Currently, there are thirty-three states who have either legalized medicinal or recreational use of marijuana (“What U.S. States Have Legalized Medical Marijuana?”). Medicinal and recreational use of marijuana should be legalized federally in the United States. The legalization of marijuana would benefit all fifty states in many ways. Not only will it help patients reduce their chronic pain, but it will also limit the use of opioids that has a short-or long-term effect on patients. By federal regulation, it will also increase tax revenues, benefit health, create thousands of jobs, and reduce overcrowding in our prisons.
Many users have given marijuana numerous names for it. The most common names for marijuana would be Flower, Ganja, Weed, Mary Jane, Cannabis, Etc. Marijuana is found on the leaves, stems, and dry flower tops from the cannabis Sativa or Indica plant. The marijuana plant can grow pretty much anywhere with hydroponic technology, but it is mainly found in tropical areas in the world. There are various ways that marijuana can be consumed, some examples are placing a loaded bowl into a pipe, rolled into a joint or cigarillo, and using the extract cannabis oil into food. Another way of use would be in a vaporizer, which pulls the THC from the plant. THC is the acronym for Tetrahydrocannabinol; it is the chemical compound of marijuana. What Tetrahydrocannabinol does is give the body more of a cloud nine relaxed high. The chemical compounds of marijuana create a psychoactive effect on the receptors that are located in the brain and body (Drury).
One main controversial topic is using marijuana as a medicine. Dating back to 2700 B.C. marijuana was used as a medicinal purpose. Its first use was recorded in a manual named “The Herbal” written by a Chinese Emperor named Shen Nung. Shen Nung reported that he put the cannabis into a tea to treat illnesses such as malaria, gout, rheumatism, etc. Every day thousands of people are suffering from severe illness or dealing with excruciating pain. In the modern world medicine, Doctors prescribe opioids to patients for chronic pain management. In the 1990s healthcare providers started prescribing patients opioids. Pharmaceutical companies even convinced the health profession that opioids would not have a negative effect on patients. Roughly about a hundred and thirty Americans are dying every day because of an overdose from opioids. In 2017, about 1.7 million people who were prescribed opioids and other pain relievers endured substance abuse. Those who incorrectly use this pain reliever will transition to heroin. This transition has also contributed to an outbreak of HIV, Hepatitis C, and Neonatal abstinence syndrome.
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Pharmaceutical companies need to come to better use of a pain reliever for patients. Patients who suffer from chronic pain can regulate their usage with medicinal marijuana. A study in 2000, showed that 70%-80% of patients who used medicinal marijuana had felt pain relief. Allen St. Pierre, an executive director of the national organization for the reform of marijuana laws stated that “Cannabis may offer fewer negative side effects than opioids, which can be highly addictive and NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), which can induce stomach ulcers, bleeding, and kidney failure.”
According to the article “Marijuana’s Active Ingredient Improves Cancer Patients’ Appetites,” states the advantages of medicinal marijuana and the effects it has on patients who have cancer. Chan argues that the ingredients that are found in the marijuana plant have substantial use to treat cancer. Most times patients who are going under chemotherapy are not able to eat due to the taste of metallic when eating. In this article, Chan discusses the studies from a food scientist named Wendy Wismer, who created multiple experiments involving patients with cancer that were given THC pills and placebos. None of the patients knew what pill they would be taking for eighteen days. In these studies, Wismer was able to note that “Seventy-three percent of cancer patients who took THC pills every day for 18 days reported an increased appreciation for food” (Chan). THC is able to create an appetite for those who do not have a gustatory modality.
In Glaucoma cases it has also proven the benefits of marijuana. This disease creates pressure in the eyeball that damages the optic nerve that can cause the loss of vision. According to the article, “Should You Be Smoking Marijuana to Treat You Glaucoma?” written by researcher Henry D. Jampel stated that marijuana helps reduce the pressure that is located within the eye, and it even helps those with normal vision. Another example of how marijuana can benefit the health care community is that it is able to treat epileptic seizures.
Orrin Devinsky, a researcher created a study that involved “120 children and teenagers with Dravet Syndrome.” In this experiment, the children and the teenagers “were divided into an experimental group, which received the test drug and a placebo group, which was given a medically inactive compound” (Noonan). During the fourteen weeks that they were being observed the group who received CBD “experienced a median number of 5.9 convulsive seizures per month” (Noonan). While the other group of kids who were taking placebos endured “14.1 convulsions per month” (Noonan). This study has proven that THC helps control seizures that other medications are not able to do.
Aside from health benefits marijuana can also benefit the United States tax revenues. Building a market with marijuana is a great idea and a huge investment that will have our economy booming. In the news article, “Colorado Passes $1 Billion in Marijuana State Revenue” written by Eric Rosenbaum stated that the state of Colorado “reached the $500 million mark in total state revenue from marijuana sales.” Since the legalization of marijuana in Colorado it has “2,917 licensed marijuana businesses and 41,076 individuals who are licensed to work in the industry” (Rosenbaum). This has helped thousands of unemployed people, by adding a list of jobs like trimming, packaging, advertising distribution, and many others. If the Government would legalize marijuana federally, not only it could bring millions of dollars; this money can be used for education systems. The state of Colorado has used its sales to contribute “education and health care, including mental health services, and youth drug-prevention programs” (Rosenbaum).
Decriminalizing marijuana can help reduce overcrowding in prisons and money that is being spent on crimes that are related to marijuana. Legalizing marijuana would help deplete crime rates and most importantly have law enforcement focus on other crimes such as rape, murder, and burglaries. Police officers have focused on marijuana and have made it be one of the top crime issues in the United States. Since 2018, 663,367 people were arrested for marijuana law violations (“Drug War Statistics”). Many who face sentences for distribution “is punishable by up to five years in prison” and those who grow marijuana can face up to “20 years in prison” (“FEDERAL Laws & Penalties- Working to Reform Marijuana Laws”). According to the article, “The Long Reach of American Corrections” stated that about “more than 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 United States Adults are either incarcerated or on parole. Nearly ninety percent of federal dollars are spent on prisons, and the United States spends more than $47 billion annually. (“Drug War Statistics”) For example, Texas spends about “$2.96 billion on corrections” (Pew Charitable Trusts | The Pew Charitable Trusts). Legalizing the illicit drug would not only save the country millions of dollars, but it would “reduce the prison population from 1.5 million to below 700,000” (“Decriminalizing Pot Will Reduce Prison Population”).
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism stated that about “88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes.” Alcohol is considered one of the top three leading causes of death in the United States. Tobacco-related deaths fall first, and “the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.” For those who think marijuana has ruined the lives of many, there is “no deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported” (“Even The DEA Admits That Nobody Has Died Of A Marijuana Overdose).
The drug decriminalization policy in Portugal had positive effects on their citizens. Portugal had legalized heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, and other drugs. Portugal wanted to mainly focus on the decrease in the spread of HIV, deaths, and overcrowding of prisons. After five years, it had shown numbers of decrease in the number of deaths, which “dropped from around 400 to 290 annually” (Vastag). A positive outcome from this policy is that those who were addicts who either ended up on the streets or in prisons are getting more attention and care; instead of going to prisons they are getting the help they are needing. Those who are involved with “dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged” (Vastag). Meaning as in these people that are still incarcerated and have fines to pay for. Decriminalizing marijuana in the united states will have positive effects on our citizens. We need to do more than just incarcerating people for small drug convictions.
Many people who are opposed to decriminalizing marijuana will continue to believe that marijuana is a gateway drug or that it is worse than alcohol or tobacco. Not only those thoughts are crossing people’s minds every day, but they will also think that it will bring nothing but worse things to people who use marijuana. Society needs to know how marijuana can have a positive effect on a person’s wellbeing. There are numerous facts and studies that prove that legalizing marijuana can benefit tax revenues, health care community, reduce the overcrowding of prisons, and create thousands of jobs.
