The Unanswered Question

– The Legalization Of Marijuana Essay, Research Paper

One question that has haunted Americans for a long time is: ? Should the use of marijuana be legalized?? Some say, ?Yes?, while others say, ?No?. Owning marijuana was made a crime in 1937 when Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. Despite this law the drug was still somewhat commonly used. Here we are years later, still without a satisfactory answer to the question. I think that legalizing the use of marijuana would have many medical benefits, economical benefits, and would decrease the incidence of crime.

There are others who disagree. These people feel that legalization would lead to the formation of other habits and to health problems, such as, the use of a harsher drug and to psychological and personality problems that can come from using marijuana. These individuals feel that the negatives of marijuana use far outweigh the positives, and feel that the use of marijuana should remain illegal.

To some people marijuana is considered a ?gateway? drug. Legalizing marijuana would lead to the use of other, much more harsh drugs. From the book Drugs, Teens, and Recovery Lauren a teenager that got mixed up in drugs describes how she got involved with marijuana, then with cocaine. She says, ?I was ten, in the fifth grade, the first time I smoked pot. I liked pot a lot better than drinking because it was easier. I loved it. Pot and alcohol, that?s all I needed. I didn?t want to get into anything else?. She continues, ?About this time, I started getting obsessed with cocaine and thinking about what the high would be like?. Just like Lauren people can start off with just smoking marijuana but they would get the urge to try something a little bit stronger.

Legalizing marijuana will cause Americans to suffer from psychological and personality problems. According to Elizabeth Scheichert, who is the author of Marijuana, The Drug Library, THC is the active chemical in marijuana that causes the user to feel ?high?. This is also the chemical that is most destructive to the user?s body and mind. The THC from smoking one marijuana cigarette can accumulate in the user?s body fat and stay there for weeks at a time. Smoking marijuana causes a lack of motivation, ambition, and creativity. Many user?s lose interest in life and become very lazy. People who use marijuana often find it very difficult to concentrate on anything more challenging than television. Marijuana causes a decreased attention span and feelings of isolation. High school and college students who are regular users of marijuana find themselves to be struggling with inner turmoil, feeling depressed, scared, and having very low self-esteem. To a frequent user, time and surroundings become constantly distorted, causing judgment, logical thinking, and memory to become impaired. Frequent users of marijuana struggle with having two completely different personalities. In Drugs, Teens, and Recovery, Lauren explains this to us as, ?I have two separate personalities: one that can act perfectly straight, one that wants to get trashed. I can talk to jocks, brains, and drug addicts equally easily? (63). Smoking marijuana will have many negative psychological and personality effects on those who choose to smoke it.

Marijuana usage has many medical benefits. It became popular as a medicine in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century. Then, marijuana was used to treat general headaches, migraine headaches, depression, muscular tension, insomnia, and menstrual cramps. Today, marijuana has proven to be beneficial in the treatment of many more medical conditions including glaucoma, cancer, and asthma. In 1976, Robert C. Randall became the very first American to ever gain legal access to marijuana for medical purposes. In Marijuana, The Patients? Fight for Medical Pot, he describes how marijuana helped him through his battle with glaucoma, ?Marijuana has helped control it. Marijuana is helping me to save my eyesight? (14). Marijuana has helped Mr. Randall in his fight with glaucoma, and has the potential to aid in the treatment of many other medical situations. Another person that has gotten relief from marijuana is Myron Lindey. Lindey was suffering from cancer in the bladder before he started to use marijuana for his condition he was constantly losing weight. With the help of marijuana he was able to gain some weight as stated in the article ?Myron Lindey, backed medicinal use of marijuana? he states, ?It helped me to gain weight that the cancer had ate away?. He also says, ? I never smoked marijuana before my cancer and I haven?t smoked it since. But I firmly believe that when I need it, it saved my life?. Marijuana also helps people who has AIDS Charles Wynott suffers from AIDS. He smokes marijuana everyday to ease the wringing nausea imposed by his medicines. These two cases shows that marijuana is a help to people who needs it. Marijuana is legal in one state for medical purposes only. In 1996, voters in California approved a law that relaxes regulations on medical marijuana. The federal government cannot take action against California doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.

Legalizing the use of marijuana has many economical benefits. Ethan Nadelman, an assistant professor of politics and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University wrote in the book Drug Abuse, Opposing