The Medical Marijuana Paradox

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Should Marijuana be legalized for medicinal purposes? Yes, when you consider that in the treatment of cancer and HIV patients, medical Marijuana is used successfully to increase appetite and decrease pain without the serious side effects of other more modern drugs. However, there is a stigma that surrounds Marijuana and this stigma dates back to the Nixon Administration’s war on drugs. Even today the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration defines Marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance. To them, it is a drug that has no accepted medical utility and has an elevated probability of addiction. On the other hand, the United States Government is aware of the medicinal benefits of Marijuana, but it creates a legal conundrum as the DEA erroneously classifies Marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance (DEA Drug Schedule). This classification blocks important research of medical Marijuana and it also makes it difficult for Veterans and others to get the treatment they so desperately need.
The first official government report on the use of marijuana in the United States was initiated by President Richard M. Nixon in 1972. In that report, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse recommended that Federal Law be changed, allowing simple possession of Marijuana for personal use to be “decriminalized”. The report found that Marijuana was not nearly as addictive as once thought, nor does it cause criminal activity or psychotic episodes. “The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse” was never released to the American people, nor were its recommendations followed. This was mainly due to the fact that it did not agree with President Nixon’s war on drugs (Nahas). Consequently, Marijuana is still classified by...

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...tion and the federal legalization of medical Marijuana is imperative.

Works Cited

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