... benefits, reduction in crime due to the control of cannabis sales, an increase in government revenue, and an overall safer drug under government regulations. Colorado and Washington have already legalized marijuana. Canada is regarded as a nation with fairly liberal policies, but instead of taking any steps towards the legalization of cannabis, the Conservative party has actually pushed for the opposite. ... profitable, sending billions of dollars overseas in an underground economy while diverting funds from productive economic development. If dealers were put out of business, organized c...

• Word Count: 2108
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... monkey brain structure as "damaged" A far superior experiment by the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) involving 64 rhesus monkeys that were exposed to daily or weekly doses of marijuana smoke for a year found no evidence of structural or neurochemical changes in the brains of rhesus monkeys. In fact, following the publication of two 1977 JAMA studies, the American Medical ... of Justice Statistics (BJS) cast doubt on that assertion. Calculations based on recent BJS reports suggest that, at any one time, 59,300 prisoners charged with or convicted of violating marijuana l...

• Word Count: 2648
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that date back all the way to about 4000 B.C. where the Chinese first discovered its medicinal uses. In a pharmacy book written by the emperor Shen-Nung about 2657 B.C., he recommends marijuana as a cure for "gout, rheumatism, malaria, beriberi, constipation, and absent mindedness (Stwerka 5)." By the second century A.D., the plant was being used for anesthetics during surgical operations involving stomach ... of dysentery, which was highly prevalent among Civil War soldiers, and until 1937, it was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia as a tranquilizer (Richardson 42). Physicians of the tim...

• Word Count: 3551
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... accelerates heart rate, some heart problems could arise for people with already present cardiovascular problems. However for people with sound health, there is no cardiovascular risk. Hormonal changes due to marijuana are completely unfounded. Reproductive system damage was recorded by only one scientist, a Dr. Gabriel Nahas. He was criticized to the point where he renounced his results. While the ... alcohol and cigarettes have. When you consider that one-hundred and eighteen million Americans drink alcohol and sixty million smoke cigarettes, compared to the eighteen million Americans ...

• Word Count: 2063
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , its use taking off in the 1960s. It is now one of the most widely used illicit drugs in the world. Carol Nadelson, author of "Through a Glass Darkly," reports that Marijuana is a mixture of leaves, stems and flowers of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis sativa, and is smoked or eaten for its hallucinogenic and pleasure-giving effects. The psychoactive ingredient of ... not been proven to be physically addicting, and no physical withdrawal symptoms occur when its use is discontinued, psychological dependence does develop. Many users describe two phases of marijuana intoxication: initial sti...

• Word Count: 1689
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is not harmful to health. It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco." NORML explains the medical advantages of marijuana with fifteen examples. Modern research has proved marijuana aids in the treatment of many ailments. These include pain relief from neuropathic pain, nausea, glaucoma, and certain movement disorders. It also stimulates the appetite, ... and helps patients with HIV, or dementia. New research even suggests that marijuana may protect the body from certain types of malignant tumors, and are neuroprotective. There are more than 60 ...

• Word Count: 1235
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... safest and most effective medicine that can be used for terminally ill patients. They consider the U.S. to be heartless to refuse to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Those people argue that the legalization of the drug would not make matters worse because it will be restricted to be ... used for medicinal purposes only. First of all, there are medicines better than marijuana. For example, there are safer and more effective medicines for people who need it as a treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea. According to oncologist Daniel ... for the treatment of chemotherapy-induce...

• Word Count: 1305
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... alcohol habit to be $15 billion a year (www.ndsn.com); it has steadily increased since then. When comparing tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, there is strong evidence that marijuana has the least addictive power (www.peretto.com). However, this does not hide the fact that all three can have a strong impact ... of all inmates are in prison for drug offenses-the result of a 1,100% increase in drug arrests between 1980 and 1992, even though marijuana use dropped from 35% to 13% during the same period. The increase in violent offenders incarcerated during that time was only 50%. Of felons .....

• Word Count: 1532
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of citizens in tax-funded federal prisons for a drug that, if legalized, would create an abundance of positive impacts within the United States. Marijuana should be legalized because it would benefit the economy, help people with physical and emotional pain, and allow law enforcement to focus more heavily ... on violent crime. If regulated like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana would create a tremendous amount of new wealth. Dispensaries and small businesses based on the distribution of the drug would open up, along with ... market would take shape in the United States, and that would expan...

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the number of people arrested in 2011 in the U.S. for nonviolent drug charges is 1.53 million, while the number of people arrested for a marijuana law violation in 2011 is 757,969. These alarmingly high imprisonments are unnecessary expenses taken from our tax dollars, according to Joe Klein, in the ... our tax dollars can be used beneficially for the regulation of violent crime, rape and other such felonies. Also, through the legalization of marijuana, there will be no need for the "middle man", the drug dealers and violence that coincides because it will be accessible ... county, rec...

• Word Count: 1206
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... medical relief"(Kieffer, Par1) meaning that the constitution does not claim to regulate or ban any drug. Banning a product or substance like marijuana will just make history repeat itself just like the Prohibition era when the manufacture or sale of alcohol was illegal. Kieffer quotes "We ... being said federal governments cannot regulate laws drugs but only the states legislatives can. Just like in California where citizens exercise the use of legalized marijuana for medical purposes to help cancer patients. The war on drugs has had a dramatic use when it comes in for the cost of ... ...

• Word Count: 1375
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... during the teenage years. Many people who become addicted are to do so within their college years due to the college environment, freedom, and lack of structure. The use of marijuana combined with someone who has little money, troubles with family, and trouble with friends, will often result with the addict to stop attending classes or doing homework. Many careers and ... the development of serious mental disorders such as addiction, major depression, anxiety, and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Recent neuroscience studies related to marijuana use have proven to show the nega...

• Word Count: 927
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... systems, including getting high, creating a feeling of euphoria, or having stomach ache effects. It seems that weeding out can release them from stress and reduce social pressure. If a person uses marijuana in a proper way, it may decrease his anxiety and improve mood. Meanwhile, it can also enhance the brain excitability and increase creative ability, so people can make quick responses and ... his short-term memory and forget what happened the last night after getting high. As time goes by, he will find it difficult to learn or remember new information. Second, marijuana overdose will ...

• Word Count: 766
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... use of cannabis, the United States government has commissioned several studies regarding the properties of cannabis and its effects, and also has considered bills permitting the medicinal use of marijuana. Cannabis was prevalent in America for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Many apothecaries and doctors proscribed medications containing cannabis. Until 1941, cannabis was part of the ... into the criminal justice system through the prohibition of this drug." The most controversial, and at this point in time plausible, argument for the partial decriminalization of marijuana is the ...

• Word Count: 1639
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to end the illegal drug traffic within and across the US borders and to stop the consumption of these illegal drugs, of which marijuana is the largest contributor and most widely consumed. Despite the billions of dollars spent trying to stop the supply and demand of these ... other like ailments as glaucoma, muscle spasms, intractable pain, epilepsy, anorexia, asthma, insomnia, depression, and other disorders. Dan Shapiro has gotten relief from marijuana. "When Dan Shapiro was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1987, he called a friend who had also battled cancer. His friend's advice, S...

• Word Count: 1220
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... increase the use of substance and further increase problems in society, legalization could in fact be more beneficial than harmful. Actually, there are several benefits with the legalization of marijuana and some of which include: making our streets and homes safer, increasing the economy's revenue, putting an end to prison overcrowding, saving our tax money, crippling organized crime ... , promoting health and safety, reducing official corruption, and using marijuana for medicinal purposes. Legalizing marijuana would first greatly increase our economy's revenue and promote consumer healt...

• Word Count: 1572
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of the safest and oldest therapeutically active substances known to man. However, in today's society it's categorized as an illicit, illegal substance. When people hear the phrase, "legalization of marijuana," they only think of the ones smoking it for recreational purposes, rather than for medical value. Although, some states in the U.S. have made the criminal distinction between people who smoke ... marijuana as a doctor's recommended remedy and recreational users, who just smoke to enjoy the effects. However, the federal government and its drug enforcement agencies claim there is no ...

• Word Count: 1098
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... In fact, even the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) chief administrative law judge maintains the DEA should decriminalize marijuana partly because of its medicinal benefits ("Briefing Paper"). Clearly, a variety of experts agrees that marijuana has numerous medicinal benefits, and can help a wide variety of patients. Second, are other drugs available ... long-term usage of the drug in other areas where it is legal, such as the Netherlands, point to success in managing marijuana and its affects. One doctor writes, "'Thousands of patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report ...

• Word Count: 1084
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... for subjects to be completely ignorant about what they are using (Bock 137). The assortment of medicinal uses is widespread; such conditions that can be aided through the use of marijuana include: Anorexia, Pain, Glaucoma, Migraine, Hypertension, Anxiety, Asthma, Peptic Ulcer, Alcoholism, Depression, Insomnia, Inflammation, Nausea, and Cancer (Cohen 36). When the benefits are so grand and the risks are ... in the 1850's. Hypodermic syringes allowing soluble drugs to be injected for instant pain relief. Hemp products are insoluble in water and can not be easily administered through injec...

• Word Count: 1279
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . This puts it in the same category as heroin and cocaine. It is defined by the DEA as being an addictive substance with no medical value. People who support medical marijuana want to change just that. They feel that marijuana has medical potential and should be reclassified as a Schedule 2 drug, allowing people with terminal diseases to acquire it with a doctors prescription. Moreover ... social maturity as some users lose interest in school, job, and social activities. About 100,000 people each year resort to drug abuse treatment programs to end their marijuana addiction. Some people a...

• Word Count: 1007
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , Pot, Reefer, grass, and Mary-Jane. A new survey shows that 53% are all for legalizing marijuana, while 44% are opposed (Pew Research Center). Does Marijuana pose as a medical value? Is Marijuana harmful enough to remain illegal and how does it compare to other forms of illegal drugs that are not ... policymakers. I think drug use should be treated as a crime or, and a health issue. The most addictive drug, even above heroin, is nicotine Unlike Marijuana which is used to treat a variety of disorders that cause pain because of diseases like Cancer, HIV, Muscle Spasm, and arthritis; it is...

• Word Count: 623
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that the consumption of hard liquor was off 50 percent during Prohibition." However, as time progressed, the statistics would change. Now that medical marijuana is legal in 21 States and DC how will prohibition of this substance affect the United States? Is it going to help lessen crime, ... , they stand against recreational drugs and harm caused by illegal drug trades to increase their reputation. I believe one of the many benefits of legalizing marijuana (that's currently illegal except in 21 states) is that the price will fall, leading it to a crumple in the illegal drug market. This...

• Word Count: 846
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... includes hallucinations, anxiety, memory loss, and confusion), inferior treatment of glaucoma, and increased risks of certain cancers such as lung and testicular cancer ("Marijuana-Marijuana"). "Drugs are addictive. They rob the user of free will. A drug user cannot make an informed and rational decision to continue using ... legitimate medical need for it, they just want to smoke it and "get high". This raises many questions as to why medical marijuana should be legalized. It is certainly not going to the right causes for terminally ill patients. It also isn't morally right to sell these...

• Word Count: 990
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to chemotherapy, elevated eye pressure due to glaucoma, and loss of appetite and nausea in AIDS patients. Grinspoon makes the point that treatment with marijuana is very beneficial, but because it is illegal, patients must either go without treatment or commit a crime to obtain their medication. The clear ... benefits are extremely difficult to prove, and are at best anecdotal. Perhaps the most compelling argument that Grinspoon makes is that criminalization of marijuana use promotes disrespect for the law and is eroding our fundamental civil liberties. Grinspoon states that (in the yea...

• Word Count: 1189
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... States. It has a variety of street names such as "grass", "Mary Jane", "pot", "smoke", "reefer", "herb", and "weed". However, marijuana is used in one of three ways. The most common method of use is to roll the leaves in paper and smoke it like a cigarette. They ... The second common method use is to smoke it through a pipe. The third method of use is by ingesting the marijuana by combing it with food. The effects of marijuana are labeled in three types: Physiological effects, psychological effects, and subjective effects. The physiological effects are reddened eyes, increased ... phy...

• Word Count: 624
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate