CompleteOver Grow the Government Persuasion Essay Eng200

7/29/2019 CompleteOver Grow the Government Persuasion Essay Eng200

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O v e r G r o w t h e G o v e r n m e n t | 1

Over Grow The Government

Douglas C. Dakin

10/19/2008


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O v e r G r o w T h e G o v e r n m e n t | 2

Over grow the government cries Marc Emery as he was arrested in his store in Vancouver.

Selling marijuana seeds into the United States is illegal and the US DEA made a stop in Canada to prove

it. Marijuana is illegal in Canada as well; however in some aspects it has been decriminalized for medical

purposes. This paper will discuss the issue of legalizing marijuana and the benefits it may pose to our

society; in that it may stimulate our economy, ease suffering and enhance the medical environment,

along with freeing perhaps millions of North Americans that pay their taxes, work hard and raise

families, that otherwise would not be viewed as deviant or criminals in our communities.

Jeffrey Miron, an economics professor at Harvard University calculated, the government would

save $7.7 billion a year if it didn't have to spend money policing and prosecuting marijuana

activity. Then, if the feds taxed marijuana at a rate comparable to cigarettes and booze, another

$6.2 billion would come rolling in. (2005). It is not hard to see that new money flowing into our

economy would benefit it existentially. Examine the medical arena, new money for research,

equipment and patient care, along with operation costs. I am sure you would agree that our

economy, our medical community and our government could use this stimulus of a few billion

dollars.

Marijuanas decriminalization happened in 2001 in Canada for medical use only and from that

point on it has become a lie, point in fact; Lawyer Alan Young an advocate of medical marijuana,

made a constitutional challenge to Canadas first legal med-pot exemptee Section 56who lived

with AIDS and was arrested in March, 2001 for growing and supplying med-pot for other legal

exemptees. Young argued that it is unconstitutional for the Canadian government to give people

the right to use medical marijuana but then to deny them access to a reliable and legal supply,

however victory ensued on December 4, 2001 when Judge Dan Moon found (Mr. Section 56)


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not guilty of all charges and ordered (Mr. Section 56) pot to be returned and growing

equipment. Clearly this man was not a criminal and did not deserve to be humiliated. (2002).

In a Angus Ried poll conducted in mid-June of 2007, 55% of respondents said marijuana should

be legalized. And while the Conservative government of Prime Minister Steven Harper had

rejected the marijuana decriminalization proposal brought forward by the Liberals when they

were in power, only 38% agreed with that policy, with 52% supporting the never-enacted Liberal

proposal.

(The poll also found little support for the legalization of any other drugs, with 9% supporting

legal heroin, 8% supporting legal cocaine, and 7% for legal methamphetamine. And while a

surprisingly high 71% favoured mandatory minimum prison sentences for large marijuana grow

operators and drug dealers, only 37% favoured eliminating harm reduction programs such as

needle exchanges and safe injection sites.). (2008). Angus Reid Global Monitor.

Marijuana is regarded as most medically viable in light of its most famous side effect: the munchies.

Marijuana is an appetite stimulant, which can be key in the control of AIDS wasting syndrome, the result

of HIV infection, which causes patients to lose 10 percent or more of their body weight. The nausea and

inability to eat can contribute to early death, but marijuana has proven an effective antidote by making

patients hungry and hence, better nourished."

The same concept applies to cancer patients. A loss of appetite coupled with the inability to keep food

down poses serious problems to the course of the treatment of the cancer. Doctors have reported

having patients who vomit in excess of 30 times a day from radiation treatments. This type of vomiting

can tear the esophagus as well as cause severe dehydration. Cancer patients are many times emaciated

and the added nausea and vomiting can mean the difference between survival and death. If the use of


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marijuana can alleviate those symptoms and allow the patient to eat and keep the food down the

patient stands a better chance of survival. In the past few years, pharmaceutical versions of THC have

appeared on the market. Dronabinol (brand name Marinol), a synthetic version of THC, is prescribed to

AIDS and cancer patients with severe nausea. (Brooks, 14).

Lately, this posture has emboldened those who wish to keep the drug in the Criminal Code of Canada,

while frustrating advocates who thought the moment for pot liberalization had finally come. In 2005,

the Liberals' decriminalization bill would have reduced the penalty for possession of less than 15 grams

to a $150 ticket, from the existing maximum of six months in jail - no cosmic policy shift yet enough of a

break with the past to signal a new philosophy. But the governing Conservatives dumped the bill after

winning power in early 2006, and the Grits now show scant interest in reviving it, mindful perhaps of its

low traction among the over-35 demographic, and surprised by opposition it met from legalization

supporters (many felt the ticketing provision would make it too easy to punish casual users).

Meantime, a palpable distaste for the thriving cultivation industry has been rearing its head in

communities throughout the country. Bylaws aimed at shutting down grow operations are now on the

books in communities throughout B.C.'s Lower Mainland, some of which empower inspectors to enter,

search and evacuate homes. A 2004 report that determined that the number of grow ops in Ontario had

reached 15,000 prompted police and government officials to hold a summit on the issue, noting that

residents were fed up with having these massive, hydro-sucking plantations in their midst. In March

2005, the murder of four RCMP officers near Mayerthorpe, Alta., showed how visceral anti-pot

sentiment can get: news that the officers were guarding a recently busted, though modest, grow op run

by the killer, James Rozko, unleashed a torrent of anger. "I blame not only the evil man who killed these


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four RCMP officers, but also our Liberal government in Ottawa," said a letter-writer to the Edmonton

Journal. "Blood is on their hands."

The pushback has grown strong enough that some veterans of the legalization debate are taking a

breather - at least until the pendulum swings back their way. "The opportunity seems to have been

lost," says Alan Young, a law professor at Osgoode Hall who has represented medical marijuana users

and challenged the constitutionality of Canada's pot laws. "It will resurface, because [criminalization] is

an ignorant public policy. But one of the reasons things don't change is because people get tired of

debating the same old story." Even Marc Emery, the self-proclaimed Prince of Pot, is in parry mode

these days, urging rhetorical moderation among pro-pot activists, publicly supporting Young with his

battle."We in the cannabis community have to appear reasonable," says Emery, who is facing

extradition for selling marijuana seeds to customers in the U.S. "When someone is petty, it reflects badly

on the rest of us." (as cited in Macleans, August, 25. 2008.).

All we can do is Over Grow The Government


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References

Angus Reid. http://www.angus-reid.com/admin/collateral/pdfs/polls/ARS_Drugs.pdf

Brooks, Robert. "MEDICAL MARIJUANA: RONALD E. BROOKS,"

Congressional Testimony . April 1997, p. 13-15

CNN Money. (2005,June 7) High Courts potmistake. RetrivedNovember 19, 2008, from

http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/07/commentary/wastler/wastler/

Damuzi, Reverend. (2002, May). Wakeford mails pot. Cannabis Culture, 36, 42.

StoptheDrugWar.org 1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009.

Gillis, C. (2008, August 25). Weed Killer. Macleans, p.18

RetrivedNovember 19, 2008, from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #493, 7/13/07

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/493/canadians_support_marijuana_legalization_but_arrests_incr

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CompleteOver Grow the Government Persuasion Essay Eng200