MarijuanaPolicy

Marijuanahasnotyetbeenfullylegalizedacrossthenationbutthereisan
organizationthatismakinggreatstridestodoso.TheMarijuanaPolicyProjecthasbeen
tryingreallyhardtomakemarijuanalegalforpeoplethatneedwithhealthproblems.When
MPPwasfoundedinJanuary1995,medicalmarijuanawasillegalineverystate,and
favorablelegislationhadnotbeenintroducedincongressinadecade.Sincethen,thefederal
penaltiesformarijuanacultivationhavebeenchangedtoprovidefortheearlyreleaseof
hundredsofprisonerspositivemedicalmarijuanabillshavebeenintroducedinnine
consecutivecongresses,withtheU.S.Houseevendebatingandvotingonourlegislationin
thesummersof03,04,05,06,07,and2012.TheNationalAcademyofSciencesInstitute
ofMedicinedeclaredthatmarijuanahasmedicalvaluemedicalmarijuanaisnowlegalin22
statesandtheDistrictofColumbiaandmuchmore.November1996,Californiavoterspass
thefirststatewideballotinitiativetolegalizemedicalmarijuanainanystate.MPPwastoo
youngtoprovidefundingtothislandmarkcampaign,butMPPprovidedlegaladviceduring
thedraftingoftheinitiative,aswellasasubstantiveanalysisofhowotherstateshadalready
beenmovingforwardwithlessermedicalmarijuanalawssincethe1970s.November1998,
MPPworkedwithlocalAIDSactiviststopassamedicalmarijuanainitiativethattheactivists
hadplacedonthelocalballotinWashington,D.C.Thoughcongressblockedthecityfrom
countingthevotesfor10months,alawsuitbroughtbytheACLUrevealedthat69%ofthe
votersapprovedtheinitiative.

Therearealsoorganizationsthatopposedlegalization.TheCitizensAgainst
LegalizingMarijuanastatedthatmarijuanaisnotmedicine.TheFDA,whichmustapproveall
medicines,hasreviewedscientificstudiesofmarijuanaforover50yearsandconcludesitis
notasafeoreffectivemedicine,hasthepotentialforharmandisaddictive.Itcancause
healthproblemsincludingcancerandbraindamage.Itcausesmentalillness,crime,and
violence.Italsodoublestheriskoftragicdeaths.Althoughtheycouldpossiblybecorrect,
manysourcesclaimotherwise.Aneditiononcnnclaimsthatitcanstopseizures!Agirl
sufferingfromDravetSyndrome,whichcausesuncontrollableseizures.Bythetimeshewas5
shehad300seizuresaweek.TheoilfromaTHCmarijuanastrain,takendaily,wasenough
tostopvirtuallyalltheseizures.

Anotherreasonformarijuanalegalizationistodecreasethearrestrate.Manypeople
thoughtthatitwasaburdenoncopstoarrestpeopleforsmallamountsofmarijuana.Even
thepeoplethattrulyneededitwouldbearrestedanditwouldgoontheirrecords.Also
legalizationtakesanotherreasontoarrestminoritiesaway.Oneofthemainproblemswith
thisisDrivingwhileundertheinfluence.InColorado,thelegalTHClevelis5nanograms,but
theprescribedlevelofnanogramsformostmarijuanausersis10nanograms.Thereforethe
THClevellawisuseless.AlsoTHCcanstayinyoursystemforweeks.Organizationsare
fightingtoraisetheTHClevelbecausesomepeoplemightneedmarijuanatodrivelike
peoplewithmultiplesclerosis.Alsoifapersonispulledoverwithover5nanogramsofTHCin
theirsystem,theywillreceiveaDUIwhichisworsethanapossessioncharges.Thisisthe
caseevenwhenthedriverisnotundertheinfluenceofmarijuana.


Moreandmorestatesarestartingtoputmarijuanaontheirballots.