The Legalization of Marijuana
An Analysis of Governmental Policies Surrounding the Legalization of MarijuanaThere is no doubt that alcohol is America's most popular and prominent drug. The sale and distribution has been legal since its early development. However, along with the social gratification of alcohol comes many dangerous effects and consequences. In contrast, marijuana, which has less severe and damaging effects and many medicinally beneficial qualities, has been outlawed by the American government. Although the utilization of both substances may lead to very detrimental side effects, it is unjustifiable to sanction the legalization of alcohol while simultaneously prohibiting the use of marijuana and its potentially beneficial qualities. Alcohol, one of the world's most widely used and addictive drugs, has been displaying its harmful affects to American society for hundreds of years. Since the end of the Prohibition Era of the late 1920s, various groups (such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union) have been battling for legislation banning the manufacture, distribution, and sale of this dangerous, but legal, substance. Although alcohol is a popular, gratifying and social drug, it does have very negative im
Alcohol, one of America's legal and most popular drugs, carries with it much more significant consequences than marijuana. These short-term effects of alcohol consumption have been linked to the four leading causes of teenage deaths: drunken driving, homicides, suicides, and drowning (Effects. In 2000, a controversial debate in the Supreme Court arose over this law and the distribution of marijuana under the strict medicinal purposes. In 1597, John Gerard recommended the cannabis medicine for "easing the pain of earache and for the treatment of jaundice. It has also been proven to have positive benefits for unhealthy Americans, and with cases such as the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, it seems as though the government is taking small steps in attempting to ease the pain of the nation's terminally ill citizens. Perhaps the idea of physically smoking, commonly linked with cigarettes and cancer, worries the general population more than actually drinking a substance. THC disrupts the chemistry of the immune system, limiting the body's abilities to ward-off viruses and bacteria (Effects of Smoking). Alcohol may also provide some positive benefits, but these effects are not nearly as significant as the success medicinal marijuana has achieved over the years. That industry does not want the competition that the legalized sales of marijuana would bring. However, it is still very illogical to legalize such a noxious substance such as alcohol while banning marijuana. In addition, cannabis usage has yet to create a high death toll, while alcohol can instigate death by "alcohol poisoning, asphyxiation, cardiomyopathy, and cardiac infarct" (Comparing. " The study also concluded that more than ninety percent of the patients who received medicinal marijuana treatment received "significant or total relief from nausea and vomiting" (Zeese). In November of 1996, California passed the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, a bill allowing doctors to distribute medicinal marijuana to terminally ill Californians (The Drug War).
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