Should Marijuana be legal
...lly companies will be licensed to sell marijuana cigarettes or more commonly know as “joints” and the immense revenue made from taxation of marijuana and the saved budget once spent on the prohibition of Marijuana could be spent on anti drug programs targeting much more dangerous drugs like cocaine and morphine. Somewhere in between providing bored high school kids something to do and being used to treat terminally ill patients marijuana has acquired the title of the “gateway drug.” What does that really mean? Well on a dictionary outlook it means “ A habit-forming substance whose use may lead to the abuse of drugs that are more addictive or more dangerous”; or more simply put a substance that opens the doors to more harmful drugs. On that token, alcohol fits the bill much better. Alcohol can be found in almost any home and for most people it is the first experience with a drug taken outside of the sphere of medicinal uses. Just because over the years it has become socially acceptable, there is no denying that alcohol is a drug and a drug that truly open the doors to a world of much more potent and dangerous self-indulgent drugs. In the Institute of Medicine's report on medical marijuana, researchers found that “Marijuana is not a completely benign substance. It is a powerful drug with a variety of effects. However, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications.” Much remains to be said of the numerous accounts of the medicinal value of marijuana. Among them are AIDS patients who say it stimulates their appetites and therefore countering deadly emaciation; cancer patients who say it aids in allaying ruthless nausea that comes with chemotherapy; glaucoma suffers who credit marijuana for saving their sight, and multiple sclerosis victims who claim it limits the muscle pain and spasticity caused by the deadly disease. In some patients marijuana has also been helpful in preventing epileptic seizures. In spite of the established medical value of marijuana, doctors are presently permitted to prescribe cocaine and morphine ...