On November 5, 1996, Californians voiced their honest opinion. Californians voted yes on a very controversial proposition – Proposition 215. This law allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients with diseases that have severe symptoms.
For example, cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy and suffer from severe nausea and aching can benefit from smoking marijuana. Marijuana helps these patients get through these painful symptoms by numbing the body and soothing the stomach. It also improves the appetites of AIDS patients, increases their weight, and improves their chance of survival. Marijuana also helps MS patients with bladder control and tremors. The use of marijuana for medical purposes is not a new issue. The Marijuana Tax Act made the cultivation or possession of marijuana illegal in 1937, but it has only been a heated issue since the 1960s.
In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substance Act, which placed all illicit drugs into 5 categories. Marijuana was placed under the category of Schedule 1″ because Congress decided that it has no medical use and a high potential for abuse. However, in 1970, Congress did not know the potential benefits of marijuana for medical purposes because chemotherapy was not an issue back then. NORML pointed this out in their petition to change the scheduling in 1972. NORML (National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws) insisted that Congress had made their decision without accurate information about the plant.
In 1975, the IND began a program that would allow patients to receive marijuana from the government. This program lasted until 1992 when Congress discontinued it. Not more than a year ago, the same request for the rescheduling of marijuana was presented to Congress and it was once again denied. In 1990, the Drug Advisory Board stated that personal use and cultivation should be legalized.” The Drug Advisory Board wanted to legalize marijuana for all purposes, not just for medical use because it would benefit our economy by being a taxable good and decrease crime related to obtaining the drug.
Opponents of the legalization of marijuana believe that it is a gateway” drug that leads users to more harmful substances. However, there is no factual evidence to support this claim. In 1995, the National Survey on Drug Abuse found that only 20% of illicit drug users smoke marijuana, and 57% of illicit drug users smoke only marijuana. Proposition 215 aimed to legalize the cultivation, possession, and smoking of marijuana for individuals with prescriptions. Despite California voting in favor of the proposition, the United States Supreme Court denied it due to federal drug laws prohibiting the possession and cultivation of marijuana.
This is ridiculous. Who’s to say that the government can let a cancer patient suffer when there is medicine that can soothe their pain? People who are terminally ill do not deserve to be put in jail because they are only trying to feel better and relieve some of the nasty side effects of their sickness.
Bibliography: Gooding, Robert. Healthy Marijuana.” July 1996. http://trailerpark.com/phase1/hempman.html.
