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This is a question that has been at the center of a very controversial issue. Marijuana is described by the National Institute of Drug Abuse as the dried leaves of the Cannibal Static plant. It has been used worldwide for its many benefits from medicinal to industrial up until the asses. Common misconceptions about marijuana have been established by the government, at times for personal and political gain, or to Just discourage the use of marijuana.
Even now it is one of the most commonly seed illegal drugs with over 17 million Americans 21 and older admitting to recent use according to a 2009 National Survey by SAMARA. Marijuana was smoked as early as 2700 BC, In China In 500 A. D. Marijuana spread to Europe and Africa where It was cultivated and smoked for its medicinal squalliest. By 1545 marijuana had been introduced to the New World where it was grown as a cash crop alongside tobacco and cotton. It was a legal medication subscribed by doctors and pharmacists until the asses when the first official action was taken against marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Act.
The act itself did not criminality the possession of cannabis but levied a tax on anyone dealing the substance which included anything with hemp or hemp oil in it. The Marijuana Tax Act was introduced to the U. S. Congress by Harry Angling’s Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Dry. Carl Hart Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia university believes Angling’s used the war on marijuana as a ploy for profit not only for his department but personal gain as well. He used the media to spread his messages even making a film called Reefer Madness, which portrayed marijuana users as crazy and useless for society.
On August 14,1970 Assistant secretary of Health Dry. Roger o. Iceberg. Wrote a letter recommending It be classified as a schedule 1 drug. Which places it in the same category as heroin. Which has an addiction rate of 23% while marijuana has a 9% rate. A rate which is lower than most “legal” drugs such as alcohol which has an addiction rate of 1 5%. This is only slightly lower than that of cocaine at 17%. We can’t forget cigarettes which are known to cause cancer, have no health benefits and a 30% addiction rate but are completely legal over the age of seventeen,. CNN web, CBS web The NADIA believes that associations have been found between marijuana use and mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and other personality disorders among adolescents. Yet It also states. “More research Is needed to confirm and better understand these linkages. ” Is the public believing the government without proper research? A Federal Medical Marijuana patient by the name of Irvin Roseland felt that the government was a hypocrite. He is one of four New Drug Program. For over 28 years he has been receiving medical marijuana in the mail from the federal government. They’ve given me over 120,000 marijuana cigarettes in my lifetime “he states. He marijuana was prescribed for his rare disorder of multiple congenital cartilaginous executes. This is when there are tumors at the end of long bones Inch grow throughout puberty. Often outward into the veins and muscles causing excruciating pain. By the age of 20 he was taking over 200 pills a month. Another example of marijuana medical use is shown in the case of Chaw Miller like Roseland he also tried a variety of powerful, highly addictive and often deadly prescription narcotics such as valid and morphine to treat his disorder.
Chaw suffers from anonymous diaphragmatic flutter which causes an uncontrollable involutions of the muscles surrounding his abdominal. This causes him to talk like he is gasping for breath at every word. The contractions are so consistent that they can cause muscles to tear and often the pain is unbearable and debilitating. To show the effectiveness of the marijuana over the pills he inhaled it during an attack. Within five minutes the attack ceased. Within the time of the interview he had sixteen attacks and was still talking and breathing normally.
After his first attack while he was still taking prescription drugs he would have been in the hospital. Cannabis is primarily dad of TECH-Dehydrogenation’s and CB-Cannonading. TECH is the main psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant. TECH has an extremely low toxicity but strands with high percentages in TECH can lead to addiction by having a greater affect on the pleasure and reward centers in your brain. CB is one of at least 85 cannabises found in cannabis static. It is second only to TECH, making up to 40% of the plants extracts.
Cannonading is produced in the brain naturally but continuous marijuana smoking will stop your body from producing its own. When you stop smoking you have no cannabises of your own. Which makes you feel “lousy’. In order to prevent this feeling many people Just smoke again. This is why CB is considered one of the chemicals that gives marijuana its addictive qualities. Cannonading is less psychoactive than TECH and has a wide range of medical applications such as anti-inflammatory, anti-consultant, and anti-anxiety benefits. Some epileptic patients even utilize cannabis to control an otherwise unmanageable seizure disorder.
As shown in the case of Charlotte Effigy who suffered from Gravers syndrome, “a severe intractable epilepsy’ a strand high in Cab’s save her life. Her DOD was so frail by the age of two that any seizure could end her life. With only two options left suggested by doctors, either a drug induced coma or a veterinary drug for epileptic dogs. The Effigies instead turned to medical marijuana. By orally Ingesting the dose of cannabises she needed from a strand high in Cab’s Charlotte Nas able to receive the medical benefit of cannabis without being stoned.
The Stanley Brothers, owners of Indispensably a medical marijuana grocery in Colorado can now be considered pioneers. In a market where the demand is for strands high in TECH, the Stanley instead spent years crossbreeding plants high in Cab’s. Their ‘Sino and belief in the medical benefits of cannabises helped save Charlotte life Vet, every 19 minutes someone dies from a prescription drug overdose. Howard never had anyone die from marijuana”. Could this be why public opinion is swaying towards the legalization of marijuana?
According to A new national survey by Pew Research center of 1,501 people 52% versus believed marijuana should be legalized. Support for the legalization of marijuana has risen 11 points since 2010. So what is the logic in making opiates legally prescribed medications and ostracize cannabis? Output web CNN) Not only does marijuana have medical benefits but it could stimulate our failing economy. Stephen T. Gaston is a professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University. In a recent study for the Frasier institute economist Stephen r. Gaston attempted to calculate the revenues that could be made.
He theorized that ‘if you could collect on every cigarette and ignore the transportation, marketing and advertising costs this can come to over two billion. “(about. Com economics) 500 other economist led by Dry. Milton Friedman estimated that between $10 to $14 billion per [ear could be reduced in government spending. Approximately 7. 7 billion dollars is spent annually on law enforcement to traverse marijuana consumption. If marijuana Nas taxed like ordinary consumer goods it could generate around $2. 4 billion more likely it would be taxed like alcohol and tobacco which would make tax receipts around 6. Billion or more depending on the tax rates. Another taxpayer expense that would be emphatically reduced is prison disbursements. 88% of all people in jail, a staggering 2 million, are there due to marijuana offenses. In the case that marijuana is legalized the operating costs of prisons would also deteriorate dramatically. This cost comes directly out of taxpayers pockets, currently a 40 billion dollar per year expenditure. When only 0. 7% of all state inmates are behind bars on marijuana possession only, doesn’t expenditure outweigh the enforcement? Bureau of Justice ,marijuana policy project) It is argued that illegality of the drug keeps the price higher which can dissuade use especially among the youth. Except that last year 85. 8 percent of high school seniors told government survey takers that marijuana is "easy to get”. Even now it is one of the most commonly used illegal drugs with over 17 million Americans 21 and older admitting to recent use according too 2009 National Survey by SAMARA. The government can control the amount of consumption by increasing or decreasing the tax.
With over 51% of Americans believing marijuana should be "taxed and regulated like alcohol” would the tax revenue be offset by the higher social cost Alcohol related adulations such as public drunkenness, and driving under the influence had a total of nearly 2. Million arrests in 2008. Alcohol was also a contributing factor to forty percent of fatal vehicle wrecks according to The Centers for Disease Control and reversion Morbidity and Mortality Report and the cause of 1 deaths and counting by worldliest real time world statistics.
Selling the buds is not the only Nay to make money off the Cannabis plant. Hemp fibers from the stalks have other uses as well. According to the U. S. Dept. Of Agriculture, one acre of hemp can produce four times more paper than one acre of trees. Trees have a maturity rate of 20 to 25 years before they can be harvested for commercial use. Hemp can be harvested after 4 months and be grown on most farmland throughout the U. S. The save forests and wildlife habitats it would also reduce topsoil erosion from logging. Hemp can also be used in textiles, medicine, food, cosmetics and, building supplies.
Hemp oil can be used in foods and to produce paint, varnish, ink, lubricating oils and plastic substitutes. Most of these products are non-toxic and biodegradable. More important than the products made are the Jobs that can be created by this industry. Ninth an unemployment rate of 7. 3% and a national debt of 17 trillion can we afford to let our prejudices and blind beliefs influence our logical thinking on this issue? Marijuana is considered a "drug” but isn’t all medicine classified as a drug? Doesn’t al "medicine have the probability to be abused?
Many prescription medicines are already being abused yet they are not illegal. The government Just exerts tighter control on distribution and production. Marijuana has the ability to help countless individuals without the fear of death or overdose and boost our economy. Though legalizing marijuana won’t create millions of Jobs it can create some. That’s a step in resurrecting our failing economy. After carefully reviewing the evidence presented by both sides I find sufficient evidence that the legalization of marijuana can provide more value than harm to our society.