Legalizing Medical Marijuana
Legalizing Medical Marijuana
The debate over whether to legalize marijuana has been one of the most controversial issues dividing courts, the federal government, state governments, and voters. In 1996, Arizona and California voters overwhelmingly approved the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Propositions 200 and 215 represented a dramatic shift from a previously united federal and state front against illegal drugs to one where state governments and voters are now at odds with the federal government over the medical use of controlled substances. Rather than focusing on how to improve and maintain the long-standing war on drugs, the policy issue has now become; who controls America’s drug laws, courts, the federal government, state governments, or the voters? In addition, the legalization of marijuana poses other questions; does legalizing marijuana undermine the seemingly endless federal war on drugs by moving towards greater tolerance of marijuana and other drugs? Is more research necessary to determine the benefits or hazardous effects of marijuana? Would legalizing marijuana open the floodgates to legalizing other controlled substances such as heroin or LSD? This paper analyzes and examines. The history of marijuana legalization and prohibition. The arguments for and against legalizing marijuana. This paper concludes by recommending that before marijuana is legalized for medical use there needs to be more testing to improve our knowledge and understanding of marijuana. The first recorded use of marijuana as medicine was in a Chinese pharmacopoeia in 2727 B.C. The cornerstone of drug prohibition in the United States was the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 which restricted the use of opiates such as cocaine, heroin, and morphine to medical purposes (Trebach and Inciardi, p. 43). In the United States, marijuana was legal until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 established the federal prohibition of the drug. (Grinspoon;
The debate over whether to legalize marijuana has been one of the most controversial issues dividing courts, the federal government, state governments, and voters. In 1996, Arizona and California voters overwhelmingly approved the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Propositions 200 and 215 represented a dramatic shift from a previously united federal and state front against illegal drugs to one where state governments and voters are now at odds with the federal government over the medical use of controlled substances. Rather than focusing on how to improve and maintain the long-standing war on drugs, the policy issue has now become; who controls America’s drug laws, courts, the federal government, state governments, or the voters? In addition, the legalization of marijuana poses other questions; does legalizing marijuana undermine the seemingly endless federal war on drugs by moving towards greater tolerance of marijuana and other drugs? Is more research necessary to determine the benefits or hazardous effects of marijuana? Would legalizing marijuana open the floodgates to legalizing other controlled substances such as heroin or LSD? This paper analyzes and examines. The history of marijuana legalization and prohibition. The arguments for and against legalizing marijuana. This paper concludes by recommending that before marijuana is legalized for medical use there needs to be more testing to improve our knowledge and understanding of marijuana. The first recorded use of marijuana as medicine was in a Chinese pharmacopoeia in 2727 B.C. The cornerstone of drug prohibition in the United States was the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 which restricted the use of opiates such as cocaine, heroin, and morphine to medical purposes (Trebach and Inciardi, p. 43). In the United States, marijuana was legal until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 established the federal prohibition of the drug. (Grinspoon;
References: Grinspoon, Lester. Medical Marihuana in a Time of Prohibition. International Journal of Drug Policy, April, 1999. Trebach, Arnold S. and Inciardi, James A. Legalize It? Debating American Drug Policy. The American University Press, Washington, DC. 1993. http://my.marijuana.com http://www.cnn.com/health/9702/weed.wars/issues/focus/index.html