Mary Jane

Mary Jane

"In nineteen thirty-seven there was said to have been fifty-five thousand marijuana users in the United States; however, now there is about fifteen million users, which is an one hundred percent increase" (The Union). Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a plant that is intended for the use of medicine or as a psychoactive drug. Being a psychoactive drug, it is categorized as being a stimulant, depressant, and a hallucinogen. It has also been around since the third millennium BC. Although, being around for as long as it has, marijuana has become illegal in almost all countries in the world since the twentieth century, including the United States. In spite of that, marijuana is the most used illicit drug in the world (UN). Essentially, it could benefit the environment, the economy, and could even open new doors for medicine. Therefore, the prohibition of cannabis in all states of the United States of America should no longer be enforced.

The number one reason people believe marijuana should be illegal is that it isn't healthy for one's body; however, this statement is not exactly true. One example, supposedly, is that marijuana can kill brain cells according to scientific studies. "In 2005, new research suggests that marijuana could possibly stimulate brain cell growth," according to scientist, Xia Zhang, from the University of Saskatchewan. The only reason people do believe that it kills brain cells is from early "scientific" research that the government did in the nineteen forties. What they did, is they impelled monkeys to smoke sixty-five joints of cannabis through gas masks for five straight minutes with no air in between. The monkeys died in approximately ninety days and were shown to have brain damage, but not because of the marijuana but because they were initially being suffocated by the lack of oxygen (Herer, 147). "There has not been any evidence or research since concluding the theory that marijuana kills brain cells" (The Union).

Another common believe for the unhealthiness of pot (marijuana) is that it causes lung cancer. However, again there is no data of a case where marijuana has produced lung cancer. Scientist David Levine, scholar from the Vancouver Drug War History School, explains how cannabis does paralyze cilia, but it's not radioactive so there is no chance of getting cancer. Also, studies just last year performed by Dr. Donald Tashkin, from UCLA, showed how marijuana and nicotine are completely different. The elements in the nicotine do generate cancer, but there are no elements in the marijuana that could cause cancer. Therefore, why should tobacco be legal and marijuana not? In fact, cigarettes were the number one leader in death, in the United States, of a substance. "It beat out aids, heroine, crack, alcohol, car accidents, cocaine, fire and murder combined, with an average of four hundred and thirty thousand deaths per year. Considering it's the number one killer, it's interesting to know that tobacco receives government subsidies and is grown with radioactive fertilizer," The Union. Right behind tobacco is alcohol with the second leading cause of deaths in the United States with eighty-five thousand deaths a year. Caffeine is even on that list; killing up to ten thousand people a year. However, there are no casualties at all from cannabis use anywhere according to Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor at Harvard Medical School. You can die from taking too much caffeine or aspirin, but not from marijuana. Marijuana should be just as legal as tobacco, alcohol, or caffeine, which can initially kill you.

Believe it or not, marijuana (medical) can extremely benefit people with certain diseases. THC, which is the element in cannabis that causes its "high", tends to diminish a certain chemical called glutamate in brain cells. This effect can be helpful because excess release of glutamate is implicated in various disorders, including Alzheimer's (Special to World Science). The THC in pot also correlates with gut function. This proves that medical marijuana does contribute as an effective medicine for people who have inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis. Not only is it an anti-inflammatory but also regenerates the intestinal lining in the gut. Another example marijuana can be useful for is cancer patients. Donald Abrams, a doctor and professor at the University of California, San Francisco who has studied marijuana, says he recommends it to some cancer patients, including those who haven't found standard anti-nausea drugs effective and some with loss of appetite (Mathews). Glen Osaki, from Pleasanton, California says he smokes marijuana to oppose his nausea and pain. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in two thousand and five, and has had his entire colon removed causing digestive problems, along with the neuropathic pain in his hands and feet from a chemotherapy treatment. Glen quotes, "Smoking marijuana was more effective and faster than prescription drugs I've tried including