LEGALIZING MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USE

Legalizing Marijuana for medical use

Legalizing Marijuana for medical use

Outline of the Study

This paper focuses on the understanding of legalizing Marijuana for medical use. The controversial issue of legalizing marijuana for medical use has found its way to Arkansas, and Arkansans may have the chance to vote on the issue in the 2000 general election (Allison, 2001). That's if The Alliance for the Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas has its way. ARDPArk will have to get 56,000 signatures in order to get the initiative approved for the 2000 general election.

Discussion

Denele Campbell, founder and president of ARDPArk, is determined to get the issue on the ballot. In an interview with Campbell, I asked what prompted her to start the group, which has only been in existence since July 1999. Campbell said the group grew out of conversations at social gatherings; the more they talked about the issue, the more they felt they had to take action (Becket, 2005a).

"The outrageousness of the situation and a personal experience with a cancer patient is what prompted me to get involved; people risking arrest, dignity and the quality of life just to find comfort is outrageous," Campbell said. "Marijuana is a folk medicine that has been around for centuries; even as recently as 1937 it was listed in the United States' Pharmacopoeia as a treatment for various ailments.

I got Online and discovered a Listserv with a collection of newsletters posted by people from around the country and the world about their experiences with the drug (Becket, 2005b). The more I read, the more I realized there was a movement going on. I was greatly empowered by this and encouraged that other people led the way, and I could get involved on a larger scale. I've always been somewhat of an activist, so this seemed natural to me."

The group began its activism by first mailing out brochures about ARKPArk and the issue of legalization to people they thought might be interested in their cause.

"We didn't get much of a response from that," Campbell said. "It was an Arkansas Times column written by Mara Leveritt about the group and our efforts toward reform that brought calls in from all over the state. We were able to reach more people through the article (Blumstein, 2006)."

Campbell feels, as do many others involved in this issue, that the real issue here is compassion for the seriously ill. The bill, based on the one that has since passed in Oregon, would allow physicians to advise and recommend marijuana but not prescribe it. After the recommendation, the patient would bring a note to the Health Department for verification, in which case an identification card would be issued to the patient and a designated care-giver (Bonnie, 2000). The care-giver would be designated to grow the herb or get it from a producer for the patient. Both the patient and care-giver would be protected against prosecution.

Arkansas is not alone in the fight to legalize marijuana for medical ...