Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Use onlyJoin now to read essay Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Use onlyThe history of U.S. policy toward mind-altering substances has followed cycles of tolerance and intolerance ever since the mid-19th century. Walking into a smoked filled room, of young and old engaged in therapeutic activities for numerous health conditions, has been practice worldwide. In fact, the medical use of the cannabis plant goes back at least 5,000 years to ancient China. It was used by most of the world’s cultures for its healing properties (Medical Marijuana Cases 1). Today such conditions as Migraine headaches, Glaucoma, Cancer, Epilepsy, Asthma AIDS/HIV, Spinal injury, Muscle spasms, Insomnia etc., could be treated for symptomatic relief with cannabis or cannabis extract. However, marijuana is still considered an illegal drug in most states in the United States.
Marijuana usage may have been common 20-30 years ago, but it really isn’t any longer. Judy Foreman states that a hardy band of activists seeking legislative approval of perennial bill that would bring Massachusetts in line with 34 other states in letting patients with certain conditions smoke marijuana (1). 2 What was known, as the “wicked weed” of the sixties can be good medicine . Marijuana certainly seems safer than may other drugs, even aspirin that causes gastrointestinal bleeding, killing hundreds of people every year (Grinspoon/Bakalar 4).3 There are lots of drugs American society does not let people use except under doctor’s care, for instance, cocaine, Demerol, est. No one
Rivera 2thinks we have legalized cocaine because we let surgeon or anesthesiologists use it. Therefore, the notion that there is a link between medical use and whether people
should to be able to legally get stoned is nonsense. One situation does not necessarily include the other. Nevertheless, there has not been a single death by overdose (Foreman 4).2 As an enlightened society, we must reconsider the legalization of marijuana for medical use only as it eases pain and suffering of many illnesses.
To effect changing the attitudes within our society about marijuana, one must be realistic about the legislation of our own bodies. Right now cocaine and morphine are prescribed legally as medicines, and those legal uses are not adding in any significant way to the country drug problem. While experts debate the medical use of marijuana, patients in Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Alameda County are lining up at Cannabis Buyers’ Club to receive the drug. Despite the coffee house atmosphere at the Cannabis Buyers’ Club marijuana remains illegal. Although some chronically ill people and their physicians argue that the drug eases their pain and suffering, the question still is fiercely debated by law enforcement and the medical community (Donnelly 1-2).4 Modeled after underground pharmacies that provide AIDS patients with unapproved drugs, Buyer’s Clubs have existed informally for at least 15 years. Nevertheless, whether there’s a medical need still is debatable. On the other hand, officials at the U.S. Drugs Enforcement Administration insist there are few, if any therapeutic uses of marijuana. In fact, they point out smoking harms the lungs (Donnelly 3).4 The American Medical Association does not condone the
Rivera 3use of marijuana, although it does support further stating that under the direction of a doctor may be appropriate for certain conditions (Donnelly 3).4 The media address the subject in a language that precludes rational debate: Crime related to drugs prohibition is systematically described as “drug related”. Furthermore, most people seem to be deeply religiously committed to a medicalized view of life. Many take seriously the proposition that just into his head, it is also not its business what substance he puts into this body.
In a free society the government’s duty is to protect individuals from others who might harm them. In 1980, there were almost twice as may violent offenders in federal prisons as drug offenders (Schlosser 91).5 Today there are far more people in federal prison for marijuana crimes than for violent crimes. More people are incarcerated in the nation’s prisons for marijuana than manslaughter or rap (Schlosser 92).5 Attempts to reduce dangerous prison overcrowding have been disadvantaged by the nation’s drug law. Across the country prisons are filled with nonviolent fenders who mandatory minimum sentences do not allow for parole. At the same time violent offenders are routinely being granted early release (Schlosser 92).5 For example, Eric Schlosser reports this incident:
[…]
On August 17, 1994, a 12-year-old was arrested in the Phoenix area for possession of paraphernalia for sale to juveniles. Three of the boys were charged with paraphernalia possession; the third pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was given life in prison. The fourth boy, Eric Schlosser, was released for good behavior on July 23, 1995 after 21 days spent in solitary confinement.
[…]
The Department of Justice’s National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) conducted a Study of Drug and Alcohol Use (SAMeA) to further investigate marijuana use. The study, carried out in 1997, found that the use of marijuana was associated with a higher risk of a violent crime in some states (Schlosser 93). The study also compared the use of marijuana to alcohol (see below). [p1410]
[…]
The Office of Management and Budget of the Department of State, in its recent report on the health impacts of marijuana, found that a significant increase in marijuana use in this country will require a substantially reduced of state and federal marijuana laws in order to effectively reduce the use of medical marijuana (the study found that, on average, 25 states were in violation of federal laws legalizing the use of marijuana). According to the State Board of Pharmacy of America, over 3 million cases were reported to state and federal government departments, which includes states in the western tier of the marijuana ban system as well as individual or collective health care offices, state Medicaid programs, local jails, private hospital systems, and federal prisons (Schlosser 94). Most of these public and private hospital systems currently carry federal or state medical marijuana in their systems. The following are all states with medical marijuana laws in effect from August 1995: Kansas, Arizona, Alabama, Delaware, Minnesota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The following are states where medical marijuana is not being considered federally available or in use: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. [p1411]
[…]
The most common and successful legalization campaign in the nation is the “marijuana legalization campaign.” It began under President Kennedy in 1969 without public opposition. It was never successful to persuade anyone to take the fight on marijuana either. [p1412]
[…]
On January 26, 1993 President Bill Clinton signed into law three statutes that banned “pot-smoking in public spaces, on public property, or in any public place” while under the influence of any marijuana. Three of these were issued to the Department of Justice by a three-judge commission that consisted of Judge Barry A. Guglielmi, Assistant Attorney General Bob Woodward, and William J. Pfleger. The fourth one received from the Justice Department the broadest category of public and private sector support that any other program would offer. According to Guglielmi,
[…]
On August 17, 1994, a 12-year-old was arrested in the Phoenix area for possession of paraphernalia for sale to juveniles. Three of the boys were charged with paraphernalia possession; the third pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was given life in prison. The fourth boy, Eric Schlosser, was released for good behavior on July 23, 1995 after 21 days spent in solitary confinement.
[…]
The Department of Justice’s National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) conducted a Study of Drug and Alcohol Use (SAMeA) to further investigate marijuana use. The study, carried out in 1997, found that the use of marijuana was associated with a higher risk of a violent crime in some states (Schlosser 93). The study also compared the use of marijuana to alcohol (see below). [p1410]
[…]
The Office of Management and Budget of the Department of State, in its recent report on the health impacts of marijuana, found that a significant increase in marijuana use in this country will require a substantially reduced of state and federal marijuana laws in order to effectively reduce the use of medical marijuana (the study found that, on average, 25 states were in violation of federal laws legalizing the use of marijuana). According to the State Board of Pharmacy of America, over 3 million cases were reported to state and federal government departments, which includes states in the western tier of the marijuana ban system as well as individual or collective health care offices, state Medicaid programs, local jails, private hospital systems, and federal prisons (Schlosser 94). Most of these public and private hospital systems currently carry federal or state medical marijuana in their systems. The following are all states with medical marijuana laws in effect from August 1995: Kansas, Arizona, Alabama, Delaware, Minnesota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The following are states where medical marijuana is not being considered federally available or in use: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. [p1411]
[…]
The most common and successful legalization campaign in the nation is the “marijuana legalization campaign.” It began under President Kennedy in 1969 without public opposition. It was never successful to persuade anyone to take the fight on marijuana either. [p1412]
[…]
On January 26, 1993 President Bill Clinton signed into law three statutes that banned “pot-smoking in public spaces, on public property, or in any public place” while under the influence of any marijuana. Three of these were issued to the Department of Justice by a three-judge commission that consisted of Judge Barry A. Guglielmi, Assistant Attorney General Bob Woodward, and William J. Pfleger. The fourth one received from the Justice Department the broadest category of public and private sector support that any other program would offer. According to Guglielmi,
Eight years ago Douglas Lamar Gray brought a pound of marijuana in a room at the Econo Lodge in