Marijuana is one of the illegal drugs used in America and other countries as well. According to research done internationally it is evident that more than seventy million people in the United States have made use of marijuana (Wagner 231). Although many people have used and are using marijuana, there is no proof that anyone has ever been spoiled by smoking marijuana.
Like other drugs that have been abused by people, marijuana does not affect people and their thinking capabilities. To some extent, I have a strong believe that marijuana should be made legal as it is not harmful as most of people tend to think, human beings should be allowed to live life the way they want, as long as they are not causing harm to themselves or to other people.
In 1960s and 70s, marijuana was very commonly used in the united states, as most of people thought of it as a harmless drug. Later, the government and its officials started seeing marijuana as a harmful drug that should never be used by people. Through their ideas, they introduced a law of marijuana Act in 1937 that was meant to prohibit the use of marijuana fully (Bermwin 169).
The most disappointing idea about the congress accepting this law was that there was no background information to support the harmfulness of smoking marijuana. It was evident that he accepted the enactment of the law without enough information to support the decision.
To some extent, people were still left with the idea that smoking marijuana is not a harmful incident. In addition to the people’s thought about marijuana was that, it has both pros and cons. Most of people claim to make use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and others for reasons of entertainment (Barnabas 318). The fiber of the marijuana plant has also some values as they are used in industries to make papers, fuel, in food production industries, as well as in production of fibers.
There was a time when George Washington encouraged people of America to make some efforts of planting the marijuana seeds to reap those benefits at the end. This idea was eradicated by the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, which now people of America want it removed and have freedom in usage of marijuana (Mounter 263). People have a strong supporting point of claiming that if marijuana has been used for than 5ooo years in medical; field, what would make it harmful now.
In early 1970s, there was a positive move towards legalizing the use of marijuana, when eleven states allowed the possession of small amounts of that drug. Currently, more than thirty six states have allowed the usage of marijuana with their citizens especially for medical purposes (Cowan 45).
The reason that has facilitated this move in various states is because of the information that is collected in most of the medical fields that, through using marijuana, it is possible for one to relive pain and nausea. For the people who have a family history of cancer, when they make use of marijuana there is a high likelihood of deactivating the growth of breast lumps that are cancerous.
For the patients who are suffering from stroke, the use of marijuana protects their brain cells from being badly affected. Other health illnesses that are cured by smoking marijuana are AIDS, glaucoma, monthly period complications, and stress. Scientists have also made some efforts to prove that smoking marijuana is not as harmful as most of people think of it (Gagnon 21).
Scientists have given people some evident that marijuana has very little or no addiction at all to the users, and imposes a very little capability for abuse by the users. Now the question arises from this idea of why marijuana should be categorized in the same group with harmful drugs such as LSD, cocaine, and heroine.
In 1996, there was still another positive move towards making marijuana a legal drug. During this period, there was an introduction of a medical marijuana law to cover the patients and caregivers incase they are found in possession or in use of marijuana. This was allowed for serious medical illnesses where the people concerned may cultivate or either posses the drug with written recommendation of a physician.
This law later proved to be confusing as patients who were caught in possession of such drug was arrested and given the same treatment that criminal were given. For instance, there was a serious case when a patient in United States by name Todd McCormick, who was advised by his physician to make use of marijuana to relieve pain and nausea, was arrested when caught in possession of the drug (Gagnon 22).
He was a cancer patient covered by the medical marijuana law, but this did not prohibit the central government officials from arresting him. As part of his judgment, the central government prohibited the cancer patient the use of marijuana, although he confessed how the drug assisted him in the recovery process.
Despite the efforts of the people of California to fight for the medical law of marijuana to cover the patients, and their care givers, the federal government officials did not respect the law, as they used to arrest people according to their personal perceptions. This was a great sign of injustice. It’s a proposal from everyone to the research bodies to provide enough evident to the federal government to prove that marijuana should be removed from the category of such harmful drugs such as cocaine and heroine.
It is evident that no one has ever died due to the use of marijuana. Annually, the world records death of millions of people out of excess usage of alcohol and tobacco. These two are known to be causes of cancer through destruction of bronchial, liver and kidneys (Wagner 305). They are assumed to be legal drugs though they are very addictive and are causes of deaths every day.
In addition to their harmfulness, they don’t have any medical use to the citizens. Another question arises as to why marijuana has a bad name, and yet it is not addictive and has more uses in addition to medical purposes. It is claimed that while marijuana smokers are at their homes relaxing, the alcohol consumers are in fights, and others driving carelessly causing deaths to themselves and to innocent people. For the world to be fair to everyone, the prohibition of marijuana should be terminated through the government approval (Barnabas 213).
The Federal Drug Administration should also put its efforts to provide people with information that marijuana is not harmful to their health, but rather a medicine to some serious health complications.
The three possible ways through which people can acquire approval from Federal Drug Administration is one, through marketing marijuana as an herbal drug, an act that does not call for approval from FDA (Wagner 35). The only way that would make it pass through and become acceptable is by demonstrating functionality to the people. The fact that marijuana was sold over the counter before the Tax Act law in 1937 would prove to people that it was safe and effective.
The most important part of legalizing the use of marijuana is by the government providing a designated area where the growth of medical marijuana can take place. For instance, in Netherlands there is such a place where a green house is constructed to facilitate the growth of marijuana purposely for pharmaceuticals use.
Instead of prohibiting the use of marijuana for unknown reasons, the government should be concentrating on introducing the use of greenhouse for marijuana growth, which would be an initiative for approval across the board. It is very expensive for the government to prohibit the use of marijuana, as it uses approximately 15 billion dollars to enforce the same.
In conclusion, It is the high time for countries in the world to make the use of marijuana legal, the initiative of California people to want it legal represents the desire of other people globally. As we are sure that the government is here to serve its people, the desire of the people is to have marijuana use legalized for the benefit of the sick people, and those who need entertainment (Gagnon 13).
Just in the same manner that Christians and Muslims instruct their followers to take wine, some religious beliefs like Hindu and Rastafarians instruct their followers to take marijuana. The government should save that money it uses in prohibiting the use of marijuana as it has no proved harm to the users. Legalizing marijuana would be a one great step of making this world a better place to live for every one a world without pain.
Works Cited
Barnabas, John. Marijuana. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Bermwin, Jane. Legalization of Marijuana. Michigan: Cengage Learning, 2006.
Cowan, Richard. “Important and outrageous Cases.” 10 January 2005. Marijuana News. 10 August 2011.
Gagnon, Louise. “Marijuana Less Harmful than Cigarettes.” 9 June 2007. Marijuana. 10 August 2011.
Mounter, Jessica. Move towards legalizing Marijuana. Michigan: Routledge, 2004.
Wagner, James. Why marijuana should be Legalized. New York: Thunders Mouth Press, 2009.
Cowan, Richard. “Important and Outrageous Cases.” 1998. Online. Marijuana News. 11 April 1998. Web.
Gagnon, Louise. “Marijuana Less Harmful Than Cigarettes.” 1994. Online. 6 Sept. 1994. Web.