Since that time, marijuana has been illegal, with the sale or purchase of cannabis making someone subject to a hefty fine and possibly jail time. Special offer! or should medical marijuana be legalized essay your social media account. Soros Another reason to legalize marijuana is that, not only is it not addictive and harmful to your body, it can actually provide medicinal benefits. Many people have the wrong idea of what marijuana actually does to the body, assuming it is a more harmful drug than it actually is. Good Essay On Developing A Missile': The Power Of Autonomy And Learning. The legalization of marijuana would provide medicinal help to those who need it, save substantial taxpayer money in law enforcement and incarceration costs, and keep those who just seek marijuana from a life of crime, should medical marijuana be legalized essay.
Should Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay Example
Why is a plant that can help millions illegal? Marijuana has an abundance of medical treatments and uses, for a much more affordable price then other medications. Not only that, the side effects are far less severe than that of prescribed medications for anxiety, depression, etc. Thirty two of the fifty states have already legalized or began legalizing marijuana. Medical marijuana should be legalized in the United states and utilize the medical advantages it offers. Marijuana has been used for herbal remedy for centuries. New medical uses have already been discovered. With further research and government support the possibilities and uses for marijuana could be endless.
There are over cannabinoids in marijuana. How it works. Marijuana is already being used to treat many different illnesses and pain relief. Marijuana is being used to help thousands of people. Government support could take it to the should medical marijuana be legalized essay level. The versatility is also a huge advantage, making it unique to each patient. Marijuana comes in many forms including edibles, should medical marijuana be legalized essay, bud, oils, creams, and sprays. Making it more of a medicine and avoiding the need to smoke. Another advantage of medical marijuana is the side effects, as compared to other prescribed medicines such as antidepressants or adderall. Side effects caused by marijuana are often far less severe than those of antidepressants or medically known as SSRIs and SNRIs, should medical marijuana be legalized essay.
As someone who is prescribed adderall and an antidepressant, learning the side effects for the first time is a terrifying, heart dropping feeling. Price is also a huge factor. Without good insurance some depression victims are forced to go untreated due to the price of the medication, therapy, etc. Nobody should be forced to live with untreated depression or anxiety. Suicide is the second largest cause of death for young people, caused by depression and feeling of hopelessness. Medical marijuana could stop people from going untreated, and maybe even drastically change the number of suicides occurring each year. Medical marijuana has been used to treat thousands, and could potentially help many more.
With a huge range of treatment options and less severe side effects of the medications then medications that are currently being prescribed. It seems like a rather obvious decision. Medical marijuana should be legal in all of the United Should medical marijuana be legalized essay, and finally exploit all of its potential. Need a custom essay on the same topic? Our writers can help you with any type of essay. For any subject Get your price How it works.
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Notably is the damage on the minority groups and the communities mainly the African Americans as compared with the whites and the Latinos. The adoption of this law has been criticized by the political groups as well as the human right activists because of its perception to being discriminatory and racist Zili Amsel Examining these laws and regulations regarding the use of drugs notably marijuana and the enforcement of the underlying enacted laws there is a lot of unfairness as it compares it with murder case which is not rational. The failure of this approach is the believe that jailing and imprisoning the drug addicts and users is the only available social and medical treatment for this case, it is because of this reason that the model drew an intense opposition from the various groups across the states that had adopted this approach.
This model in dealing with the use of drugs by the New York state has limited the creation of life chances and the available opportunities for its state citizens for this to be reversed the state has to reformulate the existing laws and policies in regard to the use of drugs such as the marijuana. It is apparent that these policies have caused much harm than what it is aimed to prevent in the state and its society the enactment of this approach has led to the increase in the number of prisoners related to the use of these drugs increase sharply. This has resulted further into the societal challenge in adopting sensible and moderate policies in dealing with the crime and drug abuse within the state Zili Amsel As provided by the above affects on the adoption of this model in the counter of the use of marijuana there is a need to moderate this approach to ensure equality and fairness in the various states in USA that have adopted the same laws and regulations such as Michigan and the New Jersey states.
More important is the consideration on the use for medical purposes which have seen intense pressure to moderate the laws in regard to the medical use of these drugs. The following are the proposals which points out the areas and the required action needed to be done in order to change these laws and regulations and these regulations include Gerber The first proposal is to remove all the required and to revise the minimum sentence laws regarding those who are convicted with the drug offenses within the state. This will provide remedy for those who use marijuana for medical purposes. Secondly is that the respective state governments in which these laws and regulations have been enacted should provide enough resources for the provision of the marijuana for the patients, this service should be extended as a drug treatment and to ensure that it is made available to it state citizens notably the drug dependent people.
Thirdly is that sentence lengths should be reduced and this should be revised as per the guidelines of sentencing which should be equal to the set out guidelines in other states. The forth point is that the use of law enforcement model should be discouraged in handling public health problems which may not be necessarily drug abuse but simply for medical reasons. Finally is that the state should ensure that there is sufficient drug treatment on the convicted persons in prison or in jail terms Zili Amsel The current policy model should be changed because of the negative impacts to the society and the general public.
The following are the reasons behind the rationale that marijuana laws and policies should be changed. Due to increased modernization the people residing in all the states deserve the right and freedom to use or not to use marijuana. From the ideologies and philosophy of democracy people and citizens should be allowed to make choices for themselves. Therefore the government should only put regulations on the harm on others but leave people to decide to use or not to use marijuana Gerber Criminalizing the use of marijuana will not help the federal and state governments in fighting the menace of the use of marijuana.
There is evidence from various studies which shows that law enforcement and regulations contribute greatly to the use of marijuana. This has greatly affected the high school students in most states where these drugs are readily available. In summary the use of forceful laws and regulations will amount to nothing and that education and counseling is the suitable way of addressing the limitation on the use of marijuana Gerber Studies show that the cost of controlling the use of marijuana is very expensive and costly. The government at all levels in USA engaging on the war against drugs spends a significant portion of budget in the fight against persons using marijuana for their personal use.
The government should not spend much money on marijuana but make it legal and spend on other important matters. Legalizing marijuana and establishing an efficient system through which it can be taxed could be a reliable source of revenue to the government. Instead of spending revenue on making it illegal it should be turned into an avenue through which it can be turned into a reliable source of revenue Single The theory of justice tries to come up with a philosophy underlying justice who establish person individuals and political structures to preserve individual liberty as well as the social justice. This theory asserts that political structures such as the government and the law enforcers should ascribe to this philosophy by allowing the governed to choose how they should be governed and not imposed unnecessary laws and regulations Rawls This theory articulated for the federal and the state governments not to impose laws and regulations that criminalize the use of marijuana that is granting its citizens individual rights and liberty.
In addition this theory provides that individuals tends to choose a system of justice that will serve them adequately therefore the government should allow individuals to choose to use or not to use marijuana Rawls In summary this theory provides the important tenets of justice in which good relations between the government and its citizens can be based and finally proves that legalizing marijuana will attribute to developing a just society that addresses problems underlying the society Evans In conclusion by the state and the federal government legalizing marijuana is an important step in establishing a just and stable society. The implication of legalizing marijuana include the government will be able to save direct costs which are related to the use of marijuana and other related drugs.
For a long time economists have advocated for legalizing marijuana because of the costs incurred thus legalizing will see the government save a lot of money for other important issues. Secondly is that legalizing marijuana will ensure that racial discrimination is reduced this is evident as the convicts who are pushed into prison are mainly black Americans who turn into hardcore criminals later and are discriminated as compared with their white and Latinos counterparts Evans Legalizing and taxing marijuana can be profitable hence contributing to the GDP of the country and the state as the business is illegal but it is still carried out.
Finally is that by legalizing the use of marijuana ensures that individual freedom and liberty is achieved in the state and this is evident in states that have made amendments and passed bills that have repealed criminalizing the use of marijuana. Evans, R. The regulation and taxation of cannabis commerce. Chicago: Task Force on Cannabis Regulation. Gerber, R. Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics. New York:Greenwood Publishing Group. Gray, C. Legalize use of marijuana for medical purposes, MDs and patients plead. Canadian Medical Association, — Kilmer, B. Assessing How Marijuana Legalization in California Could Influence Marijuana Consumption and Public Budgets.
RAND Corporation, Petersen, R. Decriminalization of Marijuana — A Brief Overview of Research-Relevant Policy Issues. Drug Probs , Zili Amsel, W. Reliability and Validity of Self-Reported Illegal Activities and Drug Use Collected from Narcotic Addicts. Informa Health Care , Topic Marijuana Legislation. Level Masters. Pages 7. Words Rating 4. AEugene H. states that it also stimulates appetite of individuals with anorexia. As the above authors have stated, there is a need to legalize the use of marijuana in the medical field, and for conduction of scientific research. Apart from its therapeutic effects, the use of medicinal marijuana will play a part in the price reduction of pharmaceutical drugs, some of which are extremely expensive.
Moreover, the government can use this as an opportunity to raise additional funds. Just like the use of cigarettes and alcohol is heavily taxed, the use of medicinal marijuana should also be taxed. However, to limit its misuse, it should be administered under strict supervision. On the other hand, to control the health risks associated with smoking marijuana, other methods of its administration including vaporization should be used. In the wake, of proving my point of view, a research methodology to focus on a review of related literature regarding legalization of medical marijuana from authoritative secondary sources and through interviews of identified participants in the study, and from community members where marijuana is identified to be available was formulated.
An interview on a couple dealing with Multiple Sclerosis who are longtime friends of my family was conducted. The husband, Robert has suffered from this disease for the past 10 years and is a Medical Marijuana card holder. The purpose of the interview was to get their opinions on the use of medical marijuana, the effect, and their thoughts about medical marijuana dispensaries in their neighborhood. My interview with the Cavonus' was essential to the research since it gave a first-hand experience on how they lived with this debilitating disease and the effects from the use of medical marijuana.
This is a couple that was quite active and neither smoked nor consumed alcohol, but it appears they have changed a great deal since I last saw them because of the progression of the disease. From the interview, I was able to uncover some of the difficulties they had. It was becoming difficult for them to do some of the simplest things. Worse still was the toll it had taken on them both financially and physically. From the interview, they shared with me the same sentiments regarding legalization of marijuana. Cavonus, personal interview, May 11, When asked about the effect of legalizing the use of medical marijuana to the community, her response indicated that the community also supported the need for legalizing the use of marijuana in the medicinal field.
The interview revealed that patients go through hard times while using conventional treatment methods. In contrast to this, medicinal marijuana can be used to treat a series of diseases and thus effectively curb the occurrence of a number of symptoms. It also enables patients to relax, thereby aiding in faster recovery. When comparing the cost of the medicinal marijuana to the price of the prescribed drugs, it is markedly cheaper and thus affordable to most individuals. According to Shirley, she spends approximately 10 times more on prescribed drugs than she does on marijuana and it lasts longer than most prescribed medicines S.
Therefore, from the relayed information it is a high time for the US government to legalize the use of marijuana in the medical field so long as laws are in place to avoid its misuse. The current research was able to successfully achieve its objective of presenting issues and concerns regarding the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. Secondary sources of information support the contentions that the legalization of medical marijuana could prove to be beneficial to patients who are looking for alternative drugs to cure various ailments at tremendously lesser costs. To be affected, however, are pharmaceuticals whose traditional medications would be affected by the possibility of decrease in demand and could push their prices lower to make them marketable in the long run.
Another stakeholder for the legalization is the government, who, despite earmarking tax revenues from their trade, should regulate its sale and apply appropriate taxes, just like the cases for alcohol and cigarettes. The interview with the Cavonus spouses has supported its benefits and relief, not only in financial considerations, but also in terms of medicinal effects. The only crucial consideration is its effect to the community that espouses Marijuana Banks. Residents could express apprehension on its legalization given that it could be misused and abused.
The young and immature individuals could irresponsibly veer into addiction and cause subsequent violence and misbehavior in the community. This could however be addressed with close monitoring with local government agencies that should assign task forces to regularly ply these stores and ensure that the sale is governed by legal laws and regulations. Any violations should immediately be sanctioned through stiff penalties that could mean closer of these stores and inability to apply elsewhere in the country. The significance of having legalized marijuana was supported to be more advantages to patients, who need them most. Legalization and application to dispense through Marijuana Banks must be subject to stringent policies and procedures and subjected to frequent monitoring.
Only verified prescriptions must be accommodated with direct contact to the prescribing physicians for validation and cross checking. The results of the interview have shown the medical benefits of marijuana compared with traditional medications. The relief, enabling ability for relaxation and enhancing the appetite, needed for recovery, are worth noting. The stress in financial resources caused by expensive medications make marijuana all the more a welcome respite. Since 16 states plus Washington, DC have already supported and enacted its legalization, other states could follow using the same guidelines and regulations for implementation and monitoring. The move would actually prevent illegal trade which increases the price in the black market at the disadvantage of medical users.
The future and potentials for legalization of medical marijuana in all states in the US is optimistic given the positive feedback of the patients who use it. Like any other narcotic drugs, the sale and use of marijuana must be subject to the same strict rules and regulations to ensure that they do not fall in the wrong hands. Through future medical research and technological developments, more alternative applications for marijuana could be innovatively discovered to address the issues and concerns that opposing parties contend. When one is face to face with patients who just want to seek relief through medical marijuana from a debilitating illness, the hope for recovery that emanates, would definitely lead one to support its immediate legalization.
Taylor, M. Medical Pot Outlets Growing like a Weed-for Now. Colorado Business Magazine, 4, Topic Marijuana Legislation. Level Masters. Pages 5. Words
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