Legalization of Marijuana

1071 Words3 Pages

Recently, the issue of marijuana use was brought to the attention of two former political leaders: Former President, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. When asked about his past drug use, Clinton refrained from answering. According to Bill Turque, a biographer of Al Gore, Gore spent much of his young adulthood “smoking dope and skipping through fields of clover” (Lowry 1). The irony exists in the fact that both Bill Clinton and Al Gore had previous encounters experimenting with marijuana, but somehow managed to become significant political leaders in society. Is marijuana really that harmful? Researchers have proven that marijuana is in fact a harmful drug, however, in comparison to other drugs, the effects are minimal. In the past decade, one issue has been revisited over and over again: The debate whether or not marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes. Many states have already passed laws legalizing marijuana for medicinal reasons. Marijuana should be legalized regardless.

The issue of legalizing marijuana has been an issue of controversy since the Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937. This tax banned marijuana in the United States in attempt to cut back on the recreational use of the drug. This tax also made getting a hold of marijuana very difficult. In 1970, marijuana was classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Under this category, marijuana was said to be a highly addictive drug, with no medicinal value. Within this category falls two other dangerous drugs: heroin and LSD. In the 1970's marijuana was re-discovered by cancer patients, who found that smoking marijuana relieved the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy treatments. In 1971, the National Organization ...

... middle of paper ...

...which our society has developed. As far as legalizing marijuana for medical reasons goes, our government would only be doing the patients a favor. Eliminating suffering that cannot be found through any other drug, should be perfectly acceptable.

Works Cited

Lowry, Richard. “Weed Whackers- The Anti-Marijuana Forces and why they’re wrong”. The National Review. 20 Aug. 2001<http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=4975215&db=aph>

Grupp, Stanley E. Marijuana. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company. 1971.

Thomas, Chuck. “Marijuana Arrests and Incarceration in the United States: Preliminary Report”. Marijuana Policy Project Nov. 1998 <http://www.mpp.org/arrests/prisoners.html>.

“Poll Finds Increasing Support for Legalizing Marijuana”. Alcholism and Drug Abuse Weekly 21 Jul. 2003. <http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10294591&db=aph>

Open Document