Legalizing Marijuana

Legalizing Marijuana
To the AIDS or cancer patient, it is the plant that fights nausea and appetite loss. To the nutritionist, its seed is second only to the soybean in nutritional value, and is a source of cooking oil and vitamins. To the paper or cloth manufacturer, it is the plant that provided much of our paper and clothing for hundreds of years and produces four times more fiber per acre than trees. To the environmentalist, it is the plant that could greatly slow deforestation, restore robbed nutrients by other crops, and help prevent erosion. And according to Lonnelle Aikman, "Preliminary findings show the drug may prove effective against glaucoma and asthma, and control such side nausea in cancer treatment" (158). Unfortunately, to most people in this country, it is a useless plant when it comes to economic or medical value. Marijuana should be legalized in the United States. In technical terms, hemp, cannabis, or for the average American, marijuana, it is used only for recreat...