Pass The Weed

Term Paper Title	Pass The Weed
# of Words	771
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.08

Pass The Weed

     The cries of conservatives across America has grown to a riotous roar.
The problem is that the long-standing and unjust prohibition of the psychoactive
drug marijuana has been lifted by voters in Arizona and California.  Under the
new law, doctors can prescribe marijuana to those patients who can possibly
benefit from the drug's medicinal purposes. Used for alleviating pain and
suffering, the drug can provide needed relief for many people.  However, to the
concerned, it appears that with the new propositions government has granted
permission to posses and consume a drug that has been banned for decades.  The �
smoke� has yet to settle in Washington, but a reaction to the new laws from the
federal government seems unlikely.  Optimistic supporters hope that similar
policies and propositions will soon come to voters in other states.
     The debate over the legalization of Cannabis Sativa, more commonly known
as marijuana, is currently one of the more heated controversies in the country
today. The drug has been unrightfully prohibited since the 1930's for its
dangerous effects.  However, earlier and more primitive cultures were able to
safely explore marijuana's usage for both medicinal and hallucinogenic
properties.  The usage of marijuana has existed for thousands of years in many
countries world wide and can be documented as far back as 2700 BC in ancient
Chinese writings.  In the earlier cultures, marijuana usage was accepted and its
effects documented.  However, the United States government overlooked all of the
information and banned the drug.  Recently, however, there has been a resurgence
in the opinion of the drug's positive medicinal purposes.
     Studies on the medicinal uses of marijuana have been conducted on many
patients that suffer from various health problems.  In patients with the AIDS,
the drug served as a beneficial way to stimulate appetite.  Thousands of AIDS
patients already use marijuana illegally for this condition and have reported
excellent results. For those AIDS victims, marijuana can reduce the nausea,
vomiting, and loss of appetite that are common to the syndrome. Another medical
function for marijuana is to combat glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in
the United States. Glaucoma is an eye disease that results from pressure that
builds up over time and causes great pain and vision loss to sufferers. In the
glaucoma patients, marijuana can aid in relieving the intraocular pressure on
the eyeball, and thereby alleviate the pain and sometimes stopping the progress
of the condition. Multiple sclerosis is another incurable condition that could
benefit ...

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