The Federal Government and Medicinal Marijuana :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The American Medical Associations Council on Scientific Affairs should be commended for its report, Marijuana Its HealthHazards and Therapeutic Potential. Not still does the report outline evidence of marijuanas potential harms, but it distinguishes this concern from the legitimate issue of marijuanas important medical benefits. All too often the hysteria that attends usual debate over marijuanas social abuse compromises a clear appreciation for this critical distinction. Since 1978, 32 states have abandoned the federal prohibition to recognize legislatively marijuanas important medical properties. Federal law, however, continues to define marijuana as a drug with no accepted medical use, and federal agencies continue to prohibit physician-patient get at to marijuana. This outdated federal prohibition is corrupting the intent of the state laws and depriving thousands of glaucoma and cancer patients of the medical care promised them by their state legislatures. This is an excerpt from a letter written in 1982 to the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Its author was a citizen concerned about the complete lack of rationality exhibited time and time again in the Federal Governments attempts to justify its ban on the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. It was no burnt-out ex-hippie who penned the letter. The concerned citizen was none other than the current loudspeaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. He was co-sponsoring a bill intended to end the Federal prohibition on marijuana as medicine. He has since abandoned can for such initiatives and begun to deal in the sort of hypocrisy and misinformation that is typical of the federal governments policy toward medicinal marijuana. Gingrichs bill failed despite overwhelming support from both the earthly concern and the facts. Legislators, pandering to a vocal minority, struck it down. Fourteen years later, the unfathomed majority spoke. In a move that must have had Nixon spinning in his gr ave, the silent majority, it turns out, supports this drug use. In the Fall of 1996, two states passed referendums legalizing marijuana. Both Californias Compassionate Use Act and Arizonas Drug Medicalization, Prevention and Control Act passed wit h convincing margins despite well-funded opposition. Support for medical marijuana extends far beyond the traditionally libertarian Southwest. A recent survey of the American public by the American accomplished Liberties Union showed that 85% of the American p ublic favors making marijuana legally available to the seriously ill. Unwilling to let the people have the final say, the Clinton arrangement quickly moved to impose a de facto veto on these referendums.