"" The federal government, seeing the increase of marijuana use, passed new drug laws. The Dangerous Substances Act of 1969 classified all drugs, according to their medicinal use and how addictive they are, except tobacco and alcohol. Marijuana was classified as Schedule One, not having any medicinal value and addictive (Whitebread 15). .
In 1996, Californians for Medical Rights introduced Proposition 215, which would permit seriously and terminally ill patients, with a prescription from their doctor, to use marijuana in their medical treatment and protect them from criminal punishment. The proposition passed and other states, such as Arizona, Vermont, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Virginia, began passing similar bills. The federal government took the case against medicinal marijuana to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that the state laws were unconstitutional since they violated the federal drug law (Supreme Court 1). Despite the Supreme Court ruling, patients still used marijuana as a form of treatment for their diseases. The legalization of marijuana is still an ongoing battle in which both sides are determined to win.
Many individuals, seeing the benefits of marijuana, are fighting for its legalization. Marijuana has many medical uses that should not be overlooked. Scientific evidence suggests that marijuana is helpful in reducing pain and suffering for patients with glaucoma, arthritis, chronic pain, and a variety of other serious ailments (NORML 3). For example, marijuana eases the nausea, vomiting, and the loss of appetite experienced by many AIDS and chemotherapy patients. New research indicates that marijuana ingredients appear to protect brain cells during a stroke. Researchers at the National Institute for Mental Health called compounds in marijuana "potent antioxidants-, which protect stroke victims from toxic levels of glutamate, a chemical that causes irreversible brain cell damage (NORML 5).
