Legalization of Cannabis - Essay Example

Legalization of Cannabis The struggle for the legalization of cannabis has been led for decades now. The opponents of this decision have been arguing that marijuana is a toxic substance that changes the mode of human's psychic and influences the person's physical condition negatively, thus it has to stay prohibited, while those, who support marijuana legalization stated that cannabis can be used for recreational and medical purposes without the considerable harm to the humans' psychological and physical health. People have been using marijuana for thousands of years already as an antidepressant, a pain killer, a medicine against the nausea, and just for fun. Despite of the fact that cannabis was forbidden in the U.S in thirtieth, people have been smoking till the present moment. Of course, all of that enormous market is illegal now; the government doesn't get a cent from this business. Those who use cannabis live under the threat of being caught and accused of drug abuse by the police, but it doesn't stop them from smoking. The doctors now say that cannabis makes less harm than the nicotine does. Thus, it's obvious that marijuana should be legalized, just for to let the government control its use, prevent its abuse, and get the taxes from those who run this business. Cannabis has been used in therapeutic purposes for several centuries already, but during the previous century its use have been strictly limited, as this substance became a subject of misuse and abuse. Since the use of cannabis as a medication was forbidden in the U.S in 1937 the continuous struggle has been led between the supporters and the opponents of using cannabis for treatment of certain conditions. For to define the topic of the essay, let's first consult the encyclopedias for to see the definition of the word cannabis. So, the Dictionary.Com Website defines cannabis as: 1. A tall annual dioecious plant (Cannabis sativa), native to central Asia and having alternate, palmately divided leaves and tough bast fibers. 2. Any of several mildly euphoriant, intoxicating hallucinogenic drugs, such as ganja, hashish, or marijuana, prepared from various parts of this plant. Marijuana, which is another name for this drug, more widespread than the word cannabis is defined as a "…preparation made from the dried flower clusters and leaves of the cannabis plant, usually smoked or eaten to induce euphoria." in an entry on the Free Dictionary Website. The Marijuana Legalization Organization gives several reasons for which marijuana should be legalized on their website. Those are: People have a basic right to make choices for themselves as long as their actions do not harm others The government is wasting our time and money by prohibiting marijuana Prohibition is not an effective solution to the problems associated with marijuana use We have learned a lesson from history. Alcohol prohibition did not work, and there is no logical reason to believe that marijuana prohibition is a better idea. The authors of this document mention that the adult responsible person should be given the right to choose for himself or herself whether to use cannabis, or not. Marijuana is not so harmful for health as for to deprive people of the freedom of their choice towards it. It's obvious that lots of those who stand against the legalization of this substance are just misinformed about the effects marijuana has and the consequences of its use. The stereotype has been built during the last two thirds of the past century that cannabis is something very dangerous and harmful for heath, the same as cocaine or heroine is. If we'll recall the characteristic features of stereotyping, we'll find out that the information that supports the existing stereotype is believed willingly by its holders, but the information that overturns it is usually perceived worse and believed much less than the first type of info. The quantity of articles, TV shows and magazine publications that persuade people in the harmfulness of this substance is enormous, thus this stereotype is strongly supported. In the same time, when some info about the positive aspects of cannabis use appears, it is perceived with mistrust. People don't have the full and veracious information about the behavioral and physiological effects of marijuana use; they are often misinformed or just can't get the needed data. Thus we can conclude that nowadays in the U.S the Americans are deprived of their right to choose whether to use cannabis or no. Moreover, there is no valid reason for which it is done, and people do not have enough information to do something with the situation that exists. The freedom of will is one of the main virtues declared in our Constitution. The fact, that marijuana is prohibited, is the breach of our Constitutional rights and liberties. The Americans have to be given full information about marijuana and its effect on humans' body for to make the decision by themselves. It's well known that cannabis is one of the most widespread drugs in the U.S; some researchers say that it's on the third place, right after nicotine and alcohol. Thus you can imagine the sums of money that the taxpayers have to give away every year for to persecute, prosecute, and incarcerate people for having marijuana. Still, the number of marijuana users isn't declining despite all of the measures taken. Considering the fact that the recent researchers found that marijuana does no more harm to the humans' body than nicotine does, it would be much wiser and cheaper to legalize it. First, the taxpayer's money could've been spent on some other sphere of social life, like the educational system, and the government would've gotten an enormous sum of money as taxes. It's also seen clearly that the prohibition of the cannabis use hasn't made the desired effect in the U.S. People have been smoking marijuana despite of all the prohibitions made and measures taken. The situation with the cannabis ban is much like that with the dry law in the U.S, where, despite of all the prohibitions, spirituous drinks could be easily bought. The government had been spending millions of dollars every year for to catch and punish the bootleggers, but the quantity of those, who sold and bought whisky and other drinks didn't decrease despite all of the measures taken, and the government lost another millions of dollars in taxes. The prohibition of marijuana is also pointless, but, unfortunately, the government still hasn't realized it. Marijuana is even more attractive to the teenagers and young adults because of the fact that its use is prohibited. Curiosity and youth protest that lives in people of this age group makes them try the forbidden fruit, and it sometimes may turn really harmful. The thing is that marijuana, the same as nicotine an alcohol, is to be used only by the grown up and responsible people, people who are ready to take the responsibility for their actions and cope with the consequences. Young peoples' organisms are much more vulnerable to any kinds of drugs, and the effects of cannabis for them may turn out to be different from those in the older people. It is also that the youngsters shouldn't have the possibility for not to hide when they smoke cannabis. You will surely agree that it is much safer for youngsters when they smoke under the supervision of the more experienced people that can keep them from the fallacious actions, explain them the right doses, and tell about the effects of the cannabis use and how to cope with them. It's prominent that almost all of the definitions of cannabis and marijuana that can be found in the dictionaries, encyclopedias or throughout the Web don't mention about the medical usage of this drug. Cannabis is considered to occupy the fourth place in the list of drugs most often used in the U.S and Europe, outrun only by alcohol, caffeine and nicotine Thus cannabis is mostly seen as a recreational drug, despite of the proved medical efficiency it has. The authors of the article in British Medical Journal proved that "in discussions of the use of cannabis one of the biggest problems over the past few years has been the difficulty in separating the debate on the recreational use from that on the therapeutic use". This is one of the main reasons for which the debates led on the medical use of cannabis in the U.S are so severe. The medical use of marijuana by human beings was first time registered in the Chinese pharmacopoeia in 2727 BC. It was allowed to usage in the U.S until the federal government prohibited it by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In the 1970th The Controlled Substance Act established five categories of schedules depending on the danger of the drug. Marijuana was put in the 1st Schedule, to the drugs with the high potential for abuse. Marijuana was said to be a drug with "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." (The Medicinal Marijuana Story 1937-1997, 1997). In 1975 The Compassionate Investigative New Drug (IND) program was created for to provide some patients the possibility to get this substance from the government, but it was discontinued in 1992 due to the flow of applications from people suffering from AIDS. In 1990 The California Drug Advisory Board recommends legal cultivation of marijuana. In 1996 in California the first medical marijuana law was passed which was Proposition 215. This law protected patients who used marijuana at a prescription and their doctors from the statewide penalties. (The Medicinal Marijuana Story 1937-1997, 1997). In June 2005 there were 11 states that passed similar laws (Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington). Ten other states, including the District of Columbia have symbolic medical marijuana laws, as they permit its medical use, but still have penalties for the patients who use it, and doctors, who recommend or prescribe it. (Medical Marijuana, 2005). Numerous opinions exist about the effect of cannabis on human's health, and about the consequences of its legalization. The supporters of marijuana legalization for medical purposes prove that it helps to reduce the unwanted symptoms of migraines, glaucoma, AIDS, depression and many other illnesses. In the same time, the opponents point that marijuana is suspected to cause mental illnesses and induce addiction. Nevertheless, numerous researches exist that prove the effectiveness of using cannabis for treating the illnesses listed. Smoking marijuana really relives the symptoms of various illnesses, including even the nausea in pregnant woman. It's obvious that lots of people still buy marijuana for to relieve the symptoms of their diseases despite of the existing laws. So, it would be logical to legalize cannabis for medical purposes, as it's helpful and people still use it regardless of the fact it's forbidden. Let's also recall that cannabis is one of the leaders of the list of drugs used by Americans. The current research displayed, that 70 millions of Americans have tried marijuana. So it would be unfair to refuse sick people the thing that the healthy ones use frequently. The supporters of legalization of marijuana for medical purposes give numerous reasons in favor of the subject. One of main their theses is that cannabis is a drug that doesn't induce addiction unlike lots of the painkillers and anti-depressants the doctors prescribe their patients for the illnesses that could be treated by marijuana, do. Some of the supporters of the idea also claim that marijuana can be used for to relieve the difficulties the pregnant woman have. It is a widespread persuasion built on the research that was carried out in the sixtieth that smoking marijuana can harm the fetus, but later researches disprove this statement, as they say that cannabis doesn't cause harm when used by a pregnant woman. The most recent proved the hypothesis that cannabis can also be used for treating some psychiatric problems, like the anxiety and depression. The thing is that the substances similar to the ones marijuana contains, were found to stimulate the growth of the sells in regions of the brain that are associated with depression and anxiety. The supporters of this position understand that the medical use of cannabis should be limited, as there are people with the pre-existing risk of developing psychiatric problems who shouldn't be treated with it. It's normal, as all the medications have their contraindications. Cannabis has been considered to be a drug for decades nowadays, thus lots of people still cannot agree to legalization of it even for medical purposes, as they are guided by the outdated research proving cannabis is very dangerous. Some of them are even afraid that legalization of cannabis may lead to legalization of the other, harder illegal drugs. Also the statistic exists that proves that lots of the drug addicts begin from marijuana and then pass to the more "serious" drugs. Lots of the opponents of cannabis legalization for therapeutic purposes are still sure that marijuana indices addiction. They also claim that the effects of marijuana are similar to the effect of the hard drugs as are the processes that take place in the human's body after using it. Those, who are against the cannabis legalization, also prove that smoking marijuana is very bad for health, especially for the condition of the pregnant woman and the fetus. Thus lots of women who suffer from severe nausea have to take much harder medications than the cannabis is, for to make themselves eat for their future child not to be malnutritioned. This viewpoint is based on the outdated research. Some of the opponents of the usage of cannabis also prove that it induces psychiatric problems that are very hard to resolve or treat in future, especially when taken at an early age. " A study of 2,437 young people aged 14 to 24 found that of those who smoked cannabis regularly and had a pre-existing risk of psychosis, 50 per cent developed psychotic symptoms over the four- year period. This was twice the rate among those who did not use cannabis and more than three times higher than among those who were neither vulnerable nor took the drug. " – declares the author of the article. (Cannabis link to psychosis depends on age of first use, 2004). The debate is let on the affect of cannabis on the psychological condition of the patients, and the effect of this substance on the fetus. Also it is questioned whether the marijuana induces addiction, or no. Most of those questions are answered in favor of the position of the cannabis-legalization supporters. Cannabis is a substance that can relief the symptoms of the numerous illnesses, and it can even cure some of them. So it's obvious, it is foolish to reject it just because of the old persuasion that is not confirmed by the scientific facts. Cannabis should be legalized for to allow people suffering from pain, nausea, glaucoma and many other illnesses get the effective and relatively safe drug. As you can see, marijuana is widely used in the U.S both for recreation and treatment. Forbidding it doesn't have any effect, as it is still one of the most widespread drug substances on the U.S territory. For the decades already marijuana users have been living under the threat of being caught by the officials. In most of the American states, even those people, who really need marijuana for to relieve the symptoms of their illness, cannot get this drug. In some states the situation exists when marijuana is officially considered to be a legal drug, but its growing and importing are punished by law, the same as prescribing marijuana to the patients is. Considering all of the facts listed we can conclude that legalization of cannabis is a step towards making our country more liberal, and a very effective way to increase the profits of the national budget. Works Cited 1. Laurance, J. Cannabis Link to Psychosis Depends on Age of First Use. The Independent (London), 2004 An article that explores the results of the research of the relationship between the psychosis and cannabis use that analyzes and summarizes the research done and gives recommendations based on the results of the analysis. 2. Notcutt, W. et all. Improving the Debate on Cannabis. British Medical Journal, 2000 Letter to the Editor in the British Medical Journal discussing the difference between the medical and recreational use of cannabis 3. Cannabis. Dictionary Reference. Dictionary.Com Website. Retrieved 2005 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cannabis A definition of cannabis found in one of the largest dictionaries in the Web 4. Marijuana. Medical Dictionary. The Free Dictionary Website. Retrieved December 6, 2005 http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/marijuana Another definition of cannabis found in one of popular Web dictionaries 5. n.d. Medical Marijuana. The Drug Policy Website, 2005. Retrieved December 6 ,2005 http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/medical/ This is an article that deals with the legal aspect of medical marijuana legalization. It tells about the present state of things with the status of medical marijuana in our country, and it tells about the public opinion on the issue of medical marijuana legalization. 6. n.d. The Medicinal Marijuana Story 1937-1997. CNN Website, 1997 Retrieved December 6, 2005 http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9702/weed.wars/issues/chronology/index.html The history of medical marijuana in the USA from the moment it was prohibited in 1937, to 1997, when some states legalized medical marijuana on their territories. 7. n.d. Why should marijuana be legal? Marijuana Legalization Organization, 1999. Retrieved December 7, 2005 http://www.mjlegal.org/ A website dedicated to the question of marijuana legalization and various aspects of its use. This website provides information on numerous topics, such as medicinal use, religious use, its effects, etc. Read More