd jails and divert scarce public safety resources away from issues and problems that really need attention. Nicotine presents a high degree of toxicity and was first used as an insecticide in the 18th century. Whereas excessive alcohol consumption can be lethal, marijuana is medically nontoxic and not lethal to humans. As with any legal substance, be it tobacco or alcohol, adults are able to decide if and when they will use those substances, without government intrusion; marijuana should not be an exception. The prohibition of marijuana is unconstitutional, unfair, and is taking away the rights and freedoms of people all around the world.

This injustice must stop! Facts It was recently reported that the annual retail value of marijuana grown in the city of Vancouver alone was $750 million. According to the B.C. Minister of Agriculture, Ron Charles, profits from marijuana operations are three times greater than from dairy production, B.C.'s most valuable farm industry at $245 million per year So far, 26 states and the District of Columbia have existing laws and resolutions establishing therapeutic research programs, allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana or asking the federal government to lift the ban on medical use. In 10 states, similar laws have either been repealed or have expired. And, 15 states have had no medicinal marijuana laws ever. People also believe that legalization of the drug will promote its use.

Legalizing the use of the drug will give the government the power to regulate its use. Both state and federal government would be able to tax the drug in the same way they do alcohol and tobacco products. The government could also set standards that the drug must meet before being sold. The FDA would have direct control over such standards making the risk dangerous additives less likely. Medicinal Cancer chemotherapy: Marijuana's active ingredient THC reduces vomiting and nausea caused by, chemotherapy; alleviates pre-treatment anxiety.

AIDS-related 80% of the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club's customers use marijuana to treat AIDS. Marijuana treats nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss caused by the disease itself. Multiple sclerosis: Marijuana reduces the muscle pain caused by the disease; may also help some patients with bladder control and relieve tremor. Epilepsy: Marijuana may prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. Glaucoma: The leading cause of blindness in the United States; caused by increased pressure inside the eyeball.

Marijuana, when smoked, reduces pressure within the eye. But it may also reduce blood flow to the optic nerve, exacerbating the loss of vision. Marijuana is commonly used to ease chronic pain caused by a variety for injuries and ailments. It was considered by Sir William Osler as the most satisfactory remedy for a migraine headache. In the 19th century, Dr. John Russell prescribed that Queen Victoria smoke marijuana to treat menstrual cramps. Patients have reported that marijuana helps ease pain.

There is very little modern research on the use of marijuana as a painkiller, due to the use of stronger opiates, such as morphine. It has been said that marijuana eases post surgical pain, as well as phantom limb pain. It has also shown to be as effective as another prescription painkiller, codeine. Marijuana is far less subject to abuse than most drugs used to treat the same conditions.

It is also less addicting. Dr. Lester Grin spoon, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, says that marijuana is safer than most drugs used to treat the same problems. Since there is no known case of lethal marijuana overdose, marijuana is safer than aspirin. One thousand people a year die of aspirin overdose. The side effects of aspirin can also harm young children. The estimated ratio of lethal to effective dose is 40,000 to 1.

Marijuana was ruled "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known", by the Drug Enforcement Administration's (D.E.A.) Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis Young. On a short-term basis, marijuana has few harmful side effects. Recently the DEA came out with a new drug called Marino, and the drug's main ingredient is THC. Only it is synthetic THC, not pure, and the pill is worse for you than pure THC, because it is not possible to know your dosage because it takes a full hour to take and effect 1...