MarijuanaWill Singleton & Emma Shawcross

Issue….

• The battle over the legalization of marijuana continues to be a controversial subject where the states views differ from the federal governments. 

• Conditions of law differ from state to state with extreme variations in degree of punishments for marijuana use/possession/distribution

Pros of State Control/Legalization

• In the medical field marijuana is used to help relieve pain for people with ailments such as cancer, glaucoma, and severe back pains.

• Helps patients gain an appetite when they have lost the desire to eat.

• Tax revenue yielded from marijuana sales could be of great aid to the government

• THC and many of the ingredients of the marijuana plant, such as cannabidiol, have relatively potent pain-reducing and anti-inflammatory actions within the body. 

• These effects are several hundred times more powerful than that of aspirin, allowing doctors in California to treat more than 300,000 cases of migraines with medical marijuana.

Cons of State Control/Legalization

• FDA may have trouble regulating marijuana• Frequent marijuana use can seriously affect your short-term memory.• Smoking anything, whether it's tobacco or marijuana, can seriously damage your

lung tissue.• Frequent use can impair your cognitive ability.• Marijuana carries a risk of abuse and addiction.• Research tells us that chronic marijuana use may increase the risk of  in

vulnerable individuals, and high doses of the drug can produce small psychotic reactions.

• Marijuana’s “high” can affect functions in a variety of ways, causing distorted perceptions, impairing coordination, causing difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and creating problems with learning and memory.

Why people want federal controlTo quell fears that marijuana will become easily accessible to youth and cause damage to those who choose use it—keep laws uniform

Why people want state control• Since 1996, 20 states and Washington, DC have passed laws allowing

smoked marijuana to be used for a variety of medical conditions. • ---- Many have evolved into state authorization for state-based

production and distribution of marijuana for purported medical purposes.

• Medical marijuana growers are authorized in some of these states and may be limited to a certain number of plants or products per medical user.

• In 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington state also passed initiatives legalizing marijuana for adults 21 and older under state law. 

How its been dealt with in the past

• Possession of marijuana is punishable by up to one year in jail and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first conviction.

• Distribution of a small amount of marijuana, for no remuneration, is treated as possession. Manufacture or distribution of less than 50 plants or 50 kilograms of marijuana is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

• Manufacture or distribution of 100-999 plants or 100-999 kilograms carries a penalty of 5 - 40 years in prison and a fine of $2-$5 Million. For 1000 plants or 1000 kilograms or more, the penalty increases to 10 years - life in prison and a fine of $4-$10 Million.

• The sentence of death can be carried out on a defendant who has been found guilty of manufacturing, importing or distributing a controlled substance if the act was committed as part of a continuing criminal enterprise.

• In the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), Congress determined that marijuana is a schedule I controlled substance.

• In 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington state also passed initiatives legalizing marijuana for adults 21 and older under state law.

• Currently there is considerable interest in the possible therapeutic uses of marijuana. As of January 31, 2014, there were 28 active grants related to this topic, funded by NIDA, in 6 different disease categories.

Facts

• Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. 

• In 2011 alone, more than 18 millions Americans age 12 and older reported using the drug within the past month. 

• Tobman has observed that stopping the use of Marijuana is seemingly impossible, so it is the government’s responsibility to enact laws allowing for safe use of Marijuana—making government a hefty amount of tax revenue in the process.

Resolution: The United States as a whole should adopt the same law regardingmarijuana that is currently enacted in both Washington and Colorado.

• Until the control of legalization is taken on by our federal government, this controversy will continue.

• Legalizing marijuana would help supply the federal budget with money it desperately needs.

• People with painful illnesses, will have a natural way to help alleviate suffering

• Absurd that a twenty-one year old found using marijuana in Colorado is considered an everyday citizen helping to simulate the economy, but in Virginia the same individual would be arrested, fined, and could face jail time or even death.

• marijuana is incapable of causing a fatal overdose, and its use is actually inversely associated with aggression and injury.

• There are no solid facts confirming harmful side effects of marijuana use, but there are a seemingly enumerable number of proven benefits marijuana can provide to the human body.

Resolution: The United States as a whole should adopt the same law regarding marijuana that is currently enacted in both Washington and Colorado.

•. Last year there were 5,000,000 deaths caused by cigarettes, 100,000 deaths caused by alcohol, 50,000 deaths caused by car accidents, 90 deaths caused by lightening, and 0 deaths caused by marijuana. There is literally a greater chance of being struck down and killed by lightening than there is of dying as a result of marijuana use. Wake up America—this plant exudes nothing but benefits, and Americans deserve to be able to make an informed choice of whether or not they choose to use marijuana—without having to risk the extreme repercussions that come along with marijuana use today in forty-eight of our fifty states.

Citations•Davis, Summer. "Legalizing Marijuana: The Big Controversies." Divine Caroline. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

• 

•"Marijuana Resource Center: State Laws Related to Marijuana." The White House. The White House, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

• 

•"23 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org."ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

• 

•"NIDA Research on the Therapeutic Benefits of Cannabis and Cannabinoids."National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

• 

•"10 Health Benefits of Marijuana." Philly.com. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

• 

•Eubanks, Travis. "EUBANKS: Economic Benefits from Legalizing Marijuana Will Draw Interest." Daily Nebraskan. N.p., 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.

• 

•Armentano, Paul. "Health and Societal Costs of Marijuana vs. Alcohol and Tobacco: Prohibitionists' Concerns Answered and Refuted." Alternet. N.p., 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.