Despite different medical cannabis laws in forty states, cannabis is still illegal under federal law. The federal government regulates drugs through the Controlled Substances Act, which does not recognize the difference between medical and recreational use of cannabis. These laws are generally applied only against persons who possess, cultivate, or distribute large quantities of cannabis. The federal government claims that cannabis is not medicine, it is a very harmful substance such as cocaine or heroine, the United States Supreme Court held that the federal government has the constitutional authority to prohibit cannabis for all purposes. Furthering, federal law enforcement officials may prosecute medical cannabis patients, even if they grow their own medicine and even if they live in a state where medical cannabis usage is protected under state law. The Court indicated that Congress and the Food and Drug Administration should work to resolve this issue. Cannabis should be legalized on a federal level so that the laws a …show more content…
One of the main issues of legalizing cannabis for recreational use is enforcing the age restriction. A survey of drug use by middle notwithstanding high school students in eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders in twenty-fifteen shows that; eleven-point-eight percent of eighth graders reported cannabis use in the past year accordingly six-point-five percent were current users, among tenth graders, twenty-five-point-four percent had used cannabis in the past year and fourteen-point-eight percent were current users. Rates of use among twelfth graders were higher by thirty-four-point-nine percent were found to have used cannabis during the year prior to the survey accordingly twenty-one-point-three percent were current users; six percent said they used cannabis daily or almost everyday.