The Comprehensive Case for Medical Marijuana Legalization in America

“Legalize it!” shouting Americans are saying across the country, and honestly, why shouldn’t it be legal? In America today, we look at marijuana as a “bad drug,” and it is very common for many teens and adults to use cannabis at least once during their lifespan. We use marijuana for socializing, medical reasons, to escape reality, or even depression. Marijuana has impacted humans in positive ways. Even though marijuana is illegal, it’s not very easy to get a hold of it anywhere you are. Even when people know it affects your brain function, it does not stop law enforcement from making it strict and spending millions on chasing after people with this drug instead of other crimes. I want to persuade Americans that marijuana should be legal in all states.

Medical Marijuana’s Historical & Modern Impact

As it stays illegal, it doesn’t change the consumption use in users, but it causes problems with our economy and money spent on law enforcement, and it can even help people with medical problems. According to an article written by Kate Mills, “Studies showed that approximately 35 million Americans use marijuana on a monthly basis. At least 78 million surveyed reported having tried the substance at some point in their lives.” This just proves how many have used marijuana throughout our country, and this is not even counting every person out there.

Transformative Tales of Medical Cannabis Use

Marijuana has benefits in the medical field as many uses for medical conditions or even cancer. Marijuana can relax the muscles and nerves in the body, and it is used for pain relief for a certain problem or even to help people with cancer cope with the pain. Marijuana has been around for over 5,000 years for medical use throughout many different cultures. Marijuana was first used to help shockingly child seizures when first used in America in the 1800s.

When people fight over legalization, one topic comes to mind. My friends and I would say not once a person has died from this drug, ever in history. Marijuana use could help children who have seizures, having an impact on a young girl named Deisha. In this Netflix video, they show a young girl who uses medicinal marijuana to help their daughter stop her seizures. They found a strain that only had CBD (non-psychoactive compound), and this little girl’s story helped marijuana get legalized in a few states. After a few days, the father saw Deisha’s childhood come back to life.

Barriers to Expanded Marijuana Research

It is hard for a scientist to explore what marijuana can help us with because the government only wants to show the negatives of marijuana. Our government is stopping parents from helping their children from getting the medicine they need for their child to have a dramatic drop in seizures. Scientists have found a lot of background on the positives of marijuana but can not do more research because it is not legal all throughout the country. Any help for funding the programs?

Medical Marijuana’s Role in Pain Relief

There have been cases of patients whose spines were compressed or seriously injured, and when using medicinal marijuana, patients were screaming in agony when trying to stand up and then walking around the room, dancing with minimal pain. Even for cases of anorexia, medical marijuana has increased overall appetite and helped get back to a normal eating habits for many patients due to the iconic “munchies”.

Teen Marijuana Use at a 20-Year Low

If America made it legal in all states, I think overall, the use of more dangerous drugs would decrease dramatically and help people become less addicted to drugs. Doctors can only give medical marijuana under a prescription, but if a patient had more suffering pain one day and had to wait two days for a new refill, many would be furious to have medicines they desperately need and would look for alternative drugs. If legal patients could have as much as they want and when they want without a controlled amount of substance, that would surely help efficiency in our doctor offices and in our economy, too.

We should let doctors learn more about marijuana to help treat a diagnosis and see how much more marijuana can relieve a patient’s pain. Now, parents will say what about teens starting because of easy access, but in an article I found called “10 ways marijuana has helped the United States,” author Joseph Misulonas researched, “ ​Teenage use of marijuana is at a 20-year low​ despite cannabis legalization, and that is true in legalized states as well. In fact, ​a study found​ that Oregon teenagers actually perceive marijuana use worse now than they did before legalization.​”

If this is how a population of teens is looking at marijuana in a state where it is legal, I don’t see why marijuana should be illegal. I hope we can see medical marijuana as a bigger aspect of our medical field. If we change our social norms and see our errors, we as a society can say, actually, I see a lot of benefits to some people in the community and in our medicine.

Economic Upsurge with Marijuana’s Legalization

We, the people, need to make a change in our economy. Too much debt we owe, and we can boost our economy if we legalized weed in our country. On November 6, 2018, we now have ten states that have legalized weed. Canada legalized marijuana in the whole country, but why won’t America see all the positives for it and make a change? We have alcohol that is legal and can cause so much more damage to our society than this harmful drug. First, it would help many unemployed get jobs and get more people in the working field and out of the streets. According to the author Lauren Dixon in an article called “Talent Economy,” she points out that “The legal marijuana sector currently employs around 150,000 people and is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S.” The more the industry grows, the more other companies will grow, too.

Due to new marijuana stores having to buy cash registers, electricians, security, and web designers, it will overall boost all aspects of industries across the board. We look at marijuana as a drug associated with alcohol, but if we push to make it legal, we can see marijuana as a substitute and not associate it with alcohol. Employees in many industries have drinking problems, and this could lower work efficiency due to health problems, having to go to rehab, or staying home because of a hangover. Imagine how marijuana can impact our tax revenue in each of our states. In Colorado, for example, their economy has gone through the roof with the profits they made from marijuana.

Legal Impacts: Prisons and Law Enforcement Shifts

How many citizens are going to jail for minor crimes like marijuana, having a joint in the car, or getting arrested for selling marijuana? It’s almost absurd how much this impacts our law enforcement and the spending that we, the taxpayers, don’t want to spend. Our prisons are overflowing all across America due to charges of possession of marijuana, but if it was legalized, we would significantly reduce prisoners and money being spent to find these “crimes.” I understand what you were thinking. Yes, obviously, crimes are going to go down because people are not getting arrested for marijuana. It is still mind-blowing the results of how much crime has gone down because of the legalization of marijuana, and the arrest rates went down, too.

Let’s take an example of Washington’s crime rate statistics. In the article, “Five Years in The Effects of Legalization in Colorado and Washington State,” author Scott Johnstone explains these stats: “Crime statistics for Washington state ​reached a 40-year low in 2014, with violent crime down 10 percent and a 13 percent drop in the state’s murder rate. Colorado also saw decreases in overall crime rates, violent crimes, and property crimes.” Fewer families are being heartbroken from broken-in homes and vandalized stores. Police would focus on more important crimes and save millions by not enforcing marijuana laws.

References

1. Mills, K. American Marijuana Usage: A Comprehensive Analysis. National Cannabis Research Foundation.
2. Netflix. Deisha’s Journey: The Power of CBD. Netflix Originals.
3. Misulonas, J. 10 Ways Marijuana Has Helped the United States. Cannabis Culture Magazine.
4. Dixon, L. Talent Economy: How Legalizing Marijuana Influences Job Growth. U.S. Employment Weekly.
5. Johnstone, S.. Five Years in: The Effects of Legalization in Colorado and Washington State. Marijuana Legalization Studies Journal.