Educating America about Legalization of Marijuana
Over 3000,000 people a year are arrested because of it in our country. It's recreational usage boomed in the 1960's and by the 1980's one half of all college students had tried it. Once a simple plant, cannabis satria, or marijuana, has become one of the most controversial topics of the 20th century. Although illegal for some time now in the United States, we know of its widespread availability and usage. Once a huge threat to society, it is now being overlooked as we turn to the seemingly more serious problems of cocaine and heroin. But should we be taking a second look at it, cracking down on enforcement and trying as hard as possible to rid our country of this drug?
Well the police officer I interviewed said "Billions and billions of dollars are being spent on narcotic task forces and it is doing no good. Smoking dope makes a person mellow, but drinking booze gets a person violent and angry, he becomes a real *censored*. People do what they would like anyway, the law is not going to stop them. I would much rather see the money go towards getting drunk drivers behind bars then tracking down kids who smoke dope."
Or should we be using it as medicines to help the sick in their need? It helps people with glaucoma, rare cancers and pain and muscle spasms. There are only eight people in the United States who can smoke marijuana legally. This is an ongoing battle that could be resolved if we educate ourselves about the drug and both it's positive and negative effects on our society.
The marijuana plant is grown all over the world in a variety climates and soils. It has a long been used as a medicine in India, China, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa a...
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...And whether marijuana is safe or dangerous, legal or illegal, we will always have the right to choose whether or not to put it into our bodies.
Bibliography:
1. Califano, Joseph A. Jr., New York Times Magazine, Jan. 29, 1995 - Miller Memorial Library, old magazine archives.
2. Grinspoon, Lester, MD., Bakalar, James B., Marihuana, The Forbidden Medicine, copyright 1993 by Yale University
3. Mikuriya, J.H., "Historical Aspects of Cannabis satria in Western Medicine," New Physician, (1969) : 905
4. Nahas, Gabriel G., MD., Ph.D., D.Sc., Keep Off the Grass, copyright 1990 by Gabriel G. Nahas, MD., PH.D, D.Sc.
5. Rogers, Adam, "Seeing Through the Haze", Newsweek Magazine, Jan. 13, 1997, page 60.
6. The New Book Of Knowledge, Volume 4, copyright 1992 by Thomas Szasz
7. Szasz, Thomas, Our Right to Drugs, copyright 1992 by Thomas Szasz
The opinion of Marijuana during the 70’s was much more relaxed than it is today. Approval of Marijuana by 27 states, new medical studies, and its consequences on those convicted from use of the most common general, the argument about marijuana in this country is: should Marijuana continue to be given to citizens based on its health effects, medicinal values, and costs to the country? The reasons why this argument is so important are great. As previously stated, Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, and with millions of people using it regularly and almost 100 million that have ever used it in this country, the laws behind this drug hold great influence. It is because of this and the immergence of new evidence, that the justification behind prohibition of this drug is being rethought scientifically, socially, and economically. The use of Marijuana as both medicine and a recreational drug is being thoroughly questioned in the US. 27 states have Marijuana approved in some form, many of those for medical purposes however those users can still, and do get placed into prison by federal law. Currently, 830,00 people a year are in trouble with the law in regards to Marijuana and numbers seem to be on an uphill trend . Furthermore, the US invests 30 billion a year into the drug war, half of which is dedicated to Marijuana. Many are questioning its success all together. Both imprisonment and the war cost our country, and therefore our people, money. A change in laws is going to have a dramatic affect on America.
Print Incontroversy Marijuana, Piocon.org. Professor of Pharmacology, Oxford University Editorial, The Times, (U.K.) Aug. 6, 2001 Whitehouse. www.gov/ondcp/ondcp-fact-sheets/Marijauna-legalization. Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Cowley, Geoffrey and Mary Hager. “Can marijuana be medicine?” Newsweek Feb. 1997: Vol.129 Issue 5 page 22. <http://ehostvgw8.epnet.com/delivery.asp?…&startHitNum= 13&delType=FT>.
Wingerchuk, Dean. "Cannabis for Medical Purposes: Cultivating Science, Weeding Out the Fiction." The Lancet 364.9431 (2004): 315-16. Print.
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants (Nahas 8). Since it became illegal in 1967, there have been questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine, other than being a leisure drug. Debates between pro and con groups for the use of marijuana in the medical profession, have been heated and in recent months, referendums have been pasted in a least three states to make it accessible for medical treatment. Personally, I feel that marijuana has the potential to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, more research needs to be done to maximize its potential.
Kalant, Harold. “Medicinal Use of Cannabis: History and Current States.” Pain Research and Management 6.2 (2001): 80-94. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Bibliography 1) Friedman, Milton. “Prohibition and Drugs.” Newsweek. 1972 2) Potter, Beverly. The Healing Magic of Cannabis.
Marijuana has a greater beneficial impact on society then many people realize. Marijuana should be legalized for medical as well as recreational purposes. This is a highly controversial issue that is being debated throughout the country. In essence marijuana is evaluated by the effectiveness of the drug. It is defined as the dried flowered clusters and leaves of a hemp plant smoked for the intoxicating effect. Whether it should be legalized or not is the real question.
Cannabis is indigenous to central and south Asia. In ancient China, there are writings praising the plant for its medicinal uses. Additionally
Legalizing marijuana will let the terminally ill and very sick people get what they need to help them without the trouble. It will also decrease the number of arguments and legal battles to legalize or to not legalize the substance. Marijuana is from a natural plant that is not meant to harm or affect people in anyway. The government and anyone against legalizing marijuana need to realize that there are things far more worse than marijuana. Make it legal and stop the drug war!
Stanley, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, and John A. Benson. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington D.C.: National Academy P, 1999.
Should Marijuana Be Legalized? In society today, many people look for a feeling of freedom. Many people go on vacation and spend money. The most common escape for people is drugs. Our American society is facing a tremendous drug problem. In order to eradicate the drug problem, a public debate is going on to find some solutions to this drug dilemma. It has become a highly controversial issue whether drugs such as marijuana should be legalized or not. Some people advocate this issue and believe that legalization is the only solution left for the nation while others oppose because it will increase the number of drug users and drug related crimes. Marijuana is a drug that is illegal in the United States. This drug as you know is bad and causes severe side effects to your brain and body. Scientist have found that smoking marijuana can cause you to loose your memory. Marijuana has many psychological and physical effects.
Marijuana continues to be one of the most used illegal drugs in the United States. Marijuana has been used for many years and at one time was legal to consume. Throughout the years, marijuana has been used for treatment of different medical conditions and has been used recreationally by people of all ages. While the use of medicinal marijuana has proven to be effective in treating medically ill patients, society continues to question its recreational use and the long-term effects it will have on its users. Some feel that legalizing marijuana will only open up avenues for the use of more potent drugs, causing an increase in criminal activity.
...s proven to have medical usage and is far less dangerous than most drugs which are Legal, such as Tobacco and Alcohol. Individually people should have the right to decide whether or not they want to use Marijuana, excluding minors.
First of all, marijuana can have many positive effects on crime. Legalizing marijuana can actually decrease crime rates in the U.S. This past year, it was counted that 6.9 million people are inside the American’s jails and prisons. 60,000 of these individuals were there for marijuana according to one study. With the legalization of marijuana, it would cut the amount of tax we pay for these jails and prisons, costing us a total of 1.2 billion. Last year a total of 7 to 10 billion dollars was used towards arresting and processing against marijuana. The big picture here is that 90% of those arrests were just for possession. It is crazy that as a country we spend most of our time trying to stop the biggest drug in America when it is just wasting our money. There are less arrests on violent crimes than marijuana charges combined. These “violent crimes” consist of assault, rape, robbery, and murder. How awful is it that we waste our time on this drug when there are so many other bigger problems we could be solving or people to be saved. Cocaine and heroin arrests have actually decreased by 1/3 from 1991 to 2000. While marijuana has more than 700,000 people are ar...