vern

Marijuana Legalization
Marijuana comes from the Cannabis Sativa plant. Marijuana’s use has been documented for over 5,000 years (Young 2). There are approximately 300 million users worldwide and 28 million users in the United States (Diaz). Marijuana has a wide range of names. It can be called grass, weed, pot, reefer, bud and chronic. Marijuana contains Tetrahydrocannabinol (also called THC), a psychoactive drug which produces many effects. The effects can include: dry mouth, hunger, red eyes, euphoria, relaxation, reduced blood pressure, sleepiness, distorted perception of time and space and disruption in the ability to pay attention. Marijuana has also been said to help cancer and AIDS patients. It can help reduce nausea and increase appetite. People suffering from glaucoma have said that marijuana helps reduce pressure in their eyes. Marijuana has never killed anyone, yet it is often viewed as a dangerous and addictive drug. Tobacco and alcohol on the other hand killed over 500,000 people in the year 2000 (Mokadad). Despite these high death tolls, tobacco and alcohol remain legal, with marijuana arrests rising every year.

Marijuana became illegal in 1937 with the passage of the marihuana tax stamp act. Henry J. Aslinger was the first Commissioner of the Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was appointed by Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon. Aslinger used the media to warn the public about this dangerous drug. He used outrageous claims, saying that marijuana would turn you into a cold blooded murderer. Marijuana was called the “assassin of youth,” even though it had never killed anyone. Marijuana is now illegal under the Controlled Substance Act. Cannabis is listed as a schedule I drug, meaning it has high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use and is not safe under medical supervision (Drug Abuse Prevention).

When discussing legalization of marijuana, it is often said that if legalized, it will send bad messages to the youth. As I have stated previously alcohol and tobacco killed 500,000 people in the year 2,000. If these drugs kill so many, how is it not sending bad messages to our children? Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aspirin killed 7,600 in the year 2,000 (Hoyert). Aspirin could be found in almost any household and each year it kills more than marijuana. To overdose on marijuana a user would have to consume around 1,500 hundred pounds in just 15 minutes. Practically speaking, there is no way to consume a lethal dose because of drug toxicity. Another way to determine if a drug is safe is to look at its therapeutic ratio. The ratio tells us what an effective dose is and what dose will produce adverse effects. Aspirin has a therapeutic ratio of 1:20. Two pills are the recommended dose for adults. 20 times the recommended dose, 40 pills, can produce a lethal reaction. If death is not an effect of the 40 pills, it would certainly cause internal injures such as stomach bleeding. The common therapeutic ratio for prescribed drugs is 1:10. Meaning if someone were to take 10 times the recommended dose, they could die. Marijuana’s therapeutic ratio is so high it is impossible to determine (Young 6). As you can see marijuana is less toxic than most commonly used and prescribed medicines.

People often wonder how dangerous marijuana is to a person’s body. Studies have shown that marijuana tar has more chemicals and is more harmful than cigarette smoke. An easy way to avoid toxins is to vaporize. A vaporizer heats up an herb, such as marijuana, to a temperature that is below the combustion temperature. Vaporizers heat up THC to its boiling point to release a vapor. Smoking marijuana can give off unwanted chemicals like carbon monoxide. A University of California San Francisco study showed that carbon monoxide levels increased very little or not at all with the use of a vaporizer. This showed that there was almost no exposure to harmful combustion products. Using a vaporizer gives you healthy, effective, easy to control dose. Eating marijuana is even safer for your body, since there are no carcinogens produced. Since it is eaten orally, the lungs remain unaffected. The negative side of eating marijuana is that you have to use approximately 3 times the amount you would normally use for smoking. Dosage can also be hard to control when orally ingesting marijuana. The effects can take hours to set on and can be stronger than the desired effect. When inhaling marijuana by means of vaporization or smoking, the effects set on within minutes. One hit of marijuana will peak after about 10 minutes, so dosage is very easy to control. Vaporization was preferred over smoking by patients in the University of California study. They stated vaporizing produced the least amount of side effects and was the most efficient. Most patients say that smoking marijuana is far superior to the synthetic pill, Marinol. They claim the effects of Marinol are not as effective and the cost is much higher. Marinol only contains THC, one of the many cannabinoids that can help terminally ill patients (Marijuana Vaporizer). Vaporization should be used by all marijuana users; it is effective yet it does not produce the unwanted chemicals when marijuana is smoked.

Since marijuana can be used safely by means of vaporization, it can be used effectively as a medicine for a verity of reasons. Marijuana was found to help 78 percent of cancer patients in one study. The patients said the marijuana helped stop the nausea caused by chemotherapy. A survey conducted in 1990 found that 44 percent of cancer doctors had recommended marijuana to at least one of their patients (Stiefell). Many physicians, some engaged in medical practices and others teaching in medical schools, have accepted marijuana as an effective method of reducing severe nausea and vomiting. These physicians include psychiatrists, board-certified internists and oncologists. Oncology is the study of the treatment of cancer through the use of toxic chemicals. Patients going through chemotherapy often lose large and unhealthy amounts of weight. After smoking marijuana the patients gain an appetite and eat more often. If they are able to keep weight, they retain their strength and they are more able to fight cancer. Psychologically, patients who have been able to eat and maintain strength keep a balanced outlook and are more capable of coping with their disease and the treatments (Young 10). People suffering from AIDS have found that marijuana stimulates their appetite. This prevents “wasting syndrome,” weight loss that is so severe it can be fatal. Patients suffering from glaucoma claim that marijuana reduced pressure in their eyes and stopped them from going blind. Epileptic seizures have also been prevented from marijuana use. Marijuana use reduced pain from migraine headaches. People suffering from multiple sclerosis said marijuana alleviated the muscular tremors and paralysis caused by MS (Stiefell). If marijuana can be so helpful to ill patients, they should be able to use marijuana medicinally. The thing most doctors fear is that the harmful smoke will cause the sick to become sicker. As I stated previously, with the use of vaporizers, the harmful combustion byproducts are hardly present or not present at all.

In 1985 the government legalized a synthetic THC pill called Marinol. It was made to help relieve the nausea associated with chemotherapy. It was also made to help AIDS patients who had lost their appetite. Unfortunately, patients say Marinol doesn’t always work. People who are suffering from nausea have a hard time keeping a pill down if they are vomiting. Since Marinol contains only 1 of the chemicals in marijuana, patients say that it does not give them the same relief as using marijuana (Stiefell 1997). Also because Marinol is a pill, its effects can take longer to set on. When marijuana is inhaled, the effects are felt within minutes. With the use of a vaporizer, an ill patient could get the medicinal benefits of marijuana without the dangers of smoking.

Marijuana is not as addictive as other legal drugs such as caffeine, alcohol or tobacco. Because marijuana is not physically addictive users usually only experience minor withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can include boredom, headaches and a lessened appetite. Physical withdrawal symptoms can include, vomiting shaking and a craving for the drug (Stiefell).

Marijuana has been illegal since the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The war on drugs has been going on for many years. More and more people are being arrested and charges for marijuana every year. There is a lot of controversy as to whether people who smoke marijuana should be punished for it. Since the only victim of the crime is the user, no one else is harmed. In a message to congress on August 2nd, 1977, President Jimmy Carter said "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use.” In 2005, 786,545 people were arrested for marijuana violations. This is the most arrests ever recorded by the FBI (Crime in the United States). If the war on drugs ended our money could be spent in more important issues, such as: education, the AIDS epidemic, world hunger and new technology to conserve energy and find new sources of energy.

If marijuana was legalized the government could tax it just like alcohol and cigarettes. $7.7 billion dollars was collected from the tobacco excise tax in the 2006 fiscal year (Cigarette Excise Taxes). The legalization of marijuana would boost the economy and produce tax revenue for important world issues. The war on drugs has put millions of people in jail. An estimated 28 million people use marijuana in the United States (Diaz). Do we need to arrest all them to stop the problem? This would only cost us more money to jail these people. Drug use has not gone down since the war on drugs started. The government uses more and more money every year to arrest more people. If marijuana were legalized, we could control who is able to buy and sell it; just like tobacco and alcohol. It would keep it out of the hands of our youth and put black market drug dealers out of business. The only way to win the war on drugs is to make drugs go away completely. With drugs being illegal, the criminal decides what drugs are going to be sold, how much they are going to cost, how potent they are and who they are going to sell to. Drug dealers don’t card like gas stations and liquor stores, if there is money to be made, they will sell.

We did not have illegal drug in America until 1914 until the government passed the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. Before 1914 the government said that 1.3 percent of the population was addicted to drugs. In 1970, when the war on drugs started, there was 1.3 percent of the population addicted to drugs. After more 36 years of fighting drugs, billions of dollars, and millions of people jailed, we still have 1.3 percent of the population addicted to drugs. Drug legalization would mean 1.6 million people wouldn’t be arrested every year. 69 billion dollars is spent every year on the war on drugs (LEAP). Imagine if that was spent on other issues that I have previously mentioned.

People will use drugs regardless if they are legal or not. Marijuana use remains at the same level regardless of the increasing drug enforcement. There has been no detectable relationship between enforcement and levels of marijuana use (J. Morgan). People fear that legalization of marijuana would cause more people to use it. A study was done proving this to be false. The study found that people who live under decriminalization laws use marijuana less than or about the same as people who live in areas where marijuana is a criminal offense (Single). A survey conducted by the Nation Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that 34 percent of teens said the marijuana is easier to attain than alcohol or tobacco. More than one-third of the teens said they could get marijuana within a few hours. Teens have an easier time buying illegal substances because they are not regulated. (Regulation of Marijuana)If we can regulate who can buy, what they’re buying and how much their buying, we would have a much better chance at keeping drugs out of the hands of our youth, we could gain revenue from the drugs and we could reduce violent crime related to drugs.

The cannabis sativa plant produces marijuana but it can also produce hemp. Hemp is a natural fiber that is strong and nutritional. Only 15 states currently have a hemp industry. Hemp does not contain any THC or very little compared to marijuana plants. Hemp is grown to produce long fibers. Paper, rope canvas and clothing can all be made from hemp fibers. Hemp oil can be made from hemp seeds. The seeds have a high nutritional value and have many cosmetic uses such as: lotions, soaps, massage oils, hair products, lip balm and salves. These products have been shown to be beneficial for skin and hair. The oil can also be used as a base for paints, detergents, non-toxic diesel fuels and printing inks. Hemp clothing is very strong, warm, rugged and absorbent. Hemp fibers can last up to 3 times longer than cotton fiber. Hemp fibers do not stretch as much as any other natural fiber, making them more durable and less likely to become distorted after rugged use. What makes hemp different from other clothing is that the more you use it, the softer it becomes (Uses of Hemp). Hemp products could be used more often with the legalization of marijuana. The hemp plant is very cheap and easy to grow and it can replace other fibers that are not as strong or nutritional.

If legalized, marijuana could help many ill patients suffering from diseases. Legalization would allow us to control who can get marijuana, how much they can get and how potent it is. Francis Young, once a DEA administrative judge stated that “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." If people don’t believe a Drug Enforcement Agency administrative judge, who will they believe? Marijuana can be used in a vaporizer to eliminate potentially dangerous chemicals. With the legalization of marijuana, we could stop spending billions of dollars a year on fighting the war on drugs. Taxes on marijuana would gain even more money to use on more important, and preventable, issues. Hemp products could be utilized to their full potential, saving other resources. Whether legal or illegal, people will continue to use marijuana for spiritual, medicinal and recreational reasons. Instead of putting these users behind bars, we could allow them to lead normal lives. Marijuana smokers are every where; they are lawyers, the elderly, teachers, doctors, ill patients, scientists and students. They cause no harm to anyone and should not be arrested or punished for using a medicinal, spiritual and relaxing herb.











Works Cited

“Crime in the United States 2005.” U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation. September 2006. 17 October 2007.
<http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/arrests/index.html>.
Diaz, J. How Drugs Influence Behavior. A Neuro-Behavioral Approach, Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall, 1997. 17 October 2007.
Hoyert, Donna L., Heron, Melonie P., Murphy, Sherry L., Kung, Hsiang-Ching.
Division of Vital Statistics, "Deaths: Final Data for 2003," National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 54, No. 13 (Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, April 19, 2006), p. 10. 15 October 2007.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Videotape. Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2006.
“Modeling the Federal Revenue Effects of Proposed Changes in Cigarette Excise Taxes.”
Joint Committee on Taxation. October 19, 2007. 20 October 2007.
<http://www.house.gov/jct/x-101-07.pdf>.
Mokdad, Ali H., James S. Marks, Donna F. Stroup, Julie L. Gerberding.
"Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000," Journal of the American Medical Association, March 10, 2004, Vol. 291, No. 10, pp. 1238, 1241. 15 October 2007.
Morgan, J. and Zimmer L.. 1997. Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence. The Lindesmith Center: New York, 46.
“National Drug Control Strategy.” Office of National Drug Control Policy. February 2003. 17 October 2007.
<http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/04budget/index.html>
“Regulation of Marijuana Would Likely Result in Reduced Teen Use, Columbia University Survey Says.” The Associated Press. August 20th, 2002. 17 October 2007.
Special Release: Regulation Of Marijuana Would Likely Result In Reduced Teen Use, Columbia University Survey Says - NORML.
Single, E. et al. 2000. The Impact of Cannabis Decriminalization in Australia and the United States. Journal of Public Health Policy 21: 157-186.
Stiefell, Chana Freiman. "Marijuana on the ballot: should a menacing drug treat some chronically ill patients?" Science World 53.n10 (Feb 21, 1997): 8(3). General OneFile. Gale. Inver Hills Community College Library. 16 Oct. 2007
Sullum, Jacob. "America's biggest cash crop (Data)(marijuana)(Brief article)." Reason 38.11 (April 2007): 10(1). General OneFile. Gale. Inver Hills Community College Library. 23 Oct. 2007
</ips/start.do?prodId=IPS>.
“The Many Uses of Hemp.” Hemptons. April 3rd, 2007. 20 October 2007.
< http://www.hemptons.co.za/Uses/HempUses.htm>.
“TITLE 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS CHAPTER 13 - DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL.” Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). 17 October 2007. <http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/csa.html>.
University of California - San Francisco. "Marijuana Vaporizer Provides Same Level Of THC, Fewer Toxins, Study Shows." ScienceDaily 16 May 2007. 15 October 2007 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070515151145.htm>
Young, Francis L. “Marijuana Rescheduling Petition, Opinion and Recommended Ruling, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision of Administrative Law Judge.” Excerpt from U.S. Federal Court Decision in the Case of
Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, et al., vs. US Drug Enforcement Administration (IRS). Docket No. 86-22. September 6, 1988.



Thanks for reading if you made it this far, I would appreciate some feedback on this.

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Darkflan

Not bad. But, you should make the opening a bit more interesting You need a story or an anecdote to open with.

I wrote a similar paper and this was the opening quote
" I send my 14 year old son to school everyday with pot in his backpack" It was a mom talking about her son who uses MJ for Chrons disease.

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vvicked0471

I would definitely try and get something a little more interesting for the opening, something to catch your readers attention. Also I would re think advocating the legalization of all drugs in a paper about the legalization of marijuana. This is already a touchy subject for a lot of people so you could very well turn the reader (and more importantly your professor) off by suggesting we legalize drugs such as crack, heroin, meth, and several other extremely addictive and harmful substances. You can still use the stats about the percentage of the population addicted to drugs to show prohibition does not work, but if it were me I would cut out the part that is bold...

vern

Legalizing drugs would make them much harder to obtain. Studies show that it's easier to find weed than alcohol (if your underage). Why? Because drug dealers don't check I.D.s. The war on drugs cannot and will not be won. In order to win, drugs would have to be completely eliminated and no one could be addicted to any drug, how would that ever happen?

vvicked0471

I understand why it is easier to get weed as a kid than alcohol, as I was it was easier for me to get when I was underage, and whats more, I never said it wasnt. You asked for input and I gave you some.

In my opinion the section that I had in bold should be left out. You are writing a paper about legalizing marijuana, not all drugs. So that section is a little off topic. Not only that, but like I said the first time, you are very likely to turn off your reader by making such a suggestion. The object of writing a paper such as yours is to convince your reader of your point. If you say something as drastic as "we should legalize and regulate all drugs" you stand a good chance of making the reader instantly oppose your argument. People are, for the most part, judgmental and close minded. So you have to tread carefully when making your case for the legalization of marijuana, advocating the legalization of drugs that can easily kill you is a good way to have the reader just write your paper off as trash...

chris659

hey i read your paper and please dont think im trying to be an asshole or anything but if its a high school paper than great! but if your object is to convince your reader that the legalization of marijuana should happen or youre writing this for any grade level above high school then i would reconsider your paper in its entirety.
i actually joined this website as a member because i read your paper under my roommates screen name and wanted to share my input.
basically, your paper is too factual and redundant to keep anyones attention, not counting the many grammatical errors along with it.
again, please do not take me as being an ass, you asked for input and thats what im trying to do. i can either point out what i feel should be changed on this forum or you can email me and i will be more than happy to further help you.

vern

Too factual? Well it is a research paper. What do you think I should change?

chris659

well it just seems that youre throwing alot of facts out there and you do it over and over with the same facts.
you didnt touch alot of important things like:
how it is falsely labeled the gateway drug
how anslinger used racism to fuel his fight with marijuana
how he used big companies to fuel his fight against pot (ex: DuPont because they were pushing nylon, paper mill pushing wood paper, cotton, tabacco, prescription pill companies) which is essentially supressing a superior product off the market. let alone hemp can also be used to replace plastics, some forms of metal, etc.
how there was no real reason for including hemp into the prohibition other than influence from said companies. reason? looks different than pot, will reduce the potency of pot if grown near, and will pretty much not get you high.
go green is the new slogan, right? well how about the fact that we could use hemp as paper (like the constitution was written on) vs from trees. more hemp per acre vs trees hence more productive (per grow season)
you never even brought up amsterdams success and history of no or little criminal charges for possession or personal use.
how every day the gov't kills our citizens future with the insane criminal charges for possession. they could endure heavy court/lawyer fees, have housing rights taken away, have children taken away, permanent record, lose their drivers license, same time served as hard drugs usually, etc etc etc
you want more?

macphearsome

I'm also curious to know what sort of class this paper is for. I didn't read all of the paper but as many people said before me, the opening definitely needs work.

1) there isn't an interest catcher - try to identify a current event, or maybe an IMPORTANT fact (something like, how many people are jailed each year), or identify an opposite stance to yours. Make this interest-catcher your first sentence.

2) the rest of the first paragraph seems like a bunch of random facts. get rid of them. get to the point

3) YOU DON'T HAVE A THESIS STATEMENT - this is the most important thing in a paper! there should be a sentence at the very end of your first paragraph (for a paper this size, anyways) that outlines your argument, in parts. "Marijuana should be legalized because XXX, YYY, ZZZ" and then make a paragraph (or more if necessary) for each of those points.

I didn't read the rest of your paper, but that's because the introduction paragraph completely precludes further reading. It must be fixed.


..and sorry if this seemed harsh but better criticism from peers than professors, right?

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Pompo

Ok Vern, but remember you asked
I'm thinking this isn't a final draft. I found it a good start and it will be much better as you edit and re-edit it before you submit the final draft

You might try to work something about this into this paragraph somewhere
College physicians argue for legalization of medicinal marijuana.
Doctor group endorses Medical Marijuana. If I remember right they have 120,000 members ( you might want to check that figure for accuracy, just to be sure )
Anyway just a thought, hope it helps Vern