Legislators and drug enforcers are not physicians and should not substitute their belief system for demonstrable scientific studies showing that medical marijuana does benefit patients. The federal argument often begins with a denial of this, as if any study that suggests there is no benefit is automatically preferred to the hundreds that show there is. The next claim made is that the harm is greater than the curative power, which is patently false given that studies have trouble even showing harm from any use of marijuana. The long-standing argument that marijuana is a gateway drug and leads to the use of harder drugs is irrelevant when dealing with medical marijuana, for medical users are not likely users of harder drugs and are only trying to alleviate their
The concern that allowing the medical use of marijuana is only the beginning might or might not be true but is also irrelevant, for we cannot prohibit everything people might do that someone else could abuse.
Works Cited
Demmer, Bryan. "Arrest Suffering, Not Medical Marijuana Patients." The Humanist,. Volume 61, Issue 6 (November-December 2001), 35-37.
Gold, Mark S. The Good News About Drugs and Alcohol. New York: Villard Books, 1991.
Lowery, Richard. "Weed Whackers - the Anti-Marijuana Forces, and Why They're Wrong. Magazine." National Review, Volume 53, Issue 16 (20 August 2001). December 12, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/5002408640.(Maykut, Madeliane. Health Consequences of Acute and Chronic Marihuana Use. New York: Pergamon Press, 1984).
Nadelmann, Ethan A. "An End to Marijuana Prohibition: The Drive to Legalize Picks Up." National Review, Volume 56, Issue 13 (12 July 2004), 28.
Schrag, Peter. "A Quagmire for Our Time."…
