Position Paper: Legalizing Medical Use of Marijuana

Marijuana- seed, grass, and greenish-gray mixture of the dried flowers of Cannabis

sativa. Some people use marijuana to smoke in hand-rolled cigarettes. Other names to
describe marijuana are; bhang, weed, ganja, pot, hemp, bud, dope and other slang
words. Marijuana is a drug that changes mindset and the perception of everything
perceived by brain. THC is the primary ingredient in marijuana for distracting the mind.
Despite of this, there are still a hundreds of other chemicals found in this plant. If in food
or beverages this marijuana is consumed, these has effects but it is delayed and is
usually appears after 30 minutes to 1 hour, this is because the drug passes first in the
digestive system. Because of the delayed effects, people may inadvertently consume
more THC than they intend to. Eating or drinking marijuana delivers significantly less
THC into the bloodstream than smoking an equivalent amount of the plant. The black
marketers, users buying illegal drugs, governments, those involved in courts, and
housed in jails because of selling or using marijuana is the main stakeholders.
According to the surveys, marijuana users in the United States are more than half of the
population between ages of 18 to 50 years.

The proponents of this issue is that favoring the legalization of marijuana says that
making it legal will not increase its consumption and people may themselves make a
choice of using it or not. They said that legalization of marijuana will change the demand
from other dangerous drugs like heroine and use of marijuana will eventually rise. It is
relevant to mention that marijuana users, similar to other Americans, are not law-
violators rather pay taxes, love their children and maintain families. Since most of the
marijuana using people act like other responsible citizens, the advocates of legalizing
marijuana supports they should not be treated like criminals just because they use
marijuana and, so therefore, ban should be lifted on using marijuana. However,
legalizing this substance and creating tax on marijuana cigarettes will transfer the
revenue from the producers and black marketers of marijuana to the government and
the government income will rise significantly. (Earleywine, Mitch Understanding
Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence Oxford University Press, 2005, p.
118)

Other proponents says that the revenue of government by imposing taxes and there will
be a reduction in the rates of crime and theft will increase when marijuana is legalized.
Some studies supported by strong medical evidence says that the increasing of revenue
and collections of taxes will be at the cost of human health. The consequences and
effects of marijuana, mainly discussed above, it may cause serious health problems and
death is the most eventual result.
This main argument in favor of legalizing marijuana of collecting tax is also portraying
incorrect picture. Tho, selling marijuana legally will be taxed and bring revenue but it will
fail to cover the social costs that marijuana places on the nation. For some instance,
chances of accidents increased, lower level of productivity, and augmented probabilities
of anxiety as well as distress conditions among people are the social costs to be paid by
the society that are significantly excess of financial revenues earned by the government.
(Rosenthal, Ed Why Marijuana Should be Legal Running Press, 2003, p. 87)

Conclusions
This position paper has focused on the introduction and presenting the facts legalizing
marijuana. Although, there are some advantages of legalizing marijuana in some other
country as medical use, but the harms and dangers of legalization is supported by the
medical evidence affecting health as well as social problems, and, therefore it is
recommended that marijuana should not be legalized in the nation because of its
harmful effects.

Readings in Philippine History

AUSA, Oshin A.
Ed1-A