Decriminalization would involve the removal of criminal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use and would save incredible amounts in enforcement costs (Marijuana Prohibition Facts).
The laws and sentences for marijuana violations are incredibly strict. Cultivation of even one marijuana plant is a federal felony. Long mandatory minimum sentences are used in a plethora of offenses. If an individual is convicted of cultivation of 100 plants, which can include seedlings, infested, or sick plants, must serve a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. This sentence is longer than the average auto theft or manslaughter sentence. If convicted of a marijuana offense within 1000 feet of any school, university, or playground an individual is subjected to a one year minimum prison sentence. This applies to an adult selling an ounce to another adult, or any adult even growing one plant in his basement (NORML). These laws are a large factor in the estimated $12 billion spent annually on the war on marijuana (Marijuana Prohibition Facts).
Various respected organizations such as the AIDS Action Council, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Public Health Association, and the .
Lymphoma Foundation of America, have endorsed medical access to marijuana. Marijuana is considered useful by patients and their doctors in treatment for AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases. Despite the endorsements the federal government only allows seven patients within the United States to use marijuana medicinally. The program those seven patients participate in is now closed to any and all new applicants. All other patients using marijuana medicinally are considered criminals. Americans are firm in their desires. 72% believe that marijuana users should not be jailed and 80% endorse marijuana's uses in treating seriously ill adults (Marijuana Prohibition Facts).
Marijuana's medicinal uses span a large range of diseases and symptoms.
