Alex Ironside

Professor Lovejoy
English 101
10 December 2014
Green for Good
Why is marijuana illegal? Marijuana has not caused a person to overdose or even
commit a heinous crime. It even contains compounds that have been found to be medicinal,
and it can help people with terminal illnesses. My father, a nurse of over 30 years, uses
marijuana to help control his tremors associated with his Parkinsons disease. He could
barely sleep before the option of medical marijuana was presented to him. Luckily for him,
medical marijuana is legal in the state of Hawaii, but others are not as fortunate. He still
uses medical marijuana because he knows it is safe, non lethal, and beneficial for his
condition. On the other hand, alcohol and cigarettes have no medicinal benefits, and
account for numerous deaths every year both directly and indirectly. So why are they
legally sold at every street corner, but possession of marijuana can be heavily prosecuted?
Every year millions of tax dollars are wasted on crimes related to marijuana. If marijuana
were legal, the United States and the taxpayers would save a countless amount of money.
Legalizing marijuana would also generate an obscene amount of tax money. Legalization of
marijuana in the United States will bring medicinal and economic benefits. Therefore,
marijuana should be legal under federal law.
Through the years marijuana has been portrayed as a dangerous and harmful drug
by the media and schools. The information shared by the media and schools is just a bunch
of propaganda to brainwash the public. A great example is articles that are negatively

criticizing marijuana are always seen in huge print on the front pages; but any positive and
beneficial research results involving marijuana are small articles in the back pages that are
never read. The media had reports that marijuana destroyed brain cells, caused
schizophrenia, lowered sperm counts, lowered testosterone, caused birth defects, damaged
memory and brain functions, weakened the immune system, and caused chromosome
breakage. These negative stories would appear on the front page to raise alarms. However,
scientists would look into these stories and disprove them. When the facts were presented
to the media, the media would put the truth in those short passages on the back page. No
one would ever read those tiny articles. Therefore, the general public is left thinking that all
those false facts on the front page are true (Grinspoon).
All the common misconceptions on the side effects of marijuana have been
disproven by research except for one. Smoking marijuana does affect the pulmonary
system by irritating air passages and reduces breathing capacity (Kinsley). A good solution
would be the consumption of edibles instead of smoking marijuana. Edibles are any type of
food that contains marijuanas compounds. They have all the same medical benefits as
smoking. Edibles also do not affect the potency of the marijuana, and they are safe for
children that need medical marijuana. These would be easily accessible with the
legalization of marijuana because there would be many stores selling these edibles. There
are also other alternatives to getting the medicinal benefits of marijuana without smoking
it. One example of a safe alternative to smoking has been the development of vaporizers.
Vaporizers have a wide range of shape and size, but they all do the same thing. They heat
marijuana to right below combustion because this will allow all the active compounds in

marijuana to be turned into a gas. Without combustion there will be no harmful effects to
the pulmonary system that is associated with the actual smoking of marijuana (Canada).
Marijuana has many medicinal effects that can benefit patients with copious types of
conditions. Dr. Tod Mikuriya was a national administrator of the U.S. governments
marijuana research programs, and he has dealt with about 10,000 patients over the last 15
years. He has found out that approximately 200 different medical conditions respond
positively to marijuana. However, the most notable conditions that respond well to
marijuana are very common. For example, Alzheimers disease can be slowed by marijuana
because an active ingredient known as THC prevents an enzyme from accelerating the
formation of Alzheimers plague(Medical Marijuana). Marijuana can also help people with
epilepsy because natural ingredients found in marijuana help control seizures. There have
been numerous cases that have proven marijuana dramatically cuts down on seizures with
epilepsy patients. People with multiple sclerosis, arthritis, depression, and anxiety use
marijuana to help calm them, make them feel relaxed, and relieve pains. Patients of
glaucoma and Hepatitis C found that not only did it help relieve pain, but also improved
results in their treatments. Chemotherapy and morning sickness both cause extreme
nausea and loss of appetite. Marijuanas side effects reverse these two symptoms allowing
the patients to eat and feel well (Medical Marijuana). Patients of the Parkinsons disease
can use marijuana to help calm their tremors and allow them to fall asleep easier. I have
witnessed this first hand with my own father who suffers from Parkinsons. He has told me
how well marijuana works, and he highly prefers it over his current medicine that was first
prescribed to him. With all these positive properties that marijuana contains there should
be no reason for it to remain illegal.

Why would the United States deny patients a natural medicine that can alleviate
various conditions? One theory is that pharmaceutical companies would not be able to
profit from marijuana because it is illegal to own or patented certain plants. Marijuana is a
plant that cant be patented or owned. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies use their
money and power to do whatever they can to make sure marijuana stays illegal. The irony
is these same companies are working on synthetic compounds that replicate the effects of
marijuana so they can make a profit (Medical Marijuana). If only this country was not built
on greed, people suffering all over the United States would be able to easily access and
benefit from marijuana.
Alcohol and cigarettes are legal drugs that have no medicinal benefits and actually
have extremely negative effects on the human body. In our culture, marijuana is seen as a
gateway drug, but the real gateway drugs are the legal ones known as alcohol and
cigarettes. Cigarettes account for about 480,000 deaths per year in the United States alone
(Smoking & Tobacco Use). Alcohol accounts for another 90,000 deaths in the U.S. (Alcohol
& Public Health). That stat does not include deaths caused by intoxicated people. Still, there
are advertisements everywhere encouraging the use of alcohol and cigarettes because huge
companies can profit from these dangerous legal drugs. Yet, marijuana is scrutinized and
frowned upon even though marijuana is beneficial to millions of people. However, Dr.
Lester Grinspoon, a professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School, says, There are no from
cannabis use. Anywhere. You cant find one(Grinspoon). Marijuana has never killed a
single person, and it is still illegal in most states. But, cigarettes and alcohol can be bought
legally at almost every store, and worldwide they account for about 8,500,000 deaths a
year (Smoking & Tobacco Use).

Legalization of marijuana will have a positive impact on the United States economy.
Marijuana will become one of the top cash crops in the nation and will yield huge profits.
There have been guesses that legalization in the United States would create anywhere from
a conservative 30 billion to possibly 70 billion dollars (Bernasek). Along with the creation
of many new businesses and huge tax revenue, the legalization of marijuana in the United
States will save both the federal and state governments billions of dollars. Just a few years
ago the state and federal governments spent just about 8 billion dollars enforcing useless
laws against marijuana growing, selling, and consumption (Schneider). People do not
deserve to be in jail because of marijuana charges. They are not dangerous or violent
human beings like the people who deserve to be imprisoned.
In order for marijuana to truly be legalized in the United States it must become a
federal law. Most people do not know why marijuana was criminalized in the first place.
The real reason it became criminalized was because in the early 1900s the use of marijuana
was associated with Mexicans and African Americans. Of course there was extreme
prejudice back in those days. People spread rumors that marijuana causes people to
commit violet crimes like murder and rape. All these stories were completely false. But,
marijuana was associated with Mexicans and African Americans causing people to back up
these stories. All this hate towards marijuana and minorities resulted in tremendous
pressure for the government to criminalize marijuana. So, racism is the reason marijuana
was criminalized (Schlosser 20). Before that, the marijuana plant was used for a wide range
of products because the plant had hemp fibers that were extremely useful. But now under
federal law, the ultimate law of the United States, marijuana is completely illegal. One
argument against legalization is a fear that the recreational use of marijuana will sky

rocket. This is just a fear because the past events like the prohibition of alcohol showed that
making it legal or illegal had pretty much no affect on the consumption rate (Schneider).
People use marijuana either medicinally or recreationally because they enjoy the effects.
Legalizing it will not cause a bunch of people to go out and use it frequently. Most of the
population in the United States can already easily access marijuana, but the ones who do
not enjoy it just dont use it. Legalizing marijuana will benefit the economy, not turn the
United States into a bunch of stoners. Also, the formation of legitimate businesses will allow
for personal gain along with government receiving money from all the taxes that are
generated.
In the end, marijuana should be legalized so it can benefit everyone in the United
States either medicinally, economically, or both. How can this country allow people to build
their fortune on harmful drugs like alcohol and cigarettes? But, at the same time, people
can be imprisoned longer for marijuana charges than repeat violent criminals. There are
even some people serving life sentences because of the harsh federal laws imposed on
marijuana. The United States must do something to fix this issue. The people must learn the
truth, and not believe all the propaganda that is used to put a negative connotation on
marijuana. There are patients all over suffering that could benefit from the legalization.
There is also a huge market that will be created with legalization. This will bring a very
positive impact on our economy; so, if you dont support legalization for moral purposes
then the greed should help you support it. Dr. Grinspoon sums it up best by saying,
Marijuana will someday be hailed as a miracle drug, one that is safe, inexpensive, and
versatile(Schlosser 16). Hopefully one day the United States will give in to the greater
good, and do what is right by legalizing marijuana at the federal level.

Works Cited
Alcohol and Public Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 19 May 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
Bernasek, Anna. Two Numbers. Why the IRS Will Love Legal Pot. Newsweek Global 162.2
(2014): 98-100. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Canada, Newswire. Health Canada Approved Volcano Medic Vaporizer. Canada Newswire
26 Feb. 2014: Business Source Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Grinspoon, Lester. Should Marijuana Be Legalized As A Medicine? Yes, Its A Beneficial
Drug. World & I 9.6 (1994): 92. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
International Business, Times. Medical Marijuana: 10 Health Benefits That Legitimize
Legalization. International Business Times 08 Aug. 2012: Regional Business News.
Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Kinsley, Michael. Joint Committee. New Republic 244. 13 (2013): 9-11. Academic Search
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Schlosser, Eric. Reefer Madness. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print.
Schneider, Dan. Pot Economics. Dollars & Sense 311 (2014): 11. MasterFILE Premier. Web.
18 Nov. 2014.
"Smoking & Tobacco Use." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 19 May 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.