Medical Marijuana is a growing legalization movement throughout the United States consisting of 16 states and the Washington D.C area. This movement has grown immensely as a hot topic issue since 1996, when it began in California. The main issue behind Medical Marijuana results mainly from an ethical standpoint, yet this essay will refrain from discussing any morality and will strictly be structured through factual information. Arizona recently passed Proposition 203, also known as Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), on November 2, 2010 as an initial measure to decriminalize marijuana for those with chronic and debilitating illnesses as defined in the Act. To accurately define every single law that Medical Marijuana Program’s throughout the United States outline would be impossible; it is too lengthy and in depth. The purpose of this report is to define how and where Medical Marijuana began, the expansion into Arizona with the passing of Proposition 203 including the regulation and laws according to qualified patients, dispensaries and caregivers. This will also discuss the DEA’s outlook on Medical Marijuana Acts throughout the U.S while taking a look at specific cases between qualified patients following state law and prosecuted dispensaries. This article is not to define to morality of cannabis or whether it should or should not be legally; the purpose is to specifically inform individuals of medicinal cannabis and give a higher perspective and understanding on if someone has or is looking into applying for their registry identification card.
Medical Marijuana was first limited, and federally criminalized with the exception of medical and industrial uses, through the U.S Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. This was originally enacted...
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Works Cited
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The law of unintended consequences. Steinberg, Neil Rolling Stone; 5/5/94, Issue 681, p33, 2p, Article
Legalization of Marijuana has quickly become a controversial issue in America. In the United States, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is spreading to the state level. For example, in November 1996, the people of California and Arizona voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal reasons. As a result of Proposition 215 in California, patients now smoke marijuana provided their physician recommends its usage. A prescription is not required, and marijuana continues to be illegal to prescribe. The Clinton administration responded that it “would not recognize these decisions, and would prosecute physicians who recommend or provide marijuana to their patients.” Although California and Arizona are the only two states to have already passed laws regulating marijuana usage, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws and resolutions regarding marijuana usage. These laws and resolutions range from establishing therapeutic research programs, to allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, to asking the federal government to lift the ban. Despite the states’ desires to have marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, the US National Institutes of Health examined all existing clinical evidence about smoked marijuana and concluded that, “There is no scientifically sound evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies.”
The impact of 'three strikes' laws. Christian Science Monitor, 91, 1-5.
On August 2nd, 1937, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The law was passed only 83 days after being introduced in the House of Representatives as House Resolution 6906. This law sought to place prohibitive regulations requiring medical professionals to obtain a one dollar tax stamp in order to continue prescribing cannabis sativa as medicine. However, physicians who wished purchase the tax stamp were also required to divulge an abnormal amount of detail regarding the patient, the condition being treated, the amount prescribed and the date of the prescription. Failure to follow these strict rules while prescribing marijuana resulted in harsh penalties to both the medical professional and the patient. According to the text of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, “Any person who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this Act shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.”
Legalization of marijuana in the United States has received much attention and controversy in recent months. The federal government outlaws the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes despite proven research studies that have discovered the plant’s potential to treat the lives of many Americans affected by disease and chronic pain. Medicinal use of the marijuana plant dates back to 2700 B.C. in China. Emperor Shen Nung discovered its’ healing properties and recommended marijuana for a variety of ailments (Mack and Joy 14). Today bias views and law plague the advancement of marijuana in present day medicine. Strict approval processes are limiting the research necessary for such advancements (Medical Marijuana Research News). Despite federal and state illegalization, twenty-one states over the past decade have made advances to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes (“State Medical Marijuana Laws”) . It is time for Texas to acknowledge the benefits and eliminate the stigma surrounding medicinal marijuana. Medical marijuana should be legalized in Texas because of its’ medicinal benefits associated with many chronic diseases and the potential revenue the state could benefit from during this time of recession.
5. Wiley, Ann Stephanie, Lee Ann Slocum, and Finn-Aage Esbensen. 2013. "The Unintended Consequences of Being Stopped or Arrested: An Exploration of the Labeling Mechanisms Through Which Police Contact Leads to Subsequent Delinquency." American Society of Criminology 51:927-966.
Katel, Peter. “Straining the Safety Net.” CQ Researcher 31 July 2009: 645-68. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While marijuana has a small amount of negligible effects to its users, the herbal drug more importantly has remarkable health benefits, and legalizing one of the oldest and most commonly known drugs would redirect America’s future with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages.
In determining the ethicality of legalizing marijuana, it is necessary to understand the background of the issue, and to identify the most important stakeholders. In the 1930s, many states began outlawing the substance; ironically California was the first of these states (Rendon). In 1937, the federal government outlawed the substance, which pushed the growth and sale underground (Rendon). In 1970, President Nixon declared the substance a Schedule I Substance, which indicates that the substance has “a high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use” (Controlled Substances Act). The federal government has specified that for marijuana to have an accepted medical use, it must “be subjected to the same rigorous clinical trials and scientific scrutiny that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applies to all other new medications” ("Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Marijuana"). There are numerous stakeholders in an ethical dilemma of this magnitude, which...
History of Marijuana Prohibition Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use (Guither, 2014). Going back to 1619, the Virginia Assembly passed legislation requiring every farmer to grow hemp. Hemp was allowed to be exchanged as legal tender in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland (Block, 2014). It was actually a crime in some states to refuse to grow hemp in the 1700's. In the late 19th century, marijuana was a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies (PBS, 2014).
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
Pettit, Philip. “Consequentialism.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 230-240. Print.
In 1996 ,the state of California passed a ballot that allowed doctors to use medical marijuana for different health cases and not get penalized for doing so. Other states such as Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington also allowed the use marijuana. Several medical organizations support the use of medical marijuana and even endorse it, but Congress has passed “a resolution condemning the medical use of marijuana and because federal law still outlaws marijuana use,” ( McFarling p.2). As a result of Congress’s actions , the few physicians that are allowed to use medical marijuana are very hesitant to prescribe marijuana to their patients.
The first law that regarded marijuana in America required farmers to grow hemp in the year 1619 for clothing, rope, and other materials, but “as early as 1840, doctors recognized the medical applications of marijuana, and the drug was freely sold in pharmacies for over a century.” (Rich and Stingl). In 1937, the use and possession of marijuana was made illegal, but “before 1937 marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and used. ”(Rich and Stingl). In 1970 the Congress decided to classify marijuana as a schedule one drug, which has made the legalization more difficult.
Shohov, T. (2003). Medical use of marijuana: Policy, regulatory, and legal issues. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Scheve, Tom. Why Do We Make Bad Choices. 23 Aug 2010. web. 19 Feb 2014.