Mrs. Kimberly Mori
ENGL 1301
3 December 2014
Marijuana Legalization:
The Advantages of Legalizing the Natural Herb Marijuana, an herb with over two hundred common names including weed, pot, and bud, is a mixture of green and brown dried shredded leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. Marijuana may be used for recreational and medical use as a psychoactive substance. It contains a chemical called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). When marijuana smoke is inhaled, THC passes through the lungs, bloodstream, and other organs in the body, including the brain. Marijuana has many benefits that general Americans are unaware of, and with this in mind, marijuana should be legalized. There are several reasons for this. First marijuana should be legal due to its helpfulness in treating cancer patients and chronic diseases. Secondly, there is no reason why alcohol and cigarettes should be legal and marijuana should not be. Finally, marijuana does not cause physical addiction. The use of marijuana can be very beneficial to a wide variety of people with cancer and other chronic diseases. Consumers that would benefit from use of marijuana are chemotherapy patients that have side effects like nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. Others that have the side effects using marijuana include people with HIV, Multiple Sclerosis, Glaucoma, Muscle spasms, seizures, severe pain, severe nausea, dramatic weight loss and muscle atrophy. Marijuana has helped so many people with these conditions including a 46 year old in San Francisco who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She stated “Marijuana is the only thing that keeps me from giving up entirely… All I know is that it works for me. It keeps me alive so I can enjoy my grandchildren… Sometimes the pain is so unbearable. It keeps me from wanting to kill myself…” (Chon 1) The proof of marijuana being beneficial of legalization is in the text above. But employees that work for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the