Fighting For Our Love Ones Essay -- essays research papers

In today’s world, most families have a love one struggling to live with cancer, HIV, glaucoma, or multiple sclerosis. Most of us, here in the United States, have watched a love one endure the pain of chemotherapy, uncontrollable muscle spasms, or blindness. Our love ones not only suffer physical pain, but mental anguish as well. Our dying loves ones are at war with our Federal Government. They are fighting for a chance at a better quality of life. They are fighting for the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Until marijuana is legalized for medical use, our love ones are forced to break the law. "†¦my gift to my husband, John Joseph who died last year. At the end of his life, my husband was wracked with pain from lung cancer. Marijuana was one medication that eased his intense pain, and nausea during chemotherapy. But, to get marijuana to help JJ, we had to break the law. †¦my husband’s ability to tolerate chemotherapy after a couple of puffs of marijuana extended his life and improved his quality of life (1)." That was an excerpt from a letter written by Anne Boyce to the voters of California for the passage of Proposition 215. In 1996, Proposition 215 was a proposed legislation in California that makes it legal for doctors to prescribe marijuana to terminally ill patients. Proposition 215 was passed by the voters of California, but patients who use marijuana could still and are prosecuted by our Federal Government. Anne Boyce broke the law in order to obtain marijuana for her dying husband. Anne Boyce, a sixty-seven year old Registered Nurse, is not your typical criminal, now is she? Nevertheless, if Anne Boyce was caught by the law enforcement, she would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Federally, possession of even one joint carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison (7). Cultivation of even one plant is a felony, with a maximum sentence of five years (7). Is this fair? Anne Boyce and others like her are law-abiding citizens, but they or someone they love are suffering from a grave illness, and legal pharmaceuticals do not ease the pain. So, they are force to break the law. Wouldn’t you do the same for your love one? I know I would. There is a need for a change. "I often drove her to the ho... ...he new millenium, the United States is well equipped with technology to address and to solve these problems. How can we help our love ones deal with the pain and agony of a deadly disease? How can we improve the quality of their lives? The answer is simple. Marijuana has been proven to be therapeutic, to have countless medical benefits, and to be remarkably safe. The medical use of marijuana needs to be legalized. It would be monitored just like any other controlled substance. This solution is easy. Legalizing marijuana would go through the same procedure as the other medically prescribed substance. It is up to us. We, the people of America, need to follow in the footsteps of Anne Boyce as well as the voters of California. We need to write to our Congressmen. Let our Senators and our Representatives know of our wishes, our rights. We need to talk a stand. Follow the advice of a once great President, Thomas Jefferson, who once said "if people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be as in sorry state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."