Is saying "no to drugs" truly the case to marijuana? I remember being told this throughout my life with the countless red ribbon weeks, seeing the mounts of posters on the walls, and the countless talks with my parents about drugs being bad for me, but what is so bad about a plant grown from the ground? Marijuana has been illegal in the United States since the 30s (when it was basically introduced to the world). While there has not been a day that goes by that someone dies because of a drunk driver or from tobacco abuse, alcohol and tobacco, two legal life threatening substances that have made me question why it is so hard to legalize marijuana. Mind you, that alcohol was formally deemed illegal; all for the same reason marijuana is illegal today, before many taxpayers and government officials revolted against prohibition. Yes I will agree that if any of these substances are abused, various negative effects can affect the user, but with marijuana (with the proper funding from the government) can be used for medical benefits, money used toward the "War on Drugs" can be used somewhere more of a necessity, decrease crime rate, and mounts of money to the economy if legalized. .
A survey conducted in California found that 92% of medical marijuana patients agreed that the marijuana alleviated symptoms of their serious conditions such as chronic pain, arthritis, major migraines, and cancer (Ingraham). Medical marijuana helps your body's natural chemicals work better to relieve pain and suffering and does not really have lasting many side effects like other medicines do. It also helps calm people with Tourette's and epilepsy calm their episodes and seizures down. I have a friend that even uses it for his bipolar disorders instead of the prescription drugs because he says the drugs are harder on him and make him feel no emotions. Medical marijuana is a very flexible drug, cheap, and has fewer critically damaging side effects than prescription drugs.