Marijuana Legalization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marijuana Legalization - Research Paper Example Although, Marijuana was maximally consumed for recreational purposes, when its medicinal properties were discovered, it started to be used for therapeutic purposes as well. Certain components of Marijuana like THC, cannabinoids, etc., are proven to treat or even lessen the complications arising out of various diseases and health problems. Because of these beneficial properties, there are calls to legalize Marijuana for medicinal purposes, so the needy patients can get access to it without any hassles. Currently, it is illegal to possess and consume Marijuana (with only few states giving exceptions) and so the authorities are implementing extensive and tough measures to impede its movement. These measures are resulting in high costs for the government, and quite contrastingly, certain studies showed that controlling measures are in-turn leading to more crimes, thus validating the need for legalization. When the purpose or use of Marijuana is viewed from an opposite perspective, it pro vides a slightly negative picture. That is, consumption of Marijuana could cause even more serious health problems for the users (more that its’ therapeutic purposes), thus raising calls against legalization. ... However, as the cons against legalization can be managed, this paper after discussing both sides of the legalization argument, will favor legalization of Marijuana. Pros for Legalization Marijuana has been used, as part of medicinal practice, from early centuries and it was only around 1850's, it was embraced by the Western medical practitioners. (Millhorn et al., 2009). It was part of the United States' pharmacopoeia as one of the prescription drugs till 1941, treating both minor as well as major complications. However, with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1930s, the practitioners were impeded from prescribing it. (Gunnlaugsson & Galliher, 2010). In the present context, although there are severe restrictions in the use of Marijuana for medical purposes, various studies are going on, which proves the efficacy of it against many health complications, thus necessitating the legalization of it. The medicinal value of Marijuana particularly its components THC and cannabinoids can help in the treatment of various diseases and also the complications arising out of those diseases. â€Å"An alternative literature suggests that cannabis may have medicinal value for addressing a wide range of various medical diseases, though smoked product may be harmful, the active ingredients in cannabis, most notably THC/dronabinol may have medicinal value† (Johnson et al., 2008). Even if it is not able to fully treat the diseases, Marijuana can play an effective role in minimizing the physical pain and other complications that are associated with those diseases. Marijuana's main medical application is as a pain reliever. â€Å"The use of marijuana relieves pain, which results from side effects of

Compare and contrast the views of human nature, the state, and war of Essay

Compare and contrast the views of human nature, the state, and war of the following thinkers Thucydides & Waltz - Essay Example However, what makes Waltz different from Thucydides is the fact that Waltz realizes that this explanation was not adequate. He points out that it is mankind, which creates communities, regimes and other parameters, which defines its existence. As a result, he is of opinion that the second source of conflict is determined by the internal character of the state in which he/ she lives, namely the public beliefs and practices, opinions and expectations, political systems and institutions of government, that frame human behavior. Waltz does not stop here but goes further. He argues that if the structure of the state and its system of governance shapes human behavior, then the structure of the international system must also shape state behavior. Thus his concept of neorealism shuns essentialist beliefs that human nature does not explain international politics, rather rests in aconstant state of amorphous decentralized latency, which arises from mutual lack of trust and everytime the state develops technological and warfare power, which he calls offensive orovertly aggressive so as to create too much of international felling of insecurity, so much so that they are motivated to seize that power and check it to a normal condition. International politics is different than domestic politics, though, because no entity possesses a legal monopoly on the use of force. The countries of the world inhabit a self-help system, competing freely and independently to secure their own interests and promote their national secur ity. There is no global structure capable of preventing one state from attacking another. This is the third source of conflict--a condition of anarchy that does not make war inevitable, only possible. Waltz argued that states must be prepared to use military force if necessary to protect them. No one else will do it for them. Considering these three sources of conflict, the concept of whether man, the state, or the international system is paramount becomes problematized. Interestingly, Waltz argues that we need to consider all three. Waltz argues that the world exists in a state of perpetual international anarchy. Waltz distinguishes the anarchy of the international environment from the order of the domestic one. In the domestic realm, all actors may appeal to, and be compelled by, a central authority - 'the state' or 'the government' - but in the international realm, no such source of order exists. Hence in Waltz's account, states must behave in a self-help way, acting freely unles s or until other actors restrict or limit their ability to do so. Like most neorealists, Waltz accepts that globalization is posing new challenges to states, but he does not believe states are being replaced, because no other non-state actor can equal the capabilities of the state. Waltz has suggested that globalization is a fad of the 1990s and if anything the role of the state has expanded its functions in response to global transformations. Along with some other theorists, he has argued that the United States has some characteristics of an empire. In 1979 Waltz incorrectly predicted that the Cold War order would continue well into the next century. This wrong prediction, however, does not represent an anomaly in Waltz's theory since it aims to explain continuities rather than change in international system. Waltz's theory, as he explicitly makes clear in "Theory of International Politics", is not a theory of foreign policy and does not attempt to predict or explain specific