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Logan Walker

Mr.Droski

4/20/21

3rd Hour

Marijuana

Marijuana is a billion industry and is still on the rise with more and more states legalizing

for either medical, recreational or both. If marijuana was legalized in all fifty states for

recreational and medical purposes then that money made from the Cannabis industry could get

put towards good causes such as; fixing the roads, vaccine, and public education. I believe it’ll

take around five to ten years for all fifty states to legalize marijuana because of all the

misperceptions around the Cannabis industry and the plant as a whole, with people believing that

opioids and narcos are healthier/safer options then medical grade Cannabis for patients all across

the US. Especially the patients dealing with mental illnesses because the government believes

that Zoloft, Prozac, antipsychotics and any other pills are the only options to treating these

mental illnesses. Marijuana is legal in 33 states for medicinal use and 10 of those 33 states

allow for recreational use, A survey directed by the Pew Research Center showed that 62% of

people were for the legalization of recreational marijuana use. Marijuana has over 500 hundred

chemicals and about ⅕ of those are known as Cannabinoids, Cannabidiol or also known as CBD

is another part of the Marijuana plant except its 100% non psychoactive and is completely meant

for medical use. CBD is known for being able to help patients with Epilepsy and chronic pain.

Marijuana is also a really good and cheap alternative for cancer patients that are suffering from

extreme pain and nausea. It’s also good for stimulating the appetite of cancer patients that suffer
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from loss of appetite. The long term use of Marijuana can steer the patient into dependence of it.

WIth long term use of marijuana comes increased chances of anxiety, depression, and

schizophrenia. The CIND was created for drugs that haven’t been approved yet by the FDA but

people want to use those drugs for medical purposes. In 1996 Proposition 215 was introduced in

California and this proposition was for the legalization of medical marijuana. The proposition

was later lengthen and added to it was allowing people to legally grow, possess, and distribute

marijuana for medical purposes only. In 2005 the supreme court ruled that even if certain states

have “compassionate use laws” the federal government can still imprison medical marijuana

users. In 2014 a new bill was passed and it was called the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment and it

was meant to stop the government from spending more money on suing the medical marijuana

laws and medical patients. The Careers act and the States act were both bills that were meant to

move marijuana from a schedule I drug to a schedule II drug and wiping clean all violators of

marijuana charges. By legalizing recreational/medicinal

marijuana use, we can than start to build an industry around that that could open up more jobs for

the people that were/are relying on those “stimulus checks” and start to produce a notable

amount of tax revenue for the local and state governments. For example, “Colorado, which was

the first state to legalize the drug for adult recreational use, reported over $1 billion in revenue

from marijuana sales between January 2014 and June 2019,” Another example, “ A 2017 study

also showed that if marijuana were legalized in the United States at the federal level, it would

generate $132 billion in tax revenue and create over one million jobs over the ten-year period

spanning 2017-2026.” Both of these examples show how much tax revenue there is to be made

and put to good use and how many jobs would be open to unemployed folks in the next ten

years, thats only is marijuana was legalized at the federal level making it legal in all 50 states.
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Marijuana is known for being a plant that can heal/treat many conditions such as: seizures,

chronic pain, insomnia, nausea, muscle spasms, PTSD, and loss of appetite for cancer patients or

people that have HIV/AIDS. Marijuana has also been brought up a solution to the opioid crisis,

keep in mind that no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. For example, “Several studies

have shown that states with legal access to medical marijuana have fewer opioid-related deaths.

No death has ever been attributed to marijuana overdoes.” If the opioid crisis keeps getting worse

in states that haven’t legalized medical marijuana yet I believe they will have no other choice but

to legalize marijuana. Legalizing marijuana in states that aren’t legal yet would also cause

dispensaries to open up and these dispensaries would be government regulated making it easier

and safer for people to consume marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. Furthermore,

doctors believe that smoking marijuana is the most damaging way to consume marijuana and

recommend medical patients and recreational users to switch to a alternative in consuming

marijuana such as: edibles, drinks, topicals, lotions, and cartridges. Some of these alternative

products are actually proven to be a safer and healthier choice for also consuming marijuana for

the first time depending on age. Doctors would recommend most people consume marijuana in

one of these safe ways because marijuana smoke contains carcinogens which cause cancer. The

FDA is known for trying to stop the legalization of medicinal marijuana by stating that there are

no medical benefits from the marijuana plant that are effective enough for it to be legal besides

the actual smoking of marijuana. Some of the worries that come up when marijuana legalization

gets mentioned in a state are, “Is smoking marijuana harmful for my lungs?” and “Is it possible

to overdose from just marijuana?” To the first question, yes marijuana smoke contains

carcinogens just like tobacco and other products. To the second question, yes it is actually

possible to overdose from marijuana but you would have to consume 1,500 lbs of marijuana
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within 15 minutes and the likelihood of that is just inimaginable. Marijuana is a billion industry

and is still on the rise with more and more states legalizing for either medical, recreational or

both. I believe marijuana should be federally legalized in all 50 states for medicinal and

recreational purposes because marijuana is one of the only plants on this planet that can help

patients suffering from schizophrenia, anxiety, extreme pain, nausea, cancer patients and there

are no long lasting, life changing effects unlike pills. Secondly, I believe marijuana should be

legalized because it is a growing industry that will be able to provide money for states that can be

put to good uses such as roads, infrastructure, and covid vaccines, plus the marijuana industry is

said to have opened 1,000,000 jobs by 2026. Finally, I believe marijuana should be legalized

because it will be a stable source of tax income for the United States for a long time. This plant

isn’t just some sort of drug, its a medicine that should be used carefully and responsibly thanks to

the new research from plant scientists all around the world we are finding more and more

information regarding this plant and its medicinal and harmful effects every day.

:"Marijuana." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999259/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=b362df8e. Accessed

1 Apr. 2021”.

("Medical Marijuana." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/PZPIIT639543428/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=39e3e084.

Accessed 1 Apr. 2021”.):

:"Medical Marijuana spending tops $150 million in Arkansas." CNN Wire, 29 Sept. 2020, p. NA.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

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link.gale.com/apps/doc/A636885059/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=a1708683. Accessed 1

Apr. 2021.”

(Spiesel, Sydney. "The FDA's Opposition to Medical Marijuana Legalization Is Based on

Politics." Marijuana, edited by Noah Berlatsky, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010381255/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=e6ce96de. Accessed

1 Apr. 2021. Originally published as "All Smoke: The FDA's Statement on Medical Marijuana Isn't About

Science," Slate, 24 Apr. 2006.”):

:"US State Medical Marijuana Programs and Registered Patients, 2018." Gale Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/TADVSU274439269/OVIC?u=lom_accessmich&sid=OVIC&xid=db754ddd.

Accessed 1 Apr. 2021.”