Medical and Recreational Peace, a special interest group in Michigan, is fighting for our right to free choice. The organization got its legislative petition approved and collected signatures to get the proposal on the 2008 state ballot. Here in Michigan, marijuana use can bring unique benefits. Legalization could bring more people to the state as well as boost Michigan's failing economy, which has a record deficit of $900 million.
This proposal would make it legal for adults over 18 to use and grow marijuana on private property, with regulations. The use of the drug in public would incur a $50 fine, and a misdemeanor with repeated offenses. For this proposal to make it onto the ballot, the group had to obtain 304,000 signatures by June 2007. Michigan voters may soon have the chance - and hopefully, the wisdom - to decriminalize the drug.
It's been clear that the war on marijuana is failing miserably. We need to reform these laws. More than 750,000 Americans were arrested for marijuana possession last year. If marijuana were decriminalized, many cases that are currently clogging up the court system would be eliminated, and tax money wasted prosecuting marijuana users could be spent on worthier goals, such as education.
Despite massive efforts to intercept supplies and prosecute users, marijuana is still the most widely abused drug. Earlier generations found that the prohibition of alcohol was unsuccessful. Cancer-causing cigarettes and other tobacco products are legal. Yet marijuana, which has the worst reputation, is less harmful and certainly less addictive, remains banned.
Many have recognized the absurdity of criminalizing marijuana and have joined a growing movement to legalize it. Ann Arbor voters approved an ordinance that allows the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes by a three-to-one margin in 2004, and the city punishes marijuana possession with a meager $25 fine. Just last year, Denver voted to allow adults over 21 to own up to one ounce of marijuana. This demonstrates the drug's growing mainstream acceptance.
The government has had a trend of discrediting research and only reporting lies creating myths about marijuana. Overwhelming evidence shows that marijuana is not physically addictive. Even given facts people believe that prolonged use can lead to a form of mental dependency. There is also no evidence that shows the use of marijuana will cause brain damage. Studies performed on actual human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users over many years. People believe that marijuana makes you lose the ability to recall and store short-term memories. Although marijuana does impair short-term memory, it is only during intoxication.
One of the key reasons for the legalization of marijuana is its valuable medicinal qualities. Research over the last few years has shown that marijuana can help to cure or be a cure-all for many serious diseases. Such medical conditions include:
- Glaucoma: Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the nation. Smoking marijuana is an effective way to reduce the internal pressure of the eye caused by this disease.
- Asthma and Emphysema: It can treat symptoms of lung congestion by promoting the discharge of phlegm or other fluid from the respiratory tract.
- AIDS and Anorexia: Marijuana is a significant appetite stimulant to help patients gain weight. This could be lifesaving for AIDS patients who develop wasting , a severe weight-loss condition.
- Cancer: The use of marijuana can also help reduce nausea and increase appetite. It also reduces the pain associated with cancer. Breathing can be restored to fullness, to eliminate built up toxicity, cleanse poisons at the cellular level, as well as lessen contraction and nervousness.
- Epilepsy and Multiple Sclerosis: Marijuana can help to control and reduce muscle spasms and tremors. It can also help with bladder control and plasticity involved with Multiple Sclerosis.
In all of these diseases it helps to reduce fear, dread, and depression. Marijuana can also help to reduce pain and complications due to migraines, rheumatism and arthritis, and any other source of pain.
Even if you do not believe marijuana is Michigan's ticket to economic salvation, we can at least agree that using the drug is a personal choice. Adults exercise the freedom to use tobacco and alcohol, and the same should be true for marijuana. The first step to restore rights taken away nearly 70 years ago is to get the legalization of marijuana on the state ballot. Everyone can and should be important allies in helping their fellow residents reclaim their right to choose whether or not to use and/or grow marijuana.
of the matter is that the people of a sate/community should be able to decide.
especially if they think they will be able to control and keep people in check
and the benefits are more than the costs of changing the current policy on marijuana
I'll come back when I have more stuff to add :)
thanks for this kind of topic that is different and nice retrieve from religion/abortion
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
http://www.progressiveu.org/231615-this-is-a-muslim-girls-plight
I believe it should be the people's choice -- you are putting it in your body, just like cigarettes or alcohol, except marijuana is much better for you as far as for your health and addiction.
I believe strongly in the reform of marijuana laws and hope the U.S will one day end the war on drugs. Prohibition does not work! We are just creating more Al Capones.
You don't know what you are talking about. Studies have shown that marijuana has only a slight effect in lowering intraocular eye pressure, far below the effect produced by glaucoma drugs. It is not enough to control glaucoma, and when glaucoma isn't controlled, it progresses to the point where the sufferer goes blind.
In other words, people who smoke marijuana instead of using their glaucoma eye drops will lose their vision. That's BLIND! Forever! When you lose your vision from glaucoma, it never comes back.
If you know of a scientific study that supports your position, then please cite it. But don't publish lies about the effectiveness of marijuana -- you're misleading people and playing with their eye health. Is that really what you want to do?