Let me make this clear- all the data I included in my editorial are factual. In fact, here are the sources I used: The White House Drug Policy Report on Marijuana, the methods of medication for medicinal marijuana (click on the last question), Marinol, and a lot more information on Marinol. All of these present useful information that is good for anyone involved in this argument to know. If you haven't read my article, go read it now. If you can't, you'll just have to go without it.
In my article, my main idea was that marijuana has no place in the medical field. It's true that marijuana is not an good option in health care. I know for sure that I, if I were in such a position, would choose the pill over a joint. It's far safer and more effective. However, I firmly believe that people should have the option. Here's why:
1. Marijuana actually does help treat symptoms because it contains THC. Marinol is a better option, since it's dose-regulated and has far fewer excess chemicals (61 being unique to marijuana), although I'd like to point out that it has some of the same side effects. It does have THC in it, after all. THC is the chemical that makes it marijuana medicinally useful, but also psychologically harmful and addictive.
Also, let it be known that no actual deaths have been associated with marijuana at any time in U.S. history. Two thousand deaths a year are caused by aspirin. Marijuana is not healthy, but in some ways, it's less risky than something used every day.
2. Most of the violence associated with marijuana comes from the drug war that our country is fighting. Marijuana users are violent in the same way drunks are violent- their brains are addled. This causes impaired driving and reasoning, but it also involves sitting around wasted. There's a reason why it's called "getting stoned." More of the fighting occurs when drug dealers come together in gangs to fight against the police force.
Do laws stop drug use? I have one word: prohibition. Despite these laws, alcohol consumption increased. On top of that, alcohol consumption was driven underground and alcohol-related violence increased (think "Al Capone").
3. People should simply have the right to do what they want to their own bodies (without harming others- for example, people should definitely not drive stoned). We already allow alcohol (which kills 80,000 people a year) and tobacco (390,000 people/year). Also legal are more bizarre practices that are really more psychological than anything, such as acupuncture. If we allow things that are more harmful or even just bizarre, why don't we allow this?
This began as an argument for medicinal marijuana, but it comes to this opinion- I think it would make more sense for marijuana to be made completely legal (with restrictions). I've said that before, and people have laughed about it, but I'm completely serious.
What would happen if marijuana was legalized? Would all hell break lose?
Does the word... Holland... strike fear into your heart?
The Netherlands (note: in case you didn't know, Holland is a region in the Netherlands) "tolerates" marijuana in small amounts, if one is over 18. It's possible to purchase it in some coffee shops. Does this place have a reputation as a weed-consumed society? On the contrary, it has lower marijuana usage than the U.S. does. This is because legalization of a drug takes away a lot of the illusory mystique. (Other countries that allow restricted use of marijuana include Canada and Spain.)
As I mentioned before, criminalizing drugs does not stop drug abuse. If that was all it took, we'd have wiped out drug use by now.
In conclusion, I think that drug use is a choice that belongs to the user- not the government, not anyone else. Marijuana illegalization only causes problems and wastes considerable effort on the part of the government because people don't stop using weed- instead, it is driven underground. It'd be nice if we could do away with harmful drugs altogether, but millions of dollars are spent per day in a losing drug war. Morons will still be morons, no matter what the law is.
For more on the issue of legalizing (medicinal) marijuana, check out the this information on ProCon.org. It provides information and opinions on both sides of the issue.
Ylerecnis,
N
