The Voices of a Nataion on Drugs: High or Goodbye Pain?
	Wouldn’t it be satisfying to see a cancer patient who is undergoing chemotherapy not have to deal with the results of pain and sickness, caused by the treatment, on a daily basis? Shouldn’t something be available to people who have a hard time moving around due to major arthritis in their limbs that would help them to move a little more freely? Couldn’t there be a way in which glaucoma sufferers can dull their pain easily and effortlessly with the help of a simple cigarette lighter? In these days of conflict over states’ rights to legalize medicinal marijuana and the federal government’s position that any type of marijuana is illegal, the one thing that is being over looked by the federal government is the fact that they are completely trampling upon the basic foundations of our nation. The federal government, by prosecuting those who use medicinal marijuana, are taking the freedom of American citizens to enjoy “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” away, while dragging along those freedoms of the states which have made, with full legal right, medicinal marijuana legal. However, in the midst of all this conflict, a solution can be sought out and achieved only if all sides of the issue are willing to negotiate. The term “marijuana” refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant, or Cannabis sativa. It contains the chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short. When smoked, the THC gives the user a “high” feeling, a sense of intense relaxation and peace. It calms the mind and relaxes the body. Thousands of years ago, the people of China used the cannabis plant as a spice in their foods, a medicinal compound to relieve physical pain and to help the mind, and a material for clothing. (History of Marijuana) It was not considered harmful or illegal to anyone but beneficial to the individual, both to their external physical body and their inner mental state. Ever since marijuana began to be regulated in the early 19th century, the United States has encountered problems with the drug ever since. The current controversy surrounding the drug involves the legalization of the medicinal use of marijuana and the rights of the states to be able to do so. The federal government views marijuana as illegal, whether it be for medical use or for personal, recreational use. As the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” (Groiler) This shows that the states have the right to make laws that that pertain to them, such as the law to make marijuana legal to those who have serious illnesses. However, the federal government is not acknowledging that fact and takes offensive action against doctors who prescribe marijuana and users of medical marijuana which is causing tension between the state and federal governments. Early in the 19th century, marijuana in American underwent some regulations. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed as an effort to rid the US of the non-medical uses of marijuana. The purpose of the act was “to levy a token tax of approximately one dollar on all buyers, sellers, importers, growers, physicians, veterinarians, and any other persons who deals in marijuana commercially, prescribes it professionally, or possess it”. (Solomon) By stating it this way, all those involved with marijuana in one way or another were regulated against overusing the drug, although the original intent was to get rid of the non-medical uses completely. Marijuana users, growers, importers, and prescribers were required to register with the United States government and to pay taxes on the marijuana. The amount that people had to pay varied depending on what group a person fell in to. The American Medical Association did not approve of this act. However the government persisted in their efforts by increasing fines and jail times in the 1950’s. War was a major influence on everybody in the United States during the nineteenth century. It was most probably one of the biggest reasons why there was such a lax attitude towards the issue of marijuana. The United States and its presidents were putting most of their energy and effort into fighting whatever war was going on at the time instead of keeping track of the marijuana situation. During World War II, all the United States really could do was increase the fines and jail times of marijuana lawbreakers. They were more focused on a big war rather than fighting a small problem here at home. The same idea is found during the Vietnam War. America was putting almost all of its time into either fighting the war or protesting against it. They were really not all that interested in the petty issue of marijuana until the war was over, or at least until the U.S. ceased from being involved. This is shown by the time span between the Marijuana Tax act of 1937 and the next act which took effect in 1970. In 1970, Congress passed an act called the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention Control Act, also known as the Controlled Substances Act. It was most probably an act on the part of the government so that they could have an excuse to fight against something after the war. This act placed all drugs under five different categories, called Schedules, with Schedule I including drugs that have no medical use and are highly addictive such as heroin, and LSD. The Act states that the Attorney General must request scientific data from the Secretary along with the Secretary’s request concerning which schedule a certain drug should be placed under. (FDA) Congress intended to place marijuana in Schedule I for a short period of time but hesitated to due to the findings of some studies done by the Presidential Commission of marijuana and Drug Use. The results showed that marijuana was not as dangerous as some other drugs that were out there. However, the situation was but on the back burner for a while due to the fact that it was brought up during the “Watergate Sandal.” (Rawson) Soon afterwards, in 1980, under the Regan administration, “war” was declared on drugs, specifically marijuana, since at the time, it was considered to a “gateway drug” leading those who used it to start using more an more hardcore drugs such as cocaine and heroin. This is when the conflict involving medical marijuana and states’ rights started growing. More and more people wanted marijuana to be used for medical purposes while the federal government basically said no. Some people realized the benefits of marijuana as a medicine and wanted it to be used to help those who live in pain everyday due to serious illness. But the federal government, to this day, still rejects any attempts to make medicinal marijuana legal. Since then, arrests for possession of any type of drug has more than doubled since 1980. Most American citizens have the same view about the way they should be allowed to live: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood. -- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25, passed unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in December, 1948 (“More Quotes”) This states that every human being, no matter where they live, has the right to live like a human being. They have the right to live in health, in peace, in a state of security, and without problems from “upper levels”. The Declaration of Independence also states that men have “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (The Declaration of Independence) This shows perfectly the one main belief that this nation was founded upon: freedom. The federal government, by arresting those who are using legal medicinal marijuana, are taking the freedoms of those people away along with the freedoms of the state that they live in and in the meantime, are breaking the law in a sense. They are trampling all over the basic foundations of our nation, even though they are supposed to be upholding them. As Milton Friedman once stated, “Every friend of freedom . . . must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the U.S. into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.” (Wisotsky) Arguers would say that the government is just doing its job, trying to get a potentially dangerous drug off the street. However, what these people do not see is that the federal government is disregarding human rights, making some people suffer while what they are really trying to do is keep the drug out of the hands of the people who use it, not out of the hands of people who really need it. About 700,000 people are arrested for marijuana related activities per year. (Rawson) This includes those who have been arrested for medicinal marijuana practices also. In 1996, Proposition 215 was passed in California, making medical marijuana legal in major hospitals. Proposition 215, now known as The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 states that patients with serious illnesses are given the right to receive a prescription for the use of marijuana as a pain killer in certain states. With the passage of this act, physicians are allowed to prescribe marijuana as a relief from pain to seriously ill people. Growers and patients are to be protected from criminal prosecution or sanction and have the right to posses and cultivate small amounts of marijuana in their homes. Only patients with prescriptions from their physicians, and patients from the ten named states, are able to take advantage of this beneficial opportunity. Marijuana helps to relieve pain and relax muscles, it causes drowsiness in the user helping them to go to sleep, and it also helps to increase the user’s appetite, which can be helpful for patients with AIDS or those undergoing cancer treatment. (“The Last Smoke”) It is less harmful than cigarettes because it does not contain chemicals such as benzo[A]pyrene, acetone, phenol, and benzene. Smoking anything can be harmful to the body but marijuana smokers tend to smoke less frequently then cigarette smokers to. About ten states so far have taken the initiative to make medical marijuana legal in their states because they realize the many benefits of the drug. These states include California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. Medical marijuana helps the seriously ill in a few ways. The most important thing that it does for them is help to relax their muscles and relieve their pain. Some might ask, “What about other prescribed pain killers? Do they not have the same effects?” The answer is yes, but there are a lot of positive benefits that are attached to the production of marijuana. Marijuana is a lot cheaper to make, and a lot easier to grow. It costs less to produce, has hardly any byproducts, it can be grown in great quantities, and can be continued to be grown in large quantities. Many pain killers have various negative side effects, such as drowsiness, irritability, enhanced sensitivity of the skin epidermis, changes in person’s bowel movements, and the like. For example, the pain killer aspirin causes gastro-intestinal discomfort, if taken regularly, which can be harmful to the human body. (Aspirin) Marijuana, on the other hand, also has a few side effects, but they are all beneficial to the person using it. According to the findings of the office of Barry McCaffrey, Bill Clinton’s former “drug czar”, marijuana is not addictive, it is not considered to be a gateway drug, the medical use of marijuana will not increase casual use, and the medical benefits out weigh the risks, which are less then the risks you get by using other well-known prescription drugs.(Harris) Marijuana is not addictive, as cigarettes or alcohol are, but it can be considered addictive in the sense that people go out and buy it compulsively even though they do not need it. However, it is by far less harmful on the human body than other depressants such as cigarettes, alcohol, and most pain killers. The only negative side effect linked to marijuana so far is purely political. As of now, no successful solution has been found to solve this problem. There have been many attempts at settling the debate, all which have been unsuccessful. However, there are some details and some processes that have been overlooked in trying to find a resolution to this dispute. The issue of medicinal marijuana can be resolved by taking into consideration both the medical side of the situation and the issue of the war on drugs. Solving the issue of medical marijuana will in turn further help the war on drugs in the future. Presently, the federal government considers any type of marijuana usage illegal. This is one of the main problems in this heated dispute. Because they see it as illegal, they are blind to the medical benefits of the drug which cause them to overlook any other possible solutions. Something that the federal government might consider is getting a law passed which legalizes the medicinal prescribing and use of marijuana, but not the growth. Major hospitals across the country would have control over the proper distribution of the drug, making sure that only those who really need it are able to obtain it. The proposal stated here is that the federal government should make medicinal marijuana legal throughout the United States. However, there would be a few regulations upon this law. Legalizing medicinal marijuana would call for the regulation of many different issues. Patients who have been prescribed marijuana as a medicinal treatment will be required to carry with them proof that they are allowed to use medicinal marijuana. This will help police distinguish between those who have the right to use it and those who do not have the right to use it. It will put marijuana users into two different groups: legal users and illegal users. By doing this, more focus can be placed on those who are using marijuana illegally which in turn makes it a little easier for the federal government to win their war against medicinal marijuana. Another regulation would help to prohibit the resale of the drug to others for non-medicinal uses. If a legal possessor of marijuana were to give or sell their prescription to another person who does not have the right to posses it, it would be considered illegal and proper action would be taken against that patient. They would be thought of as a drug dealer and given a new prescription, making sure that they are not allowed to obtain medical marijuana for treatment in the future. It would also be considered illegal for a patient who has the right to marijuana to harvest their own plants in their homes. This only creates suspicion of illegal drug activity and will not be allowed. The only people who would be allowed to grow marijuana would be the pharmacies and hospitals who prescribe it. This reduces the chance that legal marijuana will fall into the wrong hands. Patients with serious illnesses have a need for medicinal marijuana and should be grated that right by their own government. By following this plan of action, the war on drugs, especially marijuana, since it is considered by some to be a “gateway” drug, will be made easier. Those who need marijuana will be sifted out from the rest of the drug using population which in turn will eliminate some of the problems that the federal government is having with fighting this war. In the end, this solution not only helps those in pain and those who want to rid the US of drugs, but it also gives people the freedom that they deserve, the freedom to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
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