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Medical Marijuana

A weak, bald man holds a joint in one hand. He takes a deep breath and inhales the smoke. He exhales and starts to cough. Although this man is technically a criminal, he is also a cancer patient. Thousands of people are in the same situation as this man. Because marijuana is illegal, people who suffer from illnesses, such as cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis, have to choose between breaking the law and aiding their illnesses. Many are aware of the harmful effects caused by marijuana. However, few are aware of the benefits marijuana has on patients with terminal diseases.
Marijuana should be legalized in the United States. Marijuana has already been legalized in some states for medicinal purposes. Proposition 215 or the Compassionate Use Act allows patients to “grow, possess, and use medical marijuana when approved by physician, permits assistance of a caregiver who is authorized to help patient grow, acquire, or consume medical marijuana, and immunizes physicians from liability for discussing or recommending medical use of marijuana” (Cockburn) (Demmer 35). The states that passed this law were Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington (Demmer 35). Maryland is attempting to pass laws like the Compassionate Use Act in the future. “In the past six years, nineteen different state initiatives to ease regulations on marijuana (for recreational use) have become law,” (Paul 18). However, “the federal government continues to enforce federal marijuana laws against medical marijuana users even in states which have enacted legislation specifically allowing such use,” (Demmer 35). Without the legalization of marijuana through the federal government, state laws are basically ineffective.
It seems unfair that the federal government can over rule the laws that the states have made legal. In Byron Demmer’s article, “Arrest Suffering, Not Medical Marijuana Patients,” Roger Pilon, Ph.D., J.D states,
The Constitution does not...