Back To Our Grassroots Essay

Submitted By trishtully
Words: 1198
Pages: 5
Open Document
Back to Our Grassroots
Patricia M. Tully
Post University

Introduction
More people are forgetting the negative stigma attached to marijuana and embracing it for the medicinal qualities it provides. At one time, not too long ago it was legal in the U.S. and it seems it will be again in the not too distant future. Currently there are 23 states (including the District of Columbia) that have made marijuana legal for medicinal purposes. Two of the 23 have also made it legal for recreational use (Colorado and Washington). By law, the government must abide by its citizens wishes, after two thirds of the states pass a law it must go into effect. So, roughly, after another 10 states pass a medical marijuana law it will go into effect nationally. The states by alphabetical order are: Alaska – 1998, Arizona – 2010, California – 1996, Colorado- 2000, Connecticut – 2012, District of Columbia – 2010, Delaware – 2011, Hawaii – 2000, Illinois – 2013, Maryland – 2014, Maine – 1999, Massachusetts – 2012, Minnesota – 2014, Michigan – 2008, Montana – 2004, New Hampshire – 2013, Nevada – 2000, New Jersey – 2010, New Mexico – 2007, Oregon – 1998, Rhode Island – 2006, Vermont – 2004, Washington – 1998
Reported by: NCSL - National Conference of State Legislatures – State Medical Marijuana Law 5/29/14
Back to Our Grassroots
History of Cannabis.
The use of cannabis/hemp dates back to the Chinese emperor Sheng – nung in the twenty – eighth century B.C. It was grown for use of its fiber states (Mikuriya, 1969, p. 34). He goes on to state “In India the use of hemp preparations as a remedy was described before 1000 B.C. In Persia, cannabis was known several centuries before Christ.” (Mikuriya, 1969, pg. 34). Medicine in the West was introduced to the therapeutic effects of cannabis by W.B. O’Shaughnessy, in 1839. After testing on different animals he was content with the drugs reasonable safety for the use on humans and found that it had sedative and analgesic qualities. (Mikuriya, 1969, p. 35-36 & Johnson, 2013, p. 301) “O’Shaughnessy successfully relieved the pain of rheumatism and stilled the convulsions of an infant with this strange new drug. His most spectacular success came, however, when he quelled the wrenching muscle spasms of tetanus and rabies with the fragrant resin.”
“Medicine in the Western World has forgotten almost all it once knew about the therapeutic properties of marijuana or cannabis” (Mikuriya, 1969, p. 36). Johnson states, “By 1854, cannabis was recognized in the U.S. Dispensary for the treatment of neurologia, gout, tetanus, hydrophobia, cholera, convulsions, spasticity, hysteria, depression, insanity, uterine hemorrhage, and contractions during childbirth delivery.” There are many other diseases and illnesses marijuana has helped. “Medical marijuana has been found to help with symptom management for diseases including, but not limited to, cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injuries, glaucoma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrigs’s disease) and Parkinson disease. Medical marijuana has been reported as helping individual’s with nausea, vomiting, appetite stimulation, pain reduction, spasticity control, improved sleep, bladder spasms, inflammation, and mood disturbances.” (Johnson, 2013, p 302-303)

Illegalization of Marijuana.
Medicines that contained cannabis were easy to come by till the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, states Johnson. “The tax of one dollar per ounce when used for medicinal purposes had a prohibitory effect. The National Formulary and Pharmacopoeia then removed cannabis in 1942. Subsequent legislation, such as the Narcotics Control Act and the Controlled Substances Act, further penalized the use of cannabis” (Johnson, 2013, p. 302) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will determine if a drug consists of a chance for abuse, if so it petitions the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to add it as a controlled substance. “… where a scheduling system
Show More

Related Documents: Back To Our Grassroots Essay

Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King And Macolm X

Mark Grinhaus Final Paper Martin & Malcolm Van Der Meer 11/29/12 King Jr. vs. Obama vs. X Throughout history there have been few men who have changed the course of a nation and had a profound impact on our way of life. The fight for racial equality has been a long fought battle that still exists to this day. Men like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama have distinguished them selves as leaders, not only for civil rights, but also for a nation of millions. Though many…

Words 1691 - Pages 7

Corporate Social Responsibility and Ngos Essay

now active across China Over the last few years we have also seen a dramatic growth in number and size of grassroots NGOs. A few factors have attributed to the fast growth of this sector. In the wake of the Sichuan earthquake, neither the government nor the market was fully prepared to sustain full scale post quake disaster relief. The gaps in services opened the door for grassroots NGOs to emerge, and just recently the government made an attempt to lift constraints on the NGO registration…

Words 4048 - Pages 17

Message To The Grassroots Malcolm X Speech Thesis

Malcolm x speech “ Message to the grassroots” was made in Detroit on the 10th of November, at the northern negro grass root leadership conference which was held at king Solomon church. And he wanted to make his point on African American behavior against the white supremacy back in time. Black people should put their differences aside and be united to resolve their problems instead of their fighting for other people’s issues. In the next few lines we will be pointing out some aspect highlighted by…

Words 467 - Pages 2

Fieldwork Assignment

opportunities within our community. DC Central Kitchen focuses on targeting low-income and at-risk neighborhoods; whom are unemployed people from our community that are looking to replace homelessness, addiction, and incarceration with new careers. DC Central Kitchen was founded in 1989 they have prepared more than 25 million meals for low-income and at-risk neighborhoods in Washington DC. According to DC Central Kitchen’s mission statement their goal is to use food as a tool to strengthen our community.…

Words 517 - Pages 3

Malcolm X Vs Mlk Research Paper

that they can live more freely today than they did back then. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were the two men who dedicated their lives to fight for what they believed. The leaders share the same motivation, for they are both fully committed to fixing the African American community's problems. However, the methods and goals of each leader are very different. Martin Luther King…

Words 1543 - Pages 7

Congressional Members Research Paper

the EPA was in a shambles at that time.[46] The Law: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (also known as Waxman-Markey) National Environmental policy act Henry Waxman stood up against President Reagan's efforts to roll back the Clean Air Act in the 1980s Controversy over the Alaska Oil Pipeline was brought to a close only when Congress decreed the environmental impact statement process was completed. NEPA had other unexpected results. The Courts interpreted NEPA…

Words 2072 - Pages 9

Patagonia Executive Summary

Chouinard, our company is located in Ventura, California. Our missions statement is “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis”. Patagonia started as a small company that made tools for climbers. Now Patagonia supplies clothes for climbers, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, padding, campers, and trial trail running. We donate our time, services and at least 1% of our sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental…

Words 789 - Pages 4

Twitter And Teargas Summary

attention would often be confined to analyses of media. Now that mass media no longer hold a monopoly on attention, neither censorship nor the competition for attention operates in the same way” (31). Tufekci explains pluralism, it shows people at grassroots level are using social media to get their message across in ways their voice was heard by many without being stalled by traditional walls guard and filter media. She explains how there are advantages and disadvantages with these movements because…

Words 580 - Pages 3

Drunk Driving Persuasive Essay

We all enjoy having a great time surrounded by family, friends and co-workers especially when 5 o’clock on a Friday evening rolls around it’s time for happy hour. We must have our favorite cocktail or nice cold beer in our hands and forget about our stressful week. For the most part, everyone has been guilty of going to a local bar and having one or two alcohol drinks and drove themselves home without an incident. The matter of the fact is that having one or two drinks puts you at risk of getting…

Words 753 - Pages 4

History of food Essay

King and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy were among the several dozen politicians and civil rights activists crowded together to witness the event in person, while a national audience watched the event live on television. Forged from years of grassroots organizing and political maneuvering, this legislation would eventually force the dismantling of Jim Crow, the approximately seventy-year-old system of racial segregation in the United States. The bill gave the federal government the power to desegregate…

Words 667 - Pages 3