Cannabis, otherwise known as marijuana or ganja, is a psychoactive drug whose main mind-altering chemical is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It has been dated to be part of human culture as far back as 2737 B.C. in China. Throughout history it had many medicinal and therapeutic uses and was very widely used in the world and specifically in the United States until the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 which banned the sale of the substance. This prohibition on marijuana would continue on for decades to come and finally become a serious issue in the 1980's. In the 1981, Ronald Reagan was elected President of the United States. Shortly after coming to office, he took steps and passed legislation that would harshen legal consequences for marijuana usage and possession. This would continue with the "War on Drugs" and Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign, which was part of the "War on Drugs". This lead to an increase in arrests to drug related crimes. Yet in 1996, California became the first state to legalize medicinal use of Marijuana (single). Research was starting to be done on the effects of marijuana and its medicinal uses. Today twenty-three states have legalized some type of medical marijuana and four states and D.C. have legalized recreational use. The legalization of marijuana will open a new field of medicine while also decreasing the social and financial costs of prohibition.  

 In a recent poll taken by Gallup, 58% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana while only 42% don't. This is an all time high since Gallup first took a survey in 1969 (Jones "In U.S. 58% back legal Marijuana use"). Over the past six years, support has been higher than any other time but support for legalization became a majority after 2013 (jones "In U.S. 58% back legal Marijuana use"). This higher level of support comes after many states have legalized recreational use and sale, including the District of Columbia while 23 states have legalized some type of medical marijuana (Jones "In U.S. 58% back legal Marijuana use"). The younger population seems to be more consistently supportive of legalization than older populations. This trend is expected to continue and will put pressure on lawmakers and politicians to go on a path towards full legalization (Jones "In U.S. 58% back legal Marijuana use").

According to an article by Edward Maa and Paige Figi that discusses the effects of cannabis on epilepsy, Cannabis has a long history of medicinal uses, dating back to 4000 B.C. in China (Figi Maa 784). In the article the authors discuss in detail the effects of cannabis on a young girl named Charlotte, who suffers from epilepsy (Figi Maa 783). Her first seizure occurred when she was three months old (Figi Maa 783). When she was five, doctors had told her parents that "she had reached the end of the road", failing pretty much all medication that was given to her. She had significant cognitive and motor delays, was using a feeding tube for food and water and could barely walk or talk. Charlotte was experiencing up to 50 seizures a day (Figi Maa 783). Her mother knew of a few stories of children using medical marijuana to treat seizures in California so she decided to do research on it and use it as treatment for her daughter. Charlotte started adjunctive therapy on a high CBD:THC strain called Charlottes web. She went from having 50 seizures a day to 2-3 seizures a month. This effect continued for 20 months after treatment was started. Charlotte is just one of many children who have seen positive effects from using medical marijuana to treat their illnesses. 

Not only has marijuana been shown to have incredible effects on patients suffering form epilepsy and other illnesses that bring on seizures, it can be used to treat chronic pain, neuropathic pain and spasticity due to sclerosis (Hill 2474). Multiple Sclerosis, otherwise known as MS, is a "disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord" (mayoclinic). "In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body" (mayoclinic). There is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis. In a clinical review by Dr. Kevin Hill, six trials that included 325 patients tested chronic pain, six trials that included 396 patients tested for neuropathic pain and 12 trials that included 1600 patients focused on multiple sclerosis (Hill 2474). Several, if not all, of these trials had positive effects that, supporting evidence that marijuana can indeed be used to treat an array of health problems and/or illnesses. 

Medical marijuana has also shown to have positive effects on the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, in patients, specifically veterans. In a Policy Essay called Puff, Puff, Pass ...  That Law: The Changing Legislative Environment of Medical Marijuana Policy by Dina Titus, she talks about how over the year's, hundreds of thousands of soldiers have returned home but instead of coming back to a happy life, they are tormented by physical and mental wounds of war, including PTSD (Titus 45). These veterans are failed by our VA system that treats their conditions mainly with opiate drugs, which have very addicting properties and a variety of negative side effects on the patient (Titus 45). Many times, rather than healing, these drugs lead to addiction, overdose or suicide (Titus 45). Every day Twenty-two veterans whom suffer from PTSD commit suicide and the number of fatal overdoses among veterans is "almost double the national average" (titus 45). VA physicians have even gone on record stating that veterans should have full access to medical marijuana (Titus 50). Veterans who can't find relief from the drugs they are prescribed have few to no options finding relief from anything else. Without changes to the federal policy on marijuana, "veterans may resort to criminal activities to obtain the help they desperately need and deserve, jeopardizing their access to benefits" and "depending on where they live, such criminal behavior jeopardizes veteran's benefits if the VA discovers their marijuana use" (titus 51). We should not be in a country who mistreats our soldiers and does not allow access to the medication they need to live the life they deserve after serving their country. Legalization would allow our veterans, who suffer from the terrors of war, to treat PTSD and come back to the life they want. 

A major hurdle in getting these patients the medicine they need is Marijuana's classification as a Schedule 1 drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA for short, which according the federal government means they are "drugs, substances or chemicals ...  defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" (dea.gov). They are the "most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological and physical dependence" (dea.gov). Yet studies and research have shown that marijuana does indeed have many accepted medical uses for treating many different types of illness ranging from Epilepsy to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has not been shown in any of the studies mentions in this paper to have "severe psychological or physical dependence" as said by the DEA. With it's current classification as a Schedule 1 drug, it makes it near to impossible to do research on marijuana, it's effects and benefits unless protected by state laws or federal exemptions. Legalization would rid the current classification of marijuana and allow for further studies to be done on it's effects and possible benefits that have yet to be found. 

Not only does the federal policy on marijuana not allow people to get the proper treatment they need, American society suffers the cost of "financial costs of law enforcement, encroachment of individual rights and freedoms in order to facilitate drug enforcement, the adverse effects of a criminal record for the large numbers of convicted offenders, and the impact of of the penalties on the users" (single 457). Opponents would say that the ban has benefits like "its deterrent effect on use" (single 457). Yet there is little evidence that suggest this has any effect on marijuana usage. (single 457). States that have decriminalized marijuana have seen a substantial decrease in "the social costs associated with the enforcement of marijuana laws" (single 458). Those states also saw a "reduction in the number and nature of marijuana cases processed through the law enforcement system" (single 462). A result of decriminalization was a "sharp decline in incarceration of offenders and an increase in revenue from fines" (single 462). Not only do these new laws keep first time offenders out of our prison, which are usually not even criminals, but they also produce money that can be spent actually fighting real crimes that have adverse effects on society. If legalization were to happen on a federal level, and the tax rates of the drugs were comparable to those of alcohol and tobacco, annual tax yield would be about $46.7 billion (Miron Waldock 1). Not only that, societal costs would be lowered due to lowered arrests related to marijuana. But even though possession doesn't lead to incarceration, it is still illegal. Thus the "broad policy powers of search and seizure still apply and must necessarily be broadly used as long as possession remains an offence" (single 462). Only full legalization will return our individual and privacy rights that were stripped away by the prohibition. Also, as long as possession is still an offence, consequences like those of a criminal record exist (single 462). Not only has legalization of marijuana shown to have positive effects for the health care system but it also brings benefits to society and the everyday tax-paying American citizen. The states that have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use have seen a dramatic decrease in marijuana related crimes and arrests and also in crime and violence in general. Americans citizens tax payer money will no longer go towards the "war on drugs". The United States government spends more than fifty-one billion dollars on the "war on drugs" (drug policy alliance). This money could be better spent on our infrastructure, health care and other government programs meant for the betterment of society, not a "war on drugs" that, according to the National Drug Control budget, spends billions (whitehouse.gov) in arresting first time offenders for marijuana possession. So although decimalization has reduced financial costs to society, it still has not eliminated the individual consequences of the federal ban. Thus the only way to achieve the complete elimination of social and individual costs, legalization must be attained. 

Also, legalization would bring down arrests rates related to marijuana like previously mentioned. According to "The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition" by Jeffrey Miron and Katherine Waldock, there were a total of 14,209,365 arrests due to drug prohibition. 42.10% of those arrests came from possession of marijuana. That is about 5,982,142 arrests all for the possession of a drug that has been proven to be less harmful than both alcohol and tobacco while also having numerous medicinal uses. Not only that, government expenditure would decrease by about 41.3 billion dollars (Miron Waldock 1). By legalizing marijuana, arrests would decrease while at the same time lowering costs of police resources and "reduction in prosecutorial and judicial resources from eliminating drug prosecutions" (Miron Waldock 2). 

 Now opponents of legalization, like Citizen Against Legalizing Marijuana or CALM, say that marijuana has no medical uses, causes cancer, brain damage increased violence, crime and an array of other problems pertaining to ones mental and physical health (calm.org). A major effect that many opponents, including CALM, claim is that legalization will lead to increased use among the youth (calm.org). Yet new studies conducted by economist Daniel Rees, Benjamin Hansen and D. Mark Anderson show no connection between marijuana usage and the passage of medical marijuana or recreational marijuana laws (Ingraham web). There has not been any research that shows that marijuana can cause cancer or brain damage (ashton 639-42). The psychoactive properties of marijuana ease stress, and makes an individual a lot more peaceful and calm (ashton 640). On top of that, there have been no recorded deaths due to marijuana usage or overdose. Yet drugs like tobacco and alcohol have remained legal for decades and are proven to cause cognitive impairment, a variety of cancers and other health problems. All these claims by the opposition do not have any concrete evidence and there is research and evidence that negates these claims that prove marijuana does indeed have many medicinal and therapeutic uses.  Opponents, like CALM, would argue that legalization or even decriminalization will lead to an increase in crimes, violence and usage, specifically among the youth. Yet evidence from a study shows no connection between laws legalizing marijuana and underage use of the drug (Ingraham web). Many of the claims that opponents make do not have any research to support them. Of course no matter how much research, studies and evidence is done that shows marijuana is not the harmful and dangerous drug it is presented as, there will always be people who will not believe that marijuana is not "the devil's plant" because of numerous factors ranging from personal beliefs to the way they were raised. It's the same way that people who are raised and taught that racism is right don't believe they are wrong. 

So what? Why care about this? Because hundreds of thousands of innocent Americans are turned into criminals by our criminal justice system because they were caught taking a drug proven to be less harmful than both alcohol and tobacco. Because millions of the American people's tax dollars are spent trying to put teenagers and other innocent Americans in jail for smoking a plant. Because Americans with terminal illnesses can get better through the use of medical marijuana. Prohibition has been proven to not work before with alcohol so why are we doing it with marijuana when the majority of the public supports legalization and decriminalization. And it will also pour billions into our economy from the business of legal marijuana. 

Thus, legalization of marijuana will allow patients to receive new kinds of treatment that have shown to benefit them and also decrease the costs it has on society and individual rights. Medical marijuana has been proven through many studies to help treat many different illnesses like epilepsy and PTSD. Not only would legalization enable access to medical marijuana, it also eliminates the negative consequences of prohibition by decreasing marijuana related crimes and arrests, financial costs of law enforcement and eliminating intrusions into constitutional and individual rights. Now to put this in action, there are many things that can be done. Contacting representatives and senators about concerns regarding current laws dealing with marijuana and showing support for legalization. Voting for the passage of laws and bills that make the path to full legalization a bit easier. All these actions can be taken to achieve full legalization and bring an end to this "War on Drugs" and prohibition that have been shown to not benefit society but instead hurt it. 

