legalizing marijuana
... keep all aspects of it illegal. Proponents of marijuana legalization for medicinal purposes argue that it is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol (the most frequently used legal drugs). Before deciding whether marijuana should legal or illegal one should be informed of the basic facts about marijuana. Most botanists agree that there are three types of marijuana. Cannabis sativa is the most widespread of the three is tall, gangly, loosely branched and can grow as tall as twenty feet high. Cannabis indica, is shorter, three or four feet in height, pyramidal is shape and densely branched. Cannabis ruderalis, is about two feet high with few or no branches (Bakalar 1). Cannabis is one of the most widespread and diversified of all plants. It can be cultivated all over the world in many different types of soils and climates (Bakalar 1). Marijuana was first cultivated in China and was used as a sedative and analgesic, but today it is used more for the “high” or euphoric feeling it causes. Marijuana is illegal in the United States today because of the marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This act prohibited the distribution, growing, and usage of marijuana. It was made illegal because no one understood why smoking marijuana made people feel euphoric. It was also associated with Indians and other people whose native traditions were considered immoral at the time (Tax Act). Today it is illegal because of the intoxicating side effects such as hallucinations, depression, anxiety, mood swings, paranoia, and schizophrenia and the illegal behavior these feelings lead to. Some of these side effects can last up to six hours. Physical effects include but are not limited to reddening of the eyes, dryness of the mouth and throat, a slight increase in heart rate, tightness in the chest, drowsiness, and random muscle contractions. Although marijuana has not been proven to be physically addictive it is psychologically addictive. These are the negative effects of marijuana and the main reasons some doctors and politicians want to keep marijuana illegal. As of December 1, 1999 only fourteen people in the United States were legally allowed to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. One of these people is Robert Randall. He was the first American to gain legal access to marijuana. Randall was diagnosed with glaucoma in 1972. Doctors told him he would be completely blind in four to five years (Smoking). Robert Randall died in 2001 still retaining some distance vision (Robert). Kenny and Barbara Jenks were prescribed marijuana to alleviate nausea and to increase their appetite. Barbara Jenks died in March of 1992 but without the help of marijuana she would have wasted away from malnutrition much earlier. For AIDS patients, marijuana’s hunger inducing side effects can be the only thing that can keep them from life and death. Pharmaceutical companies have tried to create alternatives to marijuana. A drug called Marinol is on the market. Marinol sells for...