Currently, drugs remain high on the lists of concerns of Americans and are considered one of the major problems facing our country today. We see stories on the news about people being killed on the street everyday over drugs. What about the people who need marijuana to help them perhaps live longer and healthier? I believe that the federal government should legalize marijuana for medical purposes. There are millions of people nationwide who suffer with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis and are already using marijuana to treat their symptoms. According to the Marijuana Policy Project, "Patients can be arrested and sent to prison for using marijuana-even those who have their doctors' consent and approval" (Marijuana Policy Project, November 1999).

For possessing one joint, the federal penalty is up to one year in prison (MPP, November 1999).

Recreational use of marijuana became associated primarily with Mexican-American immigrant workers and the African-American jazz musician community decades ago (Stroup, 1999). The potential problems of marijuana were brought to public eye by HarryJ. Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930 (Stroup

Wright, K., Lewin, P. (1999, November). Drug war facts. Common Sense for

http://cnn.com/HEALTH/9701/30/medical.marijuana/index.html

Stroup, R. K. (1999, July). Testimony before the sub-committee on criminal

The journal's editor, Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, said that marijuana is safer than drugs used legally for some of the same conditions, such as morphine. "If it relieves suffering, even from one patient, why not allow physicians to prescribe it?" (Holtz, January 30, 1997).

facts. Retrieved April 2, 2000 from the World Wide Web:

Marijuana Policy Project Official Website. (1999, November). Medicinal marijuana

"A statement urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to modify its guidelines against using marijuana for medical uses was signed by actors Susan Sarandon, Richard Pryor, Woody Harrelson, comedian Bill Maher, author Tim Robbins, and musicians Hootie & The Blowfish. Other signatories included scientist Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D. and former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders" (MPP, December 3, 1999). A similar statement was also signed by 35 members of Congress. The Society of Neurosciences also pronounced that, "substances similar to or derived from marijuana, could benefit the more than 97 million Americans who experience some form of pain each year" (Armentano,

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Approximate Word count = 1484
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)