Analysis Essay - Legalizing Marijuana Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis - Legalizing Marijuana - Essay Example legalizing cannabis for medicinal in addition to general purposes would prove a benefit to society, evidence which is well-known throughout the scientific, political and public arena but this collective knowledge has yet to be acted upon. Illegal substances most frequently linked with drug-related fatalities include opiates such as heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and barbiturates. Alcohol, particularly when used in combination with harder drugs, is also linked with drug-related deaths. Marijuana has been widely known to be a gateway drug for harder substances. Heroin and other drugs that are injected into the bloodstream are often associated with the deadly disease HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. HIV causes AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Besides being spread from the use of shared, contaminated syringes, AIDS is also contracted by sexual contact, from transfusions by contaminated blood and in the prenatal stages from mother to baby. Procedures involved in the preparation and injection of drugs present various opportunities for the transmission of HIV and hepatitis. (Normand, Vlahov & Moses, 1995). Supporters of legalization invoke the theories of John Stuart Mill, who espoused that adult citizens should have the right to make their own choices regarding whether or not to participate in harmful activity as long as it does no harm to others, a theory that has been largely ignored in the decisions regarding alcohol and tobacco, but not cannabis. (â€Å"How to Stop The Drug Wars,† 2005) Eleven states allow the use of marijuana for medicinal use, Rhode Island the most recent joining California, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Washington and, Vermont and Maine. The prohibition of marijuana makes little sense and disallowing the medicinal use to cancer patients living every day with agonizing pain and glaucoma patients who depend on marijuana to see better, for example, should be unthinkable in a civilized society. The