Changing Marijuana Laws

By Isaac Lopez

In order to achieve a complete reform of marijuana laws in America at the local
level, it is necessary for the first step to be to change the publics opinion from
having a negative perspective of marijuana to a positive one. If the people want for
there to be change, the government has a constitutional obligation to hear out the
opinion of the public. There is an organization known as NORML, which strives to
change the publics opinion of marijuana in order to achieve the legalization of
marijuana for adults. NORML has a new chapter in El Paso, TX. (Canacho, 2014, p. 1)
I believe that marijuana is a versatile plant with hundreds of beneficial uses. It is not
fair that the government can choose to keep marijuana illegal when it is quite clear
that marijuana is not a dangerous narcotic as propaganda has made it out to be. I
have several friends who have been persecuted under the current laws. These men
had to spend the night in jail, deal with thousands of dollars of fines, and have had
their goals of attending college shattered. Being convicted of marijuana possession
in America prevents one from being eligible for financial aid. These brilliant minds
are not going to be able to have the chance of getting a degree in college for this
reason. Clearly it is not fair. Aside from marijuana being legalized for recreational
uses, it is convincing that laws should be reformed when one looks at the medicinal
side of cannabis. According to the research paper, The Pharmacologic and Clinical
Effects of Medical Cannabis, medical marijuana is able to treat conditions such as
cachexia, cancer, glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired
immune deficiency syndrome, muscle spasms, seizures, severe nausea, severe pain,
and sleep disorders. (Borgelt, Franson, Nussbaum, & Wang, n.d., p. 5). If marijuana
has great medical potential, then why does it remain illegal? When I think about the
entire history of marijuana, I feel both fortunate and unfortunate. I feel fortunate for
the reason that technology has advanced to a stage where intense research can be
performed on cannabis to determine its true medical properties. I feel unfortunate
because marijuana prohibition has only been around for less than one hundred
years.














References

Borgelt, L. M., Franson, K. L., Nussbaum, A. M., & Wang, G. S. (n.d.). The
Pharmacologic and Clinical Effects of Medical Cannabis.
PHARMACOTHERAPY, 33, 14.

Camacho, O. (2014, March 20). A movement for cannabis legalization takes root in El
Paso | Borderzine. Retrieved May 9, 2014, from
http://borderzine.com/2014/03/a-movement-for-cannabis-legalization-
takes-root-in-el-paso/