Legalizing Marijuana Essay

When you think about legalizing marijuana, what comes to your mind first? The benefits it would have on legalizing marijuana. Everywhere you go someone is debating whether we should or should not legalize marijuana. There’s a lot of good in this plant. Having an open mind, there is advantages and disadvantages that it can have for this country. There is medicinal marijuana, relativism and financially, agriculture, utilitarian. I will express myself how it can benefit everybody if marijuana was to be legalized. This is a universal plant.

Marijuana can be used to treat different illnesses. This universal plant can treat constipation, female weakness, gout, malaria, rheumatism and absent mindedness, this is just a few names according to Bloomquist. Different countries used it to treat hydrophobia, delirium, and skin disease, protracted labor during child birth, asthma, hay fever, and cholera. (Bloomquist, 1968) According to Rae Uddin it is beneficial the medical marijuana can improve patient’s way of life. It is highly challenged when it comes to the beneficial uses of medicinal marijuana. There are 14 states that have enacted laws to protect the rights of some patients to use medical marijuana.

There is a study that was published in February in a 2009 journal, the patients that experienced neuropathic pain and they were given medical marijuana, they dropped at least 30 percent less pain. Therefore when you have cancer, it decreases your appetite, so therefore cancer patients lose weight drastically. The recovery progress can be detrimental because the human body requires energy to digest our food to fight off infections, cells and tissue needs to heal, medical marijuana can be there for these millions of people.

Food craving within the patient’s body in hope; it will inspire the patient to eat so its body can produce energy for the body. (Uddin, 2011) On how we treat certain diseases the patient may experience some side effects, such as nausea or vomiting. The active ingredient in marijuana is THC decreases the symptoms. Finding a solution such as marijuana that can provide relief, why not use it? It still improves the quality of life. When the body consumes the chemical properties of marijuana a relaxing feeling takes over the patient’s body. It also helps relaxing muscles within the body. A patient who has Parkinson disease, muscle, tension, arthritis or aches and pain, the treatment of medical marijuana has the ability to move normal encouraging a more quality of life. (Uddin, 2011)

Think about all the patients that this universal plant can help. It has low potential for dependency. Think about it, you cannot have an overdose, unlike some of the pain killers or prescription drugs. The most that can happen from smoking marijuana is coughing, wheezing and bronchitis; side effects are easily contained just by using a vaporizer. What is rhetoric about? It is about saving lives (Stone, 2010).It is a large debate in the United States over legalizing marijuana. There are different people that have many views on legalizing marijuana. When you look at all the prescription drugs they are not equal. Marijuana has no harmful effects; it’s still used in the medical field today. There is no chemical dependency in marijuana. Like it or not marijuana have some good qualities. Think about it, it is legal to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes in which it is very addictive, very much harmful to your body. So what’s the rhetoric about legalizing marijuana?

This natural plant has been used to make medicine for centuries, yet We still pay for high medication. I’d rather not go into all the side effects that accompany legalizing marijuana. When you speak about social and economic levels it is a good choice. Upon reading the FDA argues that it is just too risky to use. It has no FDA approval, compared to other drugs marijuana is just not necessary. I disagree totally; again FDA is saying it will lead to harder drugs, interfere with driving ability, affects the lungs, immune system and brain. I still disagree, so how can the FDA say it is a set up to used medical marijuana as an escape goat for legalizing it and recreation use? There are people who use it and want it to be legal. As I mention before there is a need for this universal plant. The patients will benefit from legalizing marijuana. The revenue would be unbelievable it would generate billions.

The state of California has the opportunity to prove to the world that it is a smart choice, responsible public policy to control, and regulate marijuana. California is in the mist of historic economic crises. They are moving toward regulating and taxing marijuana. It is already a major role in California economy. An opportunity that is a 14 billion dollar market. Marijuana is California’s number one crop. It doubles the states combined crops like grapes, vegetables. The Ammiano legislation would regulate the market like that of beer, wine, and liquor.

Tax’s sales to adults while putting emphasis on possess under 21.This will roughly annual revenue from sales fees runs in the billions. (McDonald, Gutwillia, 2009). California residents cannot ignore any longer that it is good for the state and suggest that other states should follow. 74,000 Californians were arrested for marijuana offences in 2007, 80 percent of them on lesser charges. This cost the state of California tax payers one billion dollars a year. (McDonald, Gutwillia, 2009).

Speaking from the agriculture aspect thousands of year’s marijuana plant can be used for fiber. Then you have paint that is made from the marijuana seeds, oils, varnish, and fine lubrications even protein suitable for human and animals to eat. By decimalizing marijuana, the U.S is forfeiting millions in potential tax revenue every year. Jon Gettman a Virginia based researcher used government data to show that marijuana has become the largest cash crop in the United States. When it comes to corn and wheat combined annually marijuana wins.

Jon Gettman reports with a wide used federal pot production estimate that about ten thousand tons of marijuana was ceased in each state. After all Jon Gettman’s findings Washington is still the second largest producer of indoor grown plants, six largest producer of outdoor grown plants, and the fifth largest producer overall. Washington makes a 103 billion a year on its crops, between the apple crop that carries 1.15 billion and 500 million a year for wheat. Marijuana in recent years grows rich in agricultural valleys. About 75% of the marijuana sold in the U.S is grown in California. There’s 15 percent of marijuana grown on federal land. They are detected and destroyed each year (Gettman, 2011).

In the 1930’s marijuana was made illegal in the United States. The Kentucky Marijuana Feasibility Study, Inc. has come up with a plan for the legislation of marijuana. The plan called for state governments to licenses farmers to grow poundage allotments to be sold to that state. With this plan by 1985 the profits would range from thirty to fifty million dollars for each state to be used for health and medical research (Galbraith, 1978).

The Drug Enforcement Administration has marijuana hemp classified as a “Scheduled One Substance” equivalent to cocaine and heroin. Farmers could benefit greatly from large cash crops: it will grow anywhere in the United States. It is a weed with a small growing season and can be planted right after the land has been harvested. This makes it very profitable, commercial farming today is saturated in chemicals, causing huge amounts of contamination of the countries soil, water, and wildlife and farm families. However, contrast hemp is natural and requires little water or a fertilizer to produce a large crop, Hemp is naturally diseased and past resistant, so toxic chemicals are unnecessary. Our economy would gain great opportunity through job creations. Hemp makes strong canvas shoes and fabrics.

Hemp carpets are durable and naturally flame retardant. Hemp fiber can replace wood then trees could continue to produce oxygen, its scrap can be a biomass alternative for gasoline. It’s a biodegradable substitute for plastics and is being used as hemp fiber plastic for some trunk and door panels. Ford is considering using it to make radiator grills. (Hightower, 2004). Industrial (hemp) marijuana is a very strong material. It can make rope, clothes, and Omega oils for cereals, nutrition bars, body oils and shampoos. In 1930, growth of the plant was banned in the U.S. Hemp products have to be imported. Why? When the United States can produce our own plants, this just does not make sense to me. Here we are spending money overseas, when we can keep the money in the United States.

Listen to this; farmers in the United States have shared their views to be able to grow hemp (marijuana) to challenge the foreign imports. There are many states that share these concerns. Different supporter has asked congress to direct DEA to revise their policies to allow states to adapt to their own regulatory programs. The control substances Act of 1970 ban not only marijuana, but any plant with THC, even with faint detail it is illegal. Hawaii is the only state to get a DEA permit to grow hemp and that is just to see how well the product is produced.

Agricultural states such as South Dakota and Minnesota has backed the hemp (marijuana) (National Conferences of State Legislatures, 1992). In American culture it is a great part of illegal drugs in our culture. One of the most controversial drugs is marijuana. This cannabis Sativa is known as hemp, marijuana, pot, reefer, weed, bud, herb, Mary Jane, grass or wacky tabacci no matter what you call it, still it is illegal in the United States, not just in the United states of America but all over the world they are still debating whether marijuana is good or bad. What benefits marijuana has to offer?

In 1937 they introduce the Marijuana Tax Act as of today it is still failing along the way. Marijuana it is never going to go away. 850,000 arrests were made last year this means that policymaker will spend more of the taxpayer’s money next year arresting, then locking up more Americans. Nearly 76 percent of Americans realize the drug war is not a success, millions are demanding change. President Nixon went war on drugs forty years ago. Americans, I will say tens of millions have been arrested; over hundreds of billions of dollar has been spent. When you think about the way it was then it is the way it is now nothing has change.

Tell me What official elected have not used drugs. President Obama used drugs, Right on down to George Bush, well he did not say directly but he hinted around that he did too. Bill Clinton did not inhale, yeah right .Al Gore, Newt Gingrich, you have Sarah Palin used it; they all used drugs, wide spread use. Large numbers of drug offenders exhausted state and federal resources. It has attracted law enforcement from violent crimes. A generation of children’s suffers with not having a parent or parents in home due to being lock up behind bars (Piper, 2010). There are New York resident who have been caught with a little amounts of marijuana, in which they gladly admits to using it.

Then they get caught in a civil child neglect cases. Parents in these cases are small, but have lost custody of their children’s taking care of their children’s, majority of these parents have never had any neglect allegation, but yet they were still placed in a foster care, just for small amount of marijuana and allegation. They should take marijuana charge less serious and spend more of their time dealing with violent criminals (Secret, 2011). Financially, marijuana is a cannabis plant. No matter how you look at it, it is illegal in most parts of the world especially the United States.

Family can have drastic change within the family due to using marijuana, money that can be spent on groceries, bills, household expenses, whether it is recreational or drug habit. They who are caught using or carrying marijuana could face serious jail time, probation and cost of court, fines. When a family relies on a specific Income it can be devasting to the family. I am all for medicinal marijuana and maybe some recreation use, but when it starts effect the family. Then it is a problem. There are drug programs, the money they are putting into locking up an individual like there sister, brother, mother, father, cousin or friend. They can put the extra money into programs. The ones that are lock up they can freed the prison up so they will free up prison space for the hard core criminals.

Research fully on marijuana it is grown naturally in the rainforest or in your own back yard. A powerful medicinal tool that needs to be fully investigated .There are potential there to help people that are diagnose with a serious terminal illness. Marijuana is a miracle plant that can be used for a lot of good for a lot of people. I know this from all my research I have done on marijuana it is less of a risk margin than cigarettes, alcohol.

This Universal plant made by the creator, was put here possibly to be used for a number of reason. I think it’s up to us to find as many ways to use it as possible. We should find the pros and cons of this substance and use them for the further evolution of mankind. As I journey through all this information I found that we all have different out looks on marijuana, It can be used for the good or the bad .It seems that the government would exhaust all the taxpayers money to ban it. When you think about all the studies and research done on marijuana you would think they would support it.

In my opinion I think a bill should be passed to legalize medicinal marijuana, government regulated marijuana would increase revenue for that state. Whoever is holding office when Marijuana is legalized, will be known as historic moment. It can be used as energy alternatives and a wood substitute. It has no known overdose statistics, has been used as an appetite increaser for cancer patients, pain reliever for patients in extreme pain. This is truly a miracle drug that the creator above has blessed us with. I strongly suggest that marijuana should be legalizing to suppress illness all over the world.

References
www.marijuana.net/news-and-articles/medicinal-marijuana-history-part-1 www.livestrong.com /Rae Uddin
www.livestrong.com/chadstone
www.connexions.org
www.medicalmarijuana.procon.org
www.drugpolicy.org
Weslander E. (2006, Dec. 24) marijuana cited as major Staten crop. Mcclatchy
Tribume business news, pp. 1-1. Retrieved from www.proquest.com/docview Galbraith, G. (1978) the economic necessity of marijuana, business and society review, (27), 58-58, retrieved from www.proquest.com/docview Hightower, J. (2004). High on hemp. The humanist, 64 (5), 4-5. Retrieved from www.proquest.com/docview www.drugscience.org Jon Gettman, PH.D the bulletin of cannabis reform 10/19/2009 It’s not pot; it’s hemp. Agricultural product. (2002 state legislate retrieved from www.prquest.com/docview www.cnn.com

www.nytimes.com