... Marijuana: Why It Should Be Decriminalized Nearly twenty thousand people die from prescription medication overdose in the United States each year. By federally decriminalizing medical marijuana, these statistics can be changed. Prescription drugs, and over-the-counter medications are the leading causes of accidental overdose related death in the United States. Logistically speaking, it makes no sense for an ancient herb, with known medical and physiological benefits to be federally criminalized. By legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level, certain crimes have shown a decrease. Similarly, states with medical marijuana legalization have also shown a decrease in prescription pain killer addiction and overdose related deaths. In fact, there have been no known deaths which could be directly contributed to marijuana use. Statistics show that cannabis is a safer and smarter alterative to prescription medications. Maintaining a federal prohibition on marijuana for medical use not only unethical, it is inhumane. Marijuana must be federally decriminalized, not only to improve lives, but to save them as well. The benefits of using medical marijuana are astounding. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC (delta-9-tetracannibidnol) has been proven to slow the growth of tumors in cancer patients. Studies show that tumors found in the lungs, breasts, and brain showed a substantial decrease when treated with marijuana. Traditionally, physicians treat...
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...The Benefits of Decriminalizing Marijuana There are so many benefits to be derived from the herb Marijuana, yet it sparks so much controversy, as policymakers probe the aspect of legalizing the possession and use of this plant. Marijuana also called Cannabis sativa when used correctly provides many benefits to one’s health. It can also be used to develop the psychological being of an individual. The legalization of Marijuana will lead to a reduction in drug related crimes. Therefore, I firmly believe that Marijuana should be decriminalized worldwide. Marijuana is sometimes referred to as a medicinal plant. The leaves and buds have been used in herbal remedies and cures for years. There have been 66 biologically active components, identified by scientists called cannabinoids, in marijuana. The most powerful of these is said to be the chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, even though other active elements are being studied. (American Cancer Society, 2012). Research has shown that marijuana can be used to treat the eye disease glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease associated with increased pressure fluids in the eyes resulting in damage to the optic nerve, which may lead to blindness or vision loss (National Eye Institute, 2012). The National Eye Institute supported many researches and studies in the early 1970s that proved that marijuana whether administered orally, intravenously or by smoking decreased intraocular pressure (IOP). (National Eye Institute, 2012). According...
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...Cannabis indica, also known as marijuana, is a plant that is very commonly argued over and disputed. Marijuana has gained a presence in the world as a drug and is often used illegally through illegal use. Although the list of dangers of marijuana is quite high, marijuana can still be put to good use in the medical field. Many places, including several states in the United States, are proposing the decriminalization of marijuana for medical purposes. If used in the correct way, such as medical purposes, marijuana can be helpful to society in regards to disease and other complications of the human body. First of all, the use of medical marijuana can be used to treat and comfort patients diagnosed with cancer. In the entire world, cancer is the...
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...Our party wants to decriminalize marijuana. I know our pamphlet says “legalize marijuana” but we realize that legalizing may be too big of a step. Marijuana is also expensive for the government. We spend billions of dollars annually for enforcement of drug laws and legal fees. If we decriminalized marijuana, we would be saving billions of dollars. That would mean if you were in possession of marijuana, you wouldn’t be arrested. The Trans-Pacific partnership is a free trade amongst twelve countries. The Trans-Pacific partnership is a terrible idea because in order to have this trade agreement, tariffs will have to be lowered and the government will be losing money. Do you want your midnight “web surfing” to be observed? The TPP allows internet...
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...Should the U.S. Decriminalize Marijuana? Every year our government spends about nineteen billion dollars to control the usage of marijuana. About seventeen thousand people were arrested last year because of it. The U.S. spends about twenty thousand per year house keep these inmates. (Miles) Who are these dangerous people that we are talking about? These people are considered pot heads. There is a marijuana arrest every forty two seconds in the U.S. In most cases most people who are pulled over don’t have a lot. Yet the government is letting jails get over crowded and using money the government needs. The economy in the U.S. is horrible, but the U.S. could save billions of dollars by decriminalizing marijuana. Marijuana should be decriminalized because it helps people with health issues, it saves the U.S. tons of money, keep jails safer and less congested, and benefit other people that need it. Marijuana should be decriminalized because it acts as a natural pain killer. Studies have shown that marijuana sometimes is the only painkiller that can help a person. For example, it helps people with chronic nerve pain due to injury or surgery feel less pain, relax, and sleep better. (Doheny) This is only one of the pains that marijuana can help, but there are many more. Today, more than 60 U.S. and international organizations support providing marijuana to people that need it. (NORML) Since marijuana is priceless and can assist so many people with medical care for many...
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...Trevor Dibble Mrs. Willis English 11 May 23, 2014 Positive Outcomes of Legalized Marijuana The word "marijuana" has risen an eyebrow in almost every American today. Those that oppose legalizing the use of the plant automatically believe its use is to smoke it, but those that do not choose to use marijuana are thought to be in favor of keeping it illegal. Opposing views on the subject of decriminalizing the plant has caused much controversy over the past twenty-five years and still remains an important issue. The legalization of marijuana in the Unites States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and form a more productive society through its positive uses. The war on drugs deals with every level of society. Every year, the U.S. government spends large amounts of money to control drug use and to enforce laws enacted to protect society from the dangers of certain drugs. Some argue that the fight against drugs is not needed and that society has already lost the war on drugs and the only way to remedy the problem to end most of the fighting altogether is by decriminalizing the use of marijuana. William Buckley says, "Pot is harmful, but people should not go to jail for smoking it.” Buckley was a college professor at Columbia University and admitted to smoking marijuana on a national television show in 1973. At the time Buckley was quoted to say, "There were a half-million arrests due to pot use in 1973 respectively this makes the realization that...
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...Argument For Legalization of Marijuana Primarily, according to the UN, 3.8% of the world's population uses Marijuana (Crockett). Marijuana is a plant that can grow almost anywhere in the world. It’s a mild hallucinogen that when used, causes a temporary high and the sense of euphoria. Although there is currently a war on Marijuana, through the government's upholding of the law, and a large amount of the American population to overturn the legalization of Marijuana that took place originally in the 1930’s. In view of mass immigration of Mexican immigrants, using “Marihuana” as they referred to it along with came a bad reputation for cannabis. Doctors Malik Burnett and Amanda Reiman even went as far to say “claims were made about marijuana’s...
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...Legalization would be a beautiful thing. Why Marijuana Should Be Legal On Thursday, 24TH of Oct 2013 The Huffington Post reported that a Gallop poll released on Tuesday showed that Americans for the first time in history, are more in favor of legalizing marijuana than criminalizing it with 58 percent in favor of allowing the plant to be legal. 2013 has been a changing mark in the success of legalizing marijuana. Two States passed a law decriminalizing the drug. Both Colorado and Washington passed laws to decriminalize the drug. Which is my first reason in many why marijuana should be legal? * Marijuana should be legal for so many reasons more than it should stay illegal. I will start with the fact that no one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana. We have millions of people dying of cancer and other various diseases due to legal prescription drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. In 2010, 38,329 people died from drug overdoses. Prescription drugs make up sixty percent of that. In that same year, 25,692 people died from causes related to alcohol. People cause way more harm to themselves and to others on these items than on marijuana Alleviation of a lot of medical ailments is the greatest reason for usage and legalization of marijuana. Medical marijuana is a pain saving miracle to a lot of people today in the world. A Discovery Health Article, reports marijuana has been extremely successful in relieving nausea and vomiting as a side effect...
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...The word "marijuana" has risen a concerned eyebrow in almost every American home today. Those that oppose legalizing the use of the plant automatically believe its use is to smoke it, but those that do not choose to use marijuana are thought to be in favor of keeping it illegal. 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 Unites States would drastically reduce crime in our cities and form a more productive society through its positive uses. The war on drugs deals with every level of society. Every year, the U.S. government spends large amounts of money to control drug use and to enforce laws enacted to protect society from the dangers of certain drugs. Some argue that the fight against drugs is not needed and that society has already lost the war on drugs and the only way to remedy the problem to end most of the fighting altogether is by decriminalizing the use of marijuana. William Buckley says, "Pot is harmful, but people should not go to jail for smoking it" (Buckley 1A). Buckley was a college professor at Columbian University and admitted to smoking marijuana on a national television show in 1973. At the time Buckley was quoted to say, "There were a half-million arrests due to pot use in 1973 respectively -this makes the realization that there has been a breakdown in communication between the public and the police"...
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...Marijuana: also known as Mary Jane, reefer, pot, weed, and myriad ever-changing names. Whatever the term, the name is on everyone’s lips as the last five years saw scattered medicinal marijuana clinics located primarily in liberal states gave way to a wildfire movement of decriminalizing marijuana state-by-state. As of this writing, twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have instituted forms of marijuana legalization: twenty allow patients with certain incurable or degenerative and painful conditions to access marijuana for medical purposes, while Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, and DC have decriminalized marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes (State Marijuana Laws Map, 2016), with possibly as many as fourteen with potential legalization measures on the ballots this November (Rough, 2016). With public opinion shifting so quickly and marijuana becoming increasingly commonplace in American culture (pop and otherwise), it’s hard to imagine that this drug has been largely illegal and controlled in the United States for a century. Proponents of marijuana legalization argue that the initial criminalization of the plant has its roots in racism and capitalism, and that marijuana became the political sacrifice to the looming economic giant that was timber production in the early 1900s in the face of cheaper and more sustainable hemp competition. Criminalization of marijuana simultaneously created another reason to demonize people of color, especially Mexicans;...
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...Legalizing Marijuana: An Ethical Perspective In today’s society, many ethical concerns arise on a daily basis, especially when it comes to the topic of legalizing marijuana. Many individuals have relied on the fact that marijuana was illegal, when determining whether smoking it should be considered unethical. However, many studies have shown that the effects of marijuana are not as detrimental as they were once made out to be. Legalizing marijuana can be an extremely controversial topic because several people have strong beliefs concerning why it should not be legalized, while a significant amount of people have stronger arguments, as to why it should be legalized. When it comes to looking at the ethical standpoint of legalizing marijuana, everyone has a different interpretation as to why marijuana should or should not be legalized. This is because everyone’s sense of morals and values differ. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal and recreational use would be beneficial for large amounts of people for many reasons. The theory of utilitarianism implies that the proper course of action should be the one, which benefits the greatest number of people. Many aspects of legalizing marijuana should be considered when determining if the benefits outweigh the risks. Several states have passed laws, which govern the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. In fact, over twenty states, as well as the District of Columbia have enacted laws that govern the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes...
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...2013 Legalization of marijuana The word "marijuana" has raised a concerned eyebrow in almost every American home today. Those that oppose legalization of the plant automatically believe its use is to smoke it, but those that do not choose to use marijuana are thought to be in favor of keeping it illegal. However, based on its economic value and medical benefits, the cannabis has proven to outweigh its negatives with numerous other positives. The war on drugs deals with every level of society. Every year, the U.S. government spends large amounts of money to control drug use and to enforce laws enacted to protect society from the dangers of certain drugs. Some argue that the fight against drugs is not needed and that society has already lost the war on drugs and the only way to cure the problem to end most of the fighting altogether is by decriminalizing the use of marijuana. "Pot is harmful, but people should not go to jail for smoking it" (Buckley). Buckley was a college professor at Columbian University and admitted to smoking marijuana on a national television show in 1973. At the time Buckley was quoted to say, "There were a half-million arrests due to pot use in 1973 respectively -this makes the realization that there has been a breakdown in communication between the public and the police" (Buckley). Over two decades later, Buckley's words still ring true today. Just eight years later an author speaking on the legalization of marijuana summed up the feelings...
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...Release the Green! Marijuana is a very noticeable and scandalous issue in the world today. Although many malicious entitlements have been said about cannabis in current history, the certainties are slowly starting to reappear. Unluckily, these facts are being very heavily criticized because of the clichéd view of what people see as the classic “weed smoker.” This twisted observation of a lazy and unenthusiastic America is the consequence of over seventy years of information and deception spread by private interests who needed weed illegal for their own particular gains. As just a regular citizen and someone that doesn’t even use marijuana, I think that the drug should be legalized for all uses. Consuming marijuana for pharmaceutical purposes is not a new discovery. Actually, written references to consume medical marijuana go back to almost 5,000 years ago (herer, 167). Western treatment included marijuana’s medical properties in the mid-1800s, and by the start of the 20th century, doctors had issued more than 150 credentials in the Western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of disorders (Miron, 117). These conditions include relief from pain, glaucoma, nausea and movement disorders. It can also be used to help patients that have or had HIV/AIDS or cancer patients that have to go through chemotherapy because it motivates their appetites. In our day, thousands of patients are capable of use marijuana as an effective technique of cure for their illnesses. This...
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...The Benefit of Legalizing Marijuana Of all legal reformations that should be made, the legalization of marijuana is perhaps the most necessary. If legalized on a controlled basis, it could greatly benefit our country in a variety of ways. Clearly the most controversial topic is marijuana's benefit to the medical community. The economy would also be a beneficiary of marijuana's legalization through taxation and all the while crime rates would inevitably decrease throughout the country. While many citizens are opposed to the legalization of marijuana they are often misinformed and misguided. Marijuana is a drug that is overlooked and can be used in many positive ways. There are many people that oppose the idea of legalizing marijuana and their point of view can be justified, but marijuana can be used for other purposes than getting “high”. Although there are valid points to each side, ultimately, if legalized the benefits of legal marijuana could greatly outweigh the risk. It has been documented that marijuana can severely reduce some effects of cancer. Also, it is known that marijuana has prolonged the lives of people who were diagnosed as terminally ill. Many rely on the drug to ease their pain and suffering. Another useful benefit is its aide in reducing nausea in chemotherapy patients. Medicinal uses for cannabis date back to 2737 B.C. when the Chinese emperor and pharmacologist Shen Neng prescribed the drug for gout, malaria, beriberi, rheumatism, and memory problems...
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...Legalization of Marijuana Michelle Shepard Soc 120 July 16, 2012 Danielle Camacho There is no denying that the drug problem in our country today has reached an epidemic proportion. The problem has gotten so out of hand that many options are being considered to control and or solve it. Trying to end the drug war may not seen to be the best answer in the beginning, but those so-called wars on drugs have not been very successful at stopping the drug wars. I feel that there should be some different options. The legalization of marijuana is an option which hasn’t received much of a chance, but should be given one. Given that marijuana has known important medical uses, such as the alleviation of nausea, and the treatment of glaucoma, can the government justify banning it just because some individuals use it for recreational purposes? Is it even the business of the government to regulate the private lives of its citizens? I really don’t condone the use of any kind of drug use, but a drug such as marijuana should be legalized to a certain extent, because marijuana helps people with some medical conditions they may have. In order for one to solve the ongoing issue of the legalization of marijuana one must take a look at the classical theory of deontology. Deontology is the classical theory where the reason for which an act is done is assessed. (Mosser, 2010) When assessing the issue of the legalization of marijuana, one must question the exact reasons as to why individuals...
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