Legal Use Of Marijuana example essay topic

Marijuana has yet to proven addictive, deadly, and it's role in being a 'gate-way drug' is extremely controversial. Ten states have already taken steps in the right direction to do the right thing about the Marijuana issue. The states of California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of Marijuana. Therefore, making the possession a mitigate fine with no jail time. Still in other states offenders are meticulous of the punishments debt to the offenders. Under the first amendment we supposedly have a freedom of choice.

The laws against marijuana rob Americans of this right. In no certain place in the United States Constitution does it specifically say that marijuana should be illegal. So does that or does that not make the Tenth Amendment come into play? This amendment basically says if a law is forgotten or left out, the government is to leave it up to the states to come up with the law and decide what is best for that state. But that can " the because the federal government will not let the states do what they have been told that could do since 1791.

The voters in the states of California, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon have voted and passed legislation's that would make marijuana legal for medical use. Unfortunatly the federal government will not allow people suffering from various illnesses including, AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and anorexia legal use of marijuana which all could help ease their pain and suffering. Is it right that a cancer patient should be punished and fined because he didn't feel like throwing up after his chemotherapy? Or that an AIDS patient wanted to gain the weight that was lost because of his loss of appetite due to his medications that he is being prescribed. Currently alcoholic drinks are legal due to protection from the twenty-first amendment. Yet, alcohol is solely responsible for the deaths of more then 100,000 Americans; although it is still legal.

Cigarettes are legal and contain the same amount of chemicals that marijuana does and it is directly related to the deaths of more then 400,000 Americans. But in over 10,000 years of usage there has yet to be a documented death due directly to the use of marijuana. By keeping marijuana illegal it is costing taxpayers $7.5 billion a year. My resolution is that the money should be spent on pursuing and prosecuting violent criminals, and keeping them from becoming repeat offenders. By keeping marijuana illegal it is also making it illegal to grow hemp, which can be used to manufacture cloth, paper, and rope. Would you consider the founding fathers of our country to be criminals?

George Washington once said, 'Makethe most of the hemp seed. Sow it everywhere. ' Looks like George Washington, our very first president, was a criminal. Should he be thrown in jail and possibly violated by violent and multiple offenders.

I'm not trying to provoke anyone to go out and throw away their money so they can relieve some stress and tension. I'm just saying that just as there a repeople who drink responsibly, people can also use marijuana responsibly. Marijuana has been illegal for over sixty years although 65 million Americans or one third of the U.S. population still use it. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963, 'One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to disobey unjust lawalization of Medicinal Marijuana: For In the U.S., cannabis sativa, also known as marijuana, is illegal for medicinal purposes only because the federal law places it in Schedule I, a category for drugs that have been deemed unsafe, highly subject to abuse, and possessing no medicinal value. After much scientific research, and investigations of evidence, this has been proven to be quite inaccurate.

First of all, Judge Francis L. Young, concluded not only that marijuana's medical utility had been adequately demonstrated, but also that marijuana had been shown to be "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" ("Medical Marijuana Briefing... ). He also ruled that marijuana has legitimate medical applications and should be available to doctors. Only eight people today receive marijuana through a federal "compassionate use" program which stopped admitting new patients in 1992, after the number of applications, mostly from AIDS patients, increased dramatically. Young also ruled that. ".. the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II" ("Medical Marijuana Briefing... ).

As a Schedule II drug, marijuana would be allowed to be prescribed to patients by physicians, but only under highly regulated conditions. Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. No one has ever died from an overdose, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications such as: relief from nausea and increase of appetite, reduction of intraocular ("within the eye") pressure, reduction of muscle spasms, and relief from chronic pain. Marijuana is frequently favorable in the treatment of the following conditions: AIDS, Glaucoma, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Chronic Pain, and Arthritis. In some cases, marijuana has appeared to be better than the commercially available drugs it replaces. For many patients, smoked marijuana proved to be more effective than both conventional prescription anti-nausea nts and oral THC, which is marketed today as the synthetic pill, Marinol.

Marinol and other drugs may be satisfactory substitutes for some people, but definitely not for all people. There are others who disagree. These people feel that legalization would lead to the formation of other habits and to health problems, such as, the use of a harsher drug, and to psychological and personality problems that can come from using marijuana. These individuals feel that "Legalization would increase the chances of the drug falling into the hands of kids" ("Should Marijuana Be Legalized... ". ).

There are many different legal compounds that can reproduce the same effects of marijuana. Many people that are against the legalization of medicinal marijuana also believe that no doctor can come forward with proof that marijuana has any medicinal uses at all, when scientists have been studying it for many years, with positive results. In conclusion, marijuana has many therapeutic uses. Unfortunately, many people have used marijuana for criminal purposes; therefore, legalizing it as a Schedule II drug would be a very serious and considerable step for our Congress to take. If cannabis sativa becomes a Schedule II drug, many patients will be able to take marijuana to ease their harsh illnesses, doctors will be supervising and prescribing correct dosages, and none of them will have to worry about criminal charges.