The Decriminalization Of Marijuana

The debate whether medical marijuana should be legalized or not has divided our country. There are many governmental aspects that have to be taken into reasoning, when making federal decisions. However, before America was even discovered, many other countries around the world used marijuana completely for its healing powers, and medical measures. There are both pros and cons to this situation. Legalizing marijuana has the opportunity to cure many different illnesses patients may have. Currently, within certain states marijuana is legal to buy for the sole purple of medical treatments. Medical marijuana was not always an illegal substance, and because it has a major medical significance, the big debate is if it should be legalized or not. The
There is currently inadequate evidence to verify that decriminalization has an impact on drug use. In the article Decriminalization of Marijuana and the Demand for Alcohol, Marijuana, and Cocaine by Thies stated that, “During the late 1960s and early 1970s, political momentum gathered to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Eventually eleven states did so, these being Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon” (Thies). Legalization of marijuana can possibly lead to research with more powerful drugs in the near future. Decriminalization can also lead to the legalization of even more dangerous drugs, and users have lead to an increase of experimentation with more powerful drugs. Also, Thies stated that, states that had higher crime rate before legalizing marijuana, crime rate was lowered
for pain management. Patients cannot acquire a prescription for medical marijuana because it is still an illegal drug, unless you live in a state where it has been legalized. One of the topics discussed in this article from Up In Smoke includes a data analyst of Darren Forsythe. He had experienced suffering from muscle spasms, severe pain, and decided to use medical marijuana to help his circumstances. “In 1942 the drug was removed from the U.S. Dispensatory, a federal list of approved medications. Congress classified it as a Schedule I substance in 1970” (Up). That means that marijuana is in the same category as heroin, and other drugs that have a higher potential for drug abuse. Marijuana is different from many other pharmaceutical drugs that scientist are capable of studying, this is because, “The plant has more than 400 distinct chemical compounds, including about 70 different cannabinoids (chemicals that help produce the "high"), compared with just one or two active ingredients for most FDA-approved drugs” (Up). This is the main reason why medical marijuana is not FDA approved, it has too many components to find out all of the effects it may cause on a patient. Until there is more-depth research done to figure out if this plant is considered safe or not, marijuana will continue to be illegal among many states in the U.S. Therefore, even though a few states have already legalized