Censorship

Legalizing Marijuana:

Without a doubt, the controversy embedded in the legalization of marijuana has caused uproar in courtrooms nationwide. Whether or not this drug is to become legalized in all of the United States has yet to be determined. It is apparent that many individuals, mainly politicians, do not want the legalization of marijuana to occur do to the high illegal usage that already plagues this country. The responsibility that this country will have to undertake if marijuana is legalized is too much to even consider a possibility. However, the fight to legalize marijuana for medical use continues to be a decision that lawmakers have yet to agree on. Also, the "legal recognition has not yet reached the point where a conclusion can be drawn that the right to use medical marijuana is fundamental".

There are a number of reasons why the legalization of marijuana as a medical aide will be beneficial to those that suffer from incurable diseases such as AIDS, some types of cancers, tumors, vision problems, weight loss, and also as pain suppressants to those who can no longer depend on regular prescribed pain medication.There are drugs being prescribed to patients that are much worse than marijuana. In some cases it is necessary for a seriously ill person to consume marijuana to ease their pain. "One mix of cannabinoids might help AIDS patients regain their appetite; another might reduce the nausea experienced by chemotherapy patients; and Rosenthal was using his expertise in marijuana botany to produce the right plants for sick people" (Schlosser 68). An article in the New York Times by Jesse McKinley titled "Dying Woman Loses Appeal on Marijuana as Medication", pertains to 41 year-old Angel McClary Raich. "The woman, Angel McClary Raich, says she uses marijuana on doctors' recommendation to treat an inoperable brain tumor and a battery of other serious ailments. Ms. Raich, 41, asserts that the drug effectively keeps her alive, by stimulating appetite and relieving pain, in a way that prescription drugs do not" (McKinley 2007). Medical marijuana supporter estimate more than 100,000 Americans use medicinal marijuana to treat illness.

In the first chapter of Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser, also titled "Reefer Madness," the case of Mark Young is brought into the spotlight. Even though his case was not one that dealt specifically with the use of marijuana as a form of a medical substitution of already prescribed drugs, the chapter is filled with mini anecdotes of individuals who have been affected by the stigma that surrounds marijuana. As stated before, legalizing marijuana will cause a great deal of issues in this country. Not only are legislators not going to be able to have control over the amount consumed by potential candidates, but the amount needed will also be problematic for the number of people who will want to use marijuana as a substitute for medication prescribed by their physicians. There are many advocates in the battle for the legalization of marijuana that have encountered many problems due to the miss use by patients that sell medicated marijuana to the public. The government can not control the resale and has no record on who is purchasing and distributing it.

On February 12, 2002, DEA agents raided a medical marijuana cooperative in San Francisco, confiscating thousands of plants and arresting three people. The raid coincided with an antidrug speech that DEA administrator Hutchinson gave in the city that day. Although the Bush administration champions a states' rights philosophy on most issues, it will not tolerate any challenge to federal supremacy on marijuana policy. Under California law, thousands of AIDS patients and cancer patients had been receiving marijuana through a handful of nonprofit cooperatives that worked closely with state law enforcement authorities" (Schlosser 68). "Among those arrested in the San Francisco raid was Ed Rosenthal, who'd been helping local cooperatives grow marijuana for their patients. He now faces a prison sentence of between five and eighty five years" (Schlosser 68). " (Schlosser 68).

In 1937, for example, the 75th Congress theorized that Spanish-speaking immigrants were "low mentally" because of "social and racial conditions" and, since some of these immigrants used medical marijuana, the Federal Government "reasoned" (over the objection of the American Medical Association) that medical marijuana should be criminalized. It is an ugly truth: racism represents the beginning of today's Federal medical marijuana prohibition. Anyone doubting whether racism is in fact behind the founding of today's Federal medical marijuana prohibition should read the legislative history of The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Anyone doubting whether race still plays a role in the war on drugs should read the American Civil Liberties Union's policy report on race and drug prohibition. That Federal medical marijuana prohibition stems from Jim Crow thinking is beyond doubt to everyone who takes the time to research and consider the issue with an open mind.

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