Marijuana Legalization
Gabrielle Ards
Should Medical Marijuana be legalized
Medical Marijuana should be legal because there is a lot of people that need it such as people with PTSD, cancer, HIV/AIDS and tons of other things that are medically wrong. There are tons of other drugs out there that harm you in worse ways than marijuana would ever harm you, these other drugs are made by hand and have a very high amount of chemicals in them and they are very addictive.
What Actually is Marijuana
Marijuana also known as Cannabis, Weed, Pot, Ganja or many many other names the cannabis plant is intended for use as a psychoactive drug or medicine. The main medicinal ingredient of cannabis are called cannabinoids. The Cannabinoid is a unique chemical structure, the most commonly known one is called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the main ingredient that gives you that "high" feeling. There has been more than 70 different cannabinoids have been identified so far. They all have a chemical structure that is much related to THC. Another Cannabinoid is called Cannabidiol (CBD), This ingredient Has shown potent Anti-cancer and anti-psychotic effects.
Medical Marijuana helps...
There are tons of studies that show how many things it can help. In a place that medical marijuana is legal you have to be prescribed it from a doctor and you have to get a 'medical marijuana card' in a article called 'Legal Marijuana Sales in U.S. Hit $5.4 Billion.' by Christine Hauser says some of the kinds of medical conditions you have to have to get one of these medical marijuana cards, "New York's includes cancer, H.I.V./AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Marijuana can relieve nausea, improve appetite and ease painful spasms in those patients. But New York's list also includes Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease and epilepsy... In Illinois, treatment with marijuana, includes Alzheimer's disease, lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, Arnold-Chiari malformation and nail-patella syndrome."
How addictive is marijuana
Some people believe that medical marijuana shouldn't be legal because its addictive in an article called 'What Science Says About Marijuana' by Philip M Boffey states otherwise, "Although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do, according to the study. "But they appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol and nicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on other drugs."'
This shows how "addictive" marijuana is compared to other drugs
Money Money Money
According to Christine Hauser in her article, "Legal Marijuana Sales in U.S. Hit $5.4 Billion." The medical marijuana industry brings in about $5.4 billion within 4 years, "$998 million of the total sales in 2015, up from $351 million in 2014...The report summary said that by 2020, legal market sales were forecast to be $21.8 billion."
"Chemicals" in marijuana
People don't want medical marijuana to be legalized because they think that it has chemicals in it according to the article, "The High Road" by Winston Ross It is not technically a chemical it is a cannabinoid, "tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in pot"
Is marijuana a gate way drug?
Some people believe that marijuana should not be legalized because it is a "gateway" drug (A drug that leads to other harder more lethal drugs such as heroin, crystal meth, cocaine and many other types.) However an article by Miriam Boeri states, "The gateway theory argues that because heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine users often used marijuana before graduating to harder drugs, it must be a “gateway” to harder drug use. The theory implies that there is a causal mechanism that biologically sensitizes drug users, making them more willing to try and more desirous of harder drugs. Yet the gateway hypothesis doesn’t make sense to those who use marijuana or have used in the past. Research shows that the vast majority of marijuana users do not go on to use harder drugs Most stop using after entering the adult social world of family and work."