THE PROS AND CONS ABOUT LEGALIZING MARIJUANA
            
            
             Mainstream vs. Alternative Media; who do we
            
             believe? The Journal of Media Studies Writer Discussion of the legalization of marijuana
            
             brings up two main issues,
            
             those who are pro- marijuana and those who are anti- marijuana. These issues have been
            
             covered by both
            
             mainstream and alternative media, mainstream being pro, and alternative being anti. These
            
             two factions have been
            
             arguing over this issue in the halls of justice for many years. Because most of the American
            
             society is mainly
            
             exposed to only mainstream media, they are not aware of other factors of legalizing
            
             marijuana that alternative media
            
             covers. The problem caused by this lack of exposure, is that the public may be deprived
            
             of the truth, and may be
            
             led to believe facts that are not true. Marijuana and Medicine Both pro and anti-
            
             marijuana groups have discussed
            
             whether or not marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes. Mainstream groups do not
            
             believe that there are any
            
             convincing reasons to make marijuana a treatment to sick patients. Their position is that
            
             marijuana can have harmful
            
             long-term effects. The Anti-Legalization Forum explains that some of these effects are:
            
             impairment of the immune
            
             system due to the inability of T-cells to battle off diseases, delaying puberty in both males
            
             and females, and
            
             unhealthy and smaller children born to women who used marijuana during pregnancy. The
            
             Drug Enforcement
            
             Administration believes that since marijuana is not accepted by any American health
            
             associations, there is no reason
            
             to legalize the drug. They think that the main reason why pro marijuana advocates use the
            
             medical use argument is
            
             because the uninformed public can be easily convinced to support the movement. Simply
            
             not enough evidence
            
             proves that marijuana can be used medically (Claim V). Unlike the D.E.A., lobbying
            
             groups such as the Cannabis
            
             Action Network and the Indiana Civ...