Positive Aspects to Leagalizing Marijuana - 1428 Words

ENC1101 14 February 2013 The Positive Effects of Legalizing Marijuana The word marijuana has been a concerned topic in almost every American home today. Marijuana, whose botanical name is cannabis, has been used by humans for thousands of years. It was classified as an illegal drug by many countries in the 20th century. Over the past two decades, there has been a growing movement to legalize marijuana, primarily for medical purposes. Opposing views on the subject of decriminalizing the plant has caused much controversy over the past twenty years and still remains an important issue. The legalization of marijuana in the United States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and help reduce some of the national debt through its†¦show more content†¦Among its other legal drug counterparts, marijuana is by far the least physically harmful. Cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco, prescription painkillers, and even sleep aids are all highly addictive, and all can lead to death. Even Tylenol is so damaging that Vicodin and Percocet are being considered t o be illegalized because of the Tylenol, not the opiates, in them. Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients (Alliance). In 1972, the US Congress placed marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act because they considered it to have no accepted medical use. Since then, 17 of 50 US states and DC have legalized the medical use of marijuana. According to Joycelyn Elders, MD, Former US Surgeon General, The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS, or by the harsh d rugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every