Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

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The issue of whether marijuana should be legalized or not has been the source of many debates for Americans. There are two sides to this debate, those who feel that marijuana is a drug and should be kept illegal and those who feel that marijuana is simply a harmless and beneficial plant. Marijuana can be categorized as both a medicine and a recreational drug, as a medicine it poses many health benefits to people suffering with many different symptoms. Long before the creation of government or cities there were many primitive civilizations that were utilizing the power of marijuana for medical benefits. Today there are many different states that have already allowed marijuana to be used for medical purposes. If properly regulated, this prior…show more content…
Authors Edward Maa and Paige Figi, who support the use of medical marijuana, describe the case of Charlotte Figi a young girl who since 3 months of age has had frequent epileptic seizures. Charlottes mother Paige Figi, had heard of a case in which cannabis treatment successful helped an epileptic child’s seizures. Figi, living in Colorado, decided to seek out the treatment for her daughter, but she was discouraged from trying the treatment by physicians because her daughter was only five years old. Eventually Figi found a physician that could help her obtain a “high CBD strain of cannabis.” Figi started her daughter on a low doses of the plant extract, later called “Charlotte’s Web”. The THC content was kept relatively low to avoid the “psychotropic effects.” As a result by her third month of the treatments Charlotte had a 90% decrease in her seizures (783-784). This case provides further evidence of the health benefits of medical marijuana, and after all, who are we to deny people access to a treatment that can overall improve their health? In an article published in an issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, co-authors Kevin Betthauser, Jeffrey Pilz, and Laura Vollmer, conclude “that [a] substantial number of military veterans with PSTD use cannabis or derivative products to control PTSD symptoms, with some patients reporting benefits in terms of reduced anxiety and insomnia and improved coping ability” (1283). The reality is that many people can be helped by medical marijuana, and although it may not completely eliminate a person’s symptoms it does improve their perspective and mood. Many people suffer from PTSD and, “In the United States, PTSD is diagnosed in approximately 5.2 million people annually […] Individuals serving combat tours in the line of military service are particularly

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