Melanie Goss
Reporter

Tyler Morrison
Reporter

At PLU, illegal marijuana use is the most common drug abuse violation with more than 10 reported violations in the last three years.

Despite federal prohibition, attempts to legalize marijuana have appeared on several state ballots including Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington.

Each of these states has passed medical marijuana initiatives.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Washington state’s medical marijuana law, passed in 1998, removes state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess valid documentation from their physician.

That documentation must affirm that the patient suffers from a debilitating condition and that the "potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks."

However, there is no federal law protecting medical marijuana.

The conflict stems from marijuana having both benefits and consequences.

Organizations like NORML are fighting to keep marijuana legislation on the ballot, citing marijuana’s medicinal properties.

Proponents for the legalization of marijuana cite marijuana's therapeutic uses, which are well documented in modern, scientific literature.

Studies cited by the National Institute of Health's Workshop on the Utility of Marijuana indicate that marijuana provides relief for a number of medical conditions, including glaucoma, a common eye condition in which the fluid pressure inside the eyes rises because of slowed fluid drainage from the eye.

If untreated, glaucoma may damage the optic nerve and other parts of the eye, causing the loss of vision or even blindness.

Other evidence indicates that smoking marijuana reduces pain from spinal cord injuries and Multiple Sclerosis, and diminishes tremors in Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Patients and physicians have also reported that smoking marijuana provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, insomnia, and chronic pain.

However, Barry McCaffrey, U.S. Drug Czar says, “There’s not a shred of scientific evidence that says marijuana is a useful medicine.”

Organizations such as the American Medical Association, the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, the Northwest Center for Health and Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Drug Watch International, and the Office for National Drug Control Policy do not support legalization.

The DEA's Web site states, “Not one American health association accepts marijuana as medicine. Statements issued by these organizations express concern over the harmful effects of the drugs and over the lack of solid research demonstrating that they might do more good than harm.”

Support for this statement includes the 1994 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that states, "marijuana should remain a Schedule I drug: highly addictive with no medical usefulness." According to the DEA, the medical marijuana movement and its million-dollar media campaign has helped contribute to the changing attitude among youth that marijuana is harmless.

They added, “the softening anti-drug attitudes among teens has led to a 140 percent increase in marijuana use among high school seniors.”

Until more research is conducted and more evidence gathered, this debate will persist. And people will continue to evade the law for possession of illegal substances, including some PLU students.

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