LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN THE UNITED STATES

Legalizing Marijuana in the United States
Breylon Taylor
Virginia College, Charleston

Abstract
The debate of legalizing medicinal marijuana in all fifty United States is very crucial for the lives of Americans suffering with life-threatening illnesses and diseases. Representatives in government are at odds on this matter. Representatives that are for legalizing marijuana recognize that the pros outweigh the cons of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purpose. The opposing representatives debates marijuana negative effects on an individual’s health and effects on the economy overshadows its benefits. These negative effects are less than those of alcohol and tobacco, which are legal. If Marijuana is made legal in each state, individuals that are medically in need of this alternative treatment will be able to go through life a little more comfortable with fewer side effects of its alternative therapeutic options.

Legalizing Marijuana in the United States
Weed, Reefer, Mary Jane, Bhudda, Ganja, Pot, Kush, Cannabis, and Dro are all names used to refer to marijuana. No matter what you call it, it is making headline news. Government is in a plight to do what is right by the Americans suffering from life-threatening illness or diseases; however they are tripping over themselves with the politics of the effects legalizing marijuana will have. Americans with these illnesses or diseases are discovering that marijuana can be a therapeutic option for them; however the United States Government is not sure that the pros outweigh the cons. Marijuana was once a legal substance in the United States, but because it was found cause dependency, the government began to consider its use more carefully. In 1942, marijuana was eventually removed from the US Pharmacopeia causing the legality of pharmaceutical use to be eliminated. Alcohol and tobacco over time have proven to have dependency and negative effects on the economy. Marijuana has more positive reasons to become legalized than negative; therefore it should be legalized in every state. Marijuana can assist with many symptoms that are caused by certain illnesses and diseases. There have been many instances where the fight against government was proven victorious. These victories played an important role in the legalization of marijuana in the twenty-two states that have legalized its use for medicinal purposes. For example, November 24, 1976 was a day of victory for a Washington, DC man by the name of Robert Randall. A federal Judge James Washington ruled that Randall’s use of marijuana constituted a medical necessity (Schaffer, 1976) Randall was affected with a medical condition called glaucoma. Glaucoma is defined by Henry D. Jampel, MD, MHS of the Glaucoma Research Foundation to be a complicated disease in which damage to the optic nerve leads to progressive, irreversible vision loss (Jampel, 2013). Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. Randall argued that under the Common Law Doctrine of Necessity charges for his use of marijuana should be dropped. Marijuana use for glaucoma patients lowers eye pressure and although Jampel states that marijuana use can cause lung damage, there are alternatives that does not cause said lung damage like tobacco use. The outcome for Randall was his charges being dismissed by the federal judge and the approval of receiving FDA-approved access to government supplies of medical marijuana. Randall was the first to receive marijuana as a treatment for a medical condition.
The perception is that marijuana will cause the economy to fall because every American will find a reason to medicinally use it. This reasoning causes