Legalize: Cannabis and Marijuana Essay

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Jordan Walters

Dr. Carvalho

ENGL 101-049

14 May 2013

Your Opinion on Marijuana Reimagined

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word marijuana? For most people that thought is more than likely; “Those potheads are always getting high” or “Marijuana is an illegal drug and no one should partake in such an activity.” Well, what happens when the citizens living in the United States are challenged to think more abstractly about the topic of marijuana? To not let the terribly misinformed opinions of fellow individuals stand in their way of making their own decision, and to at last realize how beneficial it would be to the United States if marijuana was legalized. In today’s world, we have finally seen some improvements on the process of legalization, as U.S. News reports “For the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana, while 52 percent were pro-pot legalization, 45 percent of respondents were opposed to legalization” (Nelson n. pag.). The legalization of marijuana could open a new door to medicine, stop the never-ending war on drugs, and help the economy in the United States start thriving once again. Marijuana has been used for medical purposes even before it was outlawed in the United States. The Marijuana Policy Project states, “Prior to 1937, [there were] at least 27 medicines containing marijuana legally available in the United States, and many were made by well-known pharmaceutical firms that still exist today” (“Marijuana Briefing” n. pag.). During the year of 1937, the federal government passed the Marijuana Tax Act, effectively making marijuana an illegal drug in the United States. By the time the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 came about, marijuana had been illegal for over three decades, and was placed in “Schedule I, defining it as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision” (“Marijuana Briefing” n. pag.). With today’s discoveries about the benefits marijuana can have, marijuana is clearly misinterpreted as being a Schedule I drug. Medical Marijuana has potential to help with pain and symptoms of a great variety of health problems. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “has not approved Cannabis as a treatment for cancer or any other medical condition,” (“Cannabis1 and Cannabinoids2” n. pag.) scientists are still always finding new ways cannabis can help the human body. Marijuana has also been proved to treat diseases ranging from “AIDS, Hepatitis C, Cancer, Glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, and any Chronic Pain” (“Marijuana Briefing” n. pag.). During a recent clinic trial, researchers at the CMRC3 report:
This research allocated participants to smoke cannabis cigarettes containing from 1% to 8% THC by weight (4 to 32 mg THC) or to placebo cannabis cigarettes from which THC had been extracted. Two trials enrolled patients with painful HIV peripheral neuropathy; one consisted of mixed neuropathic pain due to peripheral or central dysfunction of the nervous system. Results consistently indicated that cannabis significantly reduced pain intensity, with patients reporting 34%-40% decrease on cannabis compared to 17-20% on placebo. (Grant n. pag.)
Research has proven that cannabis can be very beneficial to seriously ill people throughout the United States, but when will the appropriate people (government officials) come to the same conclusion? The medical benefits of marijuana are only one positive outlook on legalization. Another pro would be ending the current drug war in the United States. The “War on Drugs” was started by former President Richard Nixon in 1969, with the intention to “consolidate the few current drug laws into a comprehensive statute and to provide meaningful regulation over legitimate sources to prevent diversion into
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