There have been no recorded deaths directly relating to marijuana in the history of marijuana. Marijuana, also called pot, cannabis, Mary Jane, reefer, weed, the sweet leaf, wacky tobacky. Marijuana has been around for nearly 5,000 years. It dates back to the days of ancient Chinese medicine. Shen-Nung, who was a Chinese chemist, actually came up with a book of remedies for sicknesses using pot. Until about 1937 at least 27 medicines were available to the public legally. In 1970, the Controlled Substances act was put into place that put pot into Schedule 1 along with many other drugs. Schedule 1 is defined as a drug, which has a high potential for abuse, and no medicinal use. Schedule 2 drugs, which can be prescribed by doctors are cocaine, morphine, and opium derived painkillers�. all of those are considered much, much more dangerous in the real world. Many, many people are starting to realize that pot is not very dangerous at all, and that it should at least be moved to schedule 2 controlled substances. Many studies have been done on the use of marijuana, and its medicinal purposes, and general information. The studies that I have looked at are the IOM (Institute of Medicine) report, ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council), and other studies I have found in my research. Cannabis should be legalized, and I believe this because there are mounting facts proving that marijuana isn�t as bad as people think (IOM Report); public opinion is changing on the issue of marijuana, its use, and its medical values (ERSC Report), and the health benefits it can have.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was asked by the White House to review available scientific evidence of marijuana medical efficiency and safety. One of the things that they found was that there is no convincing data that medical legalization of pot would lead to an increase in recreational usage. In fact, if you compare the prohibition of pot to the prohibition to alcohol, when alcohol was made illegal, the usage increased dramatically, because it is a known fact that people want more of what they cant have, and pot is less addictive than alcohol and nicotine, which are both legal. In fact, the IOM Report found that some certain populations (people who use it to escape, which barely anyone does, pretty much everyone I know recreates [uses pot] to have a fun time) could` develop a dependence on the drug; withdrawal is �mild and subtle� compared with alcohol, heroin, or nicotine withdrawal. Along with that, the report found that there is no physiological evidence that weed is a �gateway� to harder drugs or cocaine. According to IOM, safety issues associated with pot �do not preclude some medical uses� and the side effects of cannabinoids �are within the acceptable risks associated with approval able medications.� Some people even think that the IOM report was too harsh on marijuana. One such person would be the Harvard psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon, who said that the IOM report exaggerated the dangers of smoke marijuana. He said that there has never been a fatal overdose, or a single case of lung cancer that can be attributed solely to marijuana smoking. The IOM is one of the most recent, most thorough researches done on the medical values and benefits of marijuana, but the ERSC (Economic & Social Research Council) Report lays out many, many statistics on how public opinion is changing in other countries.
About 41% of the people who live in Britain support marijuana�s legalization, which is risen from 12% in 1983. The public opinion on marijuana around the world is changing, changing towards realizing that pot isn�t halve as bad as the government wants everyone to think. The amount of lies and exaggeration of facts that have been provided by the government to the general public are being realized and are being looked down upon. People are being educated and are using common sense to realize that not everything that they are being told about how bad marijuana is. It is even being said that pot is becoming �normalized� among the youth, alongside cigarette smoking, and drinking alcohol. Two-thirds of 18-34 yr olds know a friend or have a family member who has used illegal drugs, and halve has used pot themselves. With the public opinion changing, and people realizing that it isn�t as bad as many people think, the general public is starting to realize that pot might have health benefits, also.
Although smoking pot is not completely healthy, the chemical which gives a user the feeling that they desire when using (THC) has many health benefits. Francis L. Young (DEA administrative law judge) called pot �one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.� He recommended that the DEA transferred pot from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2. Marijuana�s active components �are potentially effective in breathing pain, nausea, the anorexia of AIDS wasting and other symptoms,� and should be rigorously tested in clinical trials. Marijuana has been given such a false bad image that most people don�t realize that there are many, many more drugs that can be bought in wal-mart that are much, much worse than pot. What people don�t realize is that there are already bad drugs in many of today�s prescription drugs. Scott Ehlers (senior policy analyst at the foundation) says �there are already otherwise illegal drugs that are available in medicine today. Cocaine is available in medicine and heroin is available in medicine. I don�t think the American public is in favor of making those drugs available to the general public, so I don�t see what that would be the case with marijuana either.� Scott is one of the people who would like to move cannabis to schedule 2 opposed to full legalization.
Cannabis should be legalized, and I believe this because there are mounting facts proving that marijuana isn�t as bad as people think (IOM Report); public opinion is changing on the issue of marijuana, its use, and its medical values (ERSC Report), and the health benefits it can have. Marijuana isn�t as bad as the general public believe. The IOM report supports this idea, and so does the mounting evidence that pot isn�t as bad as everyone thinks. Even with the public realizing the reality of marijuana, and public opinion changing to pro-legalization, there are still too many lies, myths, and exaggeration of facts that are being spread by the government and people who do not understand pot. Marijuana isn�t as bad as everyone thinks, and if it is legalized, then maybe our prisons can be filled with child rapists and murderers instead of kids who smoke pot a little bit.