FREE ESSAY ON LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

Legalization of Marijuana
Legalization of Marijuana has quickly become a controversial issue in America. In the
United States, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is spreading to the state
level. For example, in November 1996, the people of California and Arizona voted to
legalize marijuana for medicinal reasons. As a result of Proposition 215 in California,
patients now smoke marijuana provided their physician recommends its usage. A
prescription is not required, and marijuana continues to be illegal to prescribe. The
Clinton administration responded that it "would not recognize these decisions, and would
prosecute physicians who recommend or provide marijuana to their patients." Although
California and Arizona are the only two states to have already passed laws regulating
marijuana usage, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws and resolutions
regarding marijuana usage. These laws and resolutions range from establishing therapeutic
research programs, to allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, to asking the federal
government to lift the ban. Despite the states' desires to have marijuana legalized for
medicinal purposes, the US National Institutes of Health examined all existing clinical
evidence about smoked marijuana and concluded that, "There is no scientifically sound
evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies." 
Based on the conclusion made by the US National Institutes of Health, marijuana should
remain illegal. Although it does have many medicinal benefits - including improving the
appetite in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, reducing muscle spasms associated with
epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, and alleviating eye pressure in glaucoma patients -
there is no proof that marijuana is the most effective treatment. The main active
ingredient in marijuana (THC) is already available in its legal form, Marinol; it does in
fact have therapeutic applications; therefore, the whole substance of marijuana does not
necessarily need to be legalized. In addition, marijuana has many side effects that may
harm patients. If marijuana does become legal, multiple legal drawbacks would occur. For
example, it is highly likely that doctors may take bribes from healthy patients to
prescribe the drug for recreational use. This would make legalization too difficult to
regulate because prescriptions may end up in the wrong hands. In addition, legal
marijuana may provide drug dealers with an easy opportunity to escape prosecution for
trafficking and dealing drugs. "Reversed psychology" would not work in this situation,
for the legalization of marijuana would inflict more chaos and crime than it would
attempt to prevent.
Therefore, the best way to address this issue at the time is to conduct more thorough and
involved research focused mainly on the important medical uses of marijuana. To this
date, marijuana has not undergone any of the clinical trials necessary for the FDA's
approval. Accordingly, the National Institutes of Health should conduct this research
proving whether marijuana is the most beneficial medicine for the different groups of
patients. This research will most likely prove marijuana not to be the most effective
treatment; thereby, allowing it to remain illegal. The majority of Republicans would
respond well to this idea because they believe marijuana should remain illegal.
Democrats, including Massachusetts own Barney Frank, would disagree with this approach,
for they believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes. However, there is
a large group of politicians who remain split between the two contradicting sides.
Studies should also be conducted through governmental funding on those people in
California and Arizona currently using marijuana for medicinal purposes. These studies
should be compared to studies of similar patients not using marijuana to cure the
different medical problems. Until further formal research is done into the side effects,
and chemical, and biologically processes of marijuana, it should remain illegal to use.