Medical marijuana: and Its positive and negative effects on California and Its government.
Marijuana has been in use for thousands of years. The first known reference dates all the way back to China in 2900 b.c. It was “noted as a very popular medicine that possessed both yin and yang.” From then on till the 1960’s marijuana was used in almost every culture to help cure peoples ailments. Medical marijuana is now illegal in many countries. Medical cannabis has many benefits, but it also has many negative aspects too. In this essay I will investigate the positive and negative affects that California has encountered in the legalization of medical Marijuana. The effects that California has encountered are both positive and negative, some of these effects are: tax revenue, the decriminalization of marijuana, and better medicine for some of its residence.“The California Compassionate Use Act, was enacted by the voters and took effect on Nov. 6, 1996 as California Health & Safety Code 11362.5. The law makes it legal for patients and their designated primary caregivers to possess and cultivate marijuana for their personal medical use given the recommendation or approval of a California-licensed physician.” Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996 and has developed into one of the largest debates in the state if not the country. There are 20 states that allow medical marijuana including Hawaii and California, but California is one of the few states with medical dispensaries.
The benefits that medical cannabis has on California’s government is very large; it affects everything from helping those in pain to funding many of the states necessities. It has done everything from generating millions of tax dollars to helping millions of people daily. In California there are many ways to obtain medical marijuana but the most common is Compassionate Care AKA the medical dispensaries. These dispensaries are independently run, but have strict government regulation. This government regulation allows California to tax the sale of medical marijuana and other forms of marijuana sold at the dispensaries. The tax on marijuana is about 16%. That generates over 100 million dollars of tax revenue each year. That money can help fund our schools, parks and many other useful things that the citizens of California need. Because medical marijuana is regulated it helps stop a lot if marijuana illegal traveling up the border from mexico. The marijuana coming up the border from mexico is sent by the cartel, (cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations.) but because of the regulation the amount of marijuana entering the California has highly decreased.(2) Marijuana affects the people and the government of California in many positive ways. Medical marijuana does everything from helping people with their chronic pain and other problems, and generating hundreds of millions of tax dollars to help fund our government.
Medical Marijuana’s positive effects riddle the state of California everything from helping people with better treatment to generating millions of tax dollars. Medical marijuana has been used for over five thousand years so it obviously works. Compared to modern pharmaceuticals, cannabis is viewed as a radical medicine because it is natural and contains unique chemical compounds not commonly used in newer medicine. None the less still a medicine. Many other painkillers are highly addictive such as Oxycodone, but scientist have said that marijuana has no addictive qualities. (2) The uses for medical marijuana is endless because of its non addictive quality. Marijuana does everything from helping cancer patients with pain to preventing seizures. “The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS.”(5) Medical marijuana is a powerful pain killer that many cancer patients and doctors swear by. My mother is an oncology doctor and she prescribes medical cannabis to many of her patients because of its many uses. Medical cannabis can help with anything from pain to increasing the appetite after a treatment of chemotherapy or radiation therapy for cancer patients. Although there are many positive effects of medical marijuana there are also many negative effects of the drug. Although medical marijuana has been around for over 5 thousand years It hasn’t always been considered as a medicine. In 60 A.D the Romans noted its medical potential, but they also called it a poison. Today marijuana is no longer considered a poison but not everybody acknowledges its medical benefits either. Marijuana is commonly know as a gateway drug. (gateway drugs are a habit-forming drug that, while not itself addictive, may lead to the use of other addictive drugs.) The average age that the population of California tries marijuana is from 14 years old. This is mostly due to peer pressure or curiosity. Many people blame this radical statistic to medical marijuana.
They say that the drug is made more available to the youth of California because of the dispensaries, and the amount of people using it and say that it is a medicine. In California marijuana is said to be decriminalized to the public, and in some sense it has been. “Decriminalization is To reduce or abolish criminal penalties for a criminal act such as illegally smoking marijuana.”(m-w.com) I have read and heard the stories from pot smoking friends of them getting caught by police and the police officer just letting them go not confiscating their drug paraphernalia, fining, or arresting them. Many have said this is due to medical marijuana. That because of medical marijuana the police/ government no longer think it’s their job to stop the use of this illegal drug. This is not only illegal,but immoral. It makes police officers look bad and corrupt. This decriminalization of marijuana has led to a lot of different problems in our cities and government. Medical Marijuana has affected almost every person in California in some way whether they know it or not. They could have a friend who uses it as medicine or be play at a park that was paid for by the taxation of medical marijuana. No matter what the effect positive or negative medical cannabis helps a lot of people. Medical marijuana has been around for thousands of years, and I don’t see it being made universally illegal. Whether you believe that it is medicine that helps people, or a drug that hurts people I hope this essay shed some light on the opposite side of your opinion.
work sited
Dr. Louisa Degenhardt’s “The adverse effects of cannabinoids: implications for use of medical marijuana” asserts that the use of medical marijuana has many different positive and negative effects. Dr. Louisa Degenhardt supports his claim with different facts and surveys compiled by different governments and medical doctors. Dr. Louisa Degenhardt’s purpose is to inform the reader of the pros and cons of medical marijuana use. He is writing for an audience that is unfamiliar with the use of marijuana for medical reasons. Dr. Louisa Degenhardt. “Canadian Medical Association Journal.” The Adverse Effects of Cannabinoids: Implications for Use of Medical Marijuana. CMAJ, 3 June 2008. Web. 06 Oct. 2013. This newspaper sheds light on the unknown facts of medical marijuana and the medical cannabis insustruys(1)
Susan Okie, M.D. “The New England Journal of Medicine.” Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court — NEJM. The New England Journal of Medicine, 18 Aug. 2005. Web. 06 Oct. 2013. This Scholarly source speaks about the positive and negative effects that medical marijuana has on the government and how it affected the supreme court(2)
Rebecca Voelker. “Medical Marijuana: A Trial of Science and Politics.” JAMA Network. JAMA, 5 June 2003. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.This article talks about the criminal aspect of marijuana and why it should be made Illegal(3)
Mohamed Ben Amar (2006). “Cannabinoids in medicine: A review of their therapeutic potential”. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 105 (1–2): 1–25.This article talks about the uses of medical marijuana and how it helps people.(4)
Deitch, Robert J., Dr. “Historical Timeline – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.”ProCon.org Headlines. Pros and Cons, 13 Apr. 2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. this article talk about the many pros and cons of medical marijuana(5)