The Argument of Whether or Not to Legalize Marijuana; Pro Marijuana versus Anti Marijuana Legalization Groups

A pro marijuana web page stated “Fewer than 2 percent of drug-related emergency room visits involved the use of marijuana alone in the year 1994”. Are the correct in saying it is safe, not according to anti marijuana groups. In today’s society, a debate over the legalization of marijuana has been on going. Two divisions have been fighting on this issue on the halls of justice for years: one those who are pro marijuana and those who are anti marijuana.

Pro marijuana legalization groups such as the Physician’s Association for AIDS Care. National Lymphoma Foundation argue marijuana legalization in order to treat terminally ill patients. Among them are AIDS victims who find that marijuana stimulates their appetites. So they can fight off dangerous emaciation; glaucoma sufferers. Who have used marijuana said it has prevented them from going blind. Cancer patients, for whom it alleviates the severe nausea that is often accompanies chemotherapy and sometimes makes lifesaving treatment impossible. Lobbying groups show substantial evidence, that marijuana is an effective prescribed drug. Also, many advocates complain that very dangerous drugs like morphine and cocaine are legal. That brings up the question: why not legalize marijuana as medical drug, which is proven to be less dangerous than cocaine and morphine? Lobbying groups in a San Diego, California and the council committee unanimously voted to urge president Bill Clinton and congress to end federal restrictions against the use of marijuana for “legitimate medical use.” City council women Christine Kehoe said she wanted the city of San Diego “to go on the record we support the medical use marijuana; marijuana can be a drug of necessity in the treatment of AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis.”

Many agencies, which are anti marijuana such as Drug Enforcement Agency and police departments, argue marijuana should not be legalized. These agencies believe that marijuana should not be legalized because if marijuana is to become legal then thousands more patients would be using marijuana. People will raise the question why marijuana illegal at all if its a medicine. The main reason why the Drug Enforcement Agency does not want marijuana to be legal is because there is no hard-core evidence that proves that marijuana is an effective drug as a medicine. In twenty years of research, no reliable scientific proof that marijuana has medical value was produced. The American Cancer Society, American Glaucoma Society, the National Multiple Sclerosis, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, or the American Medical Association, say that there is no evidence that marijuana is a medicine. The agencies also argues that no other drug prescribed is smoked and that knew findings show that marijuana is acutely harmful to AIDS, and Cancer patients because the active ingredient in marijuana acutely reduces the bodies white blood cells which fight off infection. The Drug Enforcement Agency along with police departments all over the United States believe with the legalization of drugs crime will increase due to a higher increase of pot users which eventually become addicts and might steal or kill in order to get their drugs. These are the main points and reasons why the Drug named marijuana is not legalized in the United States of America.

The legalization of marijuana would help people suffering from terminal diseases such as AIDS, Cancer and Glaucoma. Prohibition of marijuana over the past decades has not diminished the demand of the drug in the United States. The use of marijuana has acutely gone up due to the mass attention given to marijuana by rappers such as Cypress Hill who promote the use of marijuana as a social drug. Marijuana, however, is here to stay in our society and is considered to be the next “alcohol.” Due to these factors, marijuana is likely become more widely accepted by the American people who will pressure congress to rewrite the laws on the drug marijuana. Now it is only a matter of time before lobbying groups pressure the legislature to legalize it. Due to legalization, many states will be able to grow marijuana as a cash crop, and the United States government will be able to tax marijuana and make revenue off it. The revenue made from marijuana will be in the millions, which can be used for drug rehabs and anti drug programs targeted at elementary children. Still by seeing both sides of the issue, some are still 100% pro marijuana and believe it to be less harmful than alcohol because “with marijuana you can’t over dose.”

The argument of whether or not to legalize marijuana will be continued for many years by both sides. Neither the pro marijuana nor the anti marijuana side wants to give in and come to a compromise. As like several other political issues it is mainly a debate of opinion not fact.

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