Should Marijuana be Legalized - Research Paper Example

These substitute products are providing more harm than good to the public. This paper analyses the available literature; both in favour and against, the legalization of marijuana use in America and concludes that legalization of marijuana use may bring more benefits than harm to the country and the people. “To date, marijuana is still classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the Controlled Substances Act. It is defined as having "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" (Roth, 2008).

Marijuana use is a controversial subject not only in America, but also in other parts of the world. There are many arguments in favour and against marijuana use. The arguments against the use of marijuana were labelled mainly by the religious preachers and sociologists. Medical science has adopted a cautious approach while dealing with the issues related to legalization of marijuana. In other words, medical science neither completely opposes, nor it completely opposes the legalization of marijuana use in America.

This is because of the fact that marijuana is a drug which can be used constructively and destructively. In the case of patients who are suffering from chronic pain and agony, controlled use of marijuana is advisable whereas continuous use of marijuana in an uncontrolled fashion would result in marijuana addiction. “In November 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, which allows patients to cultivate and use marijuana for medicinal purposes with the written or oral recommendation of a doctor” (Khatapoush & Hallfors, 2004, p.752). Marijuana use is still illegal in many of the American states even though fourteen American states so far legalized it as of now.

“The 14 states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington”(Hall & Schiefelbein,