The Marijuana Issue

Marijuana is a controversial issue throughout the United States, as it has been for decades; to legalize, decriminalize, or just keep it illegal? Why was it criminalized in the first place? The 'party line' is that it is as dangerous as other illicit drugs; I cry 'bullshit', especially when the statistics not only DO NOT support this claim, they actually debunk it! Show me a person that beats up their spouse or significant other, or goes out and gets into a car accident or commits a violent crime while under the influence of marijuana, and I am sure that if tested for other illicit drugs or alcohol, they would be found as well. The most prevalent effect that marijuana has on users is a sense of lethargy.

There have been numerous studies done to determine whether marijuana has any medicinal benefits, and so far, there have been seventeen diseases that it has been found to be beneficial for; these include, but are not limited to: Multiple Sclerosis, HIV, Tourette's Syndrome, and Diabetes. The website I found this information on is: http://norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Clinical_Applications_for_Cannabis_and_Cannabinoids.pdf. This is a very in - depth article describing the information that has been found in clinical, preclinical, and patient studies regarding the use of marijuana to alleviate symptoms ranging from pain to loss of appetite. It also alleviates pressure in the eyes of a glaucoma sufferer; "Marijuana is a mixture of the dried flowering leaves and tops from the plant cannabis sativa, and it contains over 400 chemicals. A medical use of marijuana has been to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)." - http://www.eyecareamerica.org/eyecare/treatment/alternative-therapies/marijuana-glaucoma.cfm; this is the article I found that interesting tidbit from.

It has been proven that marijuana is not even as dangerous as some over-the-counter medications. Furthermore, it has been found that there are receptors in the human body that are specially equipped for the plant chemical THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the scientific term for the chemical. There have even been articles talking about how marijuana reduces the size of tumors!

However, the issues are not just medical use; when the United States congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1941, they infringed on every American's civil rights by telling them what they could not put into their body. I believe that article 9 of the bill of rights protects citizens' right to do with their own body what they choose. While the article does not specifically enumerate this as a right that it protects, who would argue that people do not have that right? After all, there are people who mutilate their bodies pretty bad in the name of art; how is that any better than smoking marijuana?

In a country where we are supposed to be a Democracy, yet the constitution and bill of rights seem to be getting used for toilet paper, our rights are definitely being trampled on on a daily basis, and that just isn't right!

If the government would wake up and admit that they were wrong, it could possibly save our country's ailing economy. By legalizing marijuana and taxing it as you might tobacco, we could grow hemp commercially for textiles, bio - fuels, and foods; we could use the dried flowers in medicines that are safer than most anything on the market now; and it would save the government billions in prosecution and penal costs; so why don't they?

I give Barack Obama and his cabinet this challenge: If you truly want to save our economy, legalize marijuana, release all non-violent offenders who are in prison on possession of marijuana charges, and stop funding the DEA's prosecution of "pot smokers"; you will find that the economy is going to be a lot healthier in a few years!