Imagine going to the doctor and being told that he recommends you smoke your medicine. In the last ten years we have been seeing more and more states make the move to legalize medical marijuana. An important aspect of making a decision as to whether this is a good or bad move is understanding what medical marijuana is in the first place. Like most topics as controversial as this, there is more to it than initially meets the eye. It’s important to understand what makes up the marijuana plant and what each of those part does. There are many chemical compounds that make up what we know as marijuana. These chemical compounds are referred to as cannabinoids. There are eight primary cbd cannabinoids that are focused on. These include “THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), …show more content…
This will allow us to make an educated decision on whether or not it is a good idea for us to legalize. As of right now, there are twenty-nine states that have legalized medical marijuana. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC and West Virginia are the states that have decided that marijuana use benefits outweigh the harmful effects. (Dills 4) Statistics show that over time, more and more people are using medical marijuana. In these states that have legalized medical marijuana, there has been a drop in the amounts of suicides in males from ages 20 to 39 as well as an increase in jobs available due to the new industry. (Ingraham 1) They test those who use marijuana using urinalysis or blood tests. (Sutton 2) In states that have legalized medical marijuana, they have not examined a deviation in amount of crime committed before and after legalization.(Clare 2) Overall, there were no drastic statistical changes in crime when marijuana was legalized in these states versus those state who continue to ban the use of marijuana use, both for medicinal or recreational