Joseph Carusone

West Milford Twp. High School

67 Highlander Drive

West Milford, NJ 07480

November 3, 2016

Future President at the White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Future President:

My name is Joseph Carusone and I am a ninth grade student in West Milford High School. I would like to talk about a topic that I feel shouldn’t be the way it is. Medical Marijuana is illegal in my state, New Jersey, and it is also illegal in many other states. I think that this shouldn’t be the case with this issue. I have many reasons for why I believe that the law on medical marijuana should be revised. Hopefully this letter persuades you to think more on the topic I have for you.

I feel that we should go back to when medical marijuana was outlawed to see why it is illegal now. In the 1970’s there was a Controlled Substances Act and medical marijuana was one of the drugs they organized into certain schedules. When it came to medical marijuana they placed it under Schedule which means that it is classified as having high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the US. I am getting these facts from procon.org and it helped me retrieve my facts. The Controlled Substances Act was a part of the comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 also.

Some causes of the issue is that way back in the 1930’s it was claimed that men of color became violent and solicit sex from white women when they had marijuana. This caused the backdrop of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which was later ruled unconstitutional but then was replaced with another act which was the Controlled Substances Act. The Marijuana Tax Act also effectively banned use and sales of the drug. I learned this from drugpolicy.org. I think that both of theses acts shouldn’t be a thing and the Marijuana Tax Act was ruled unconstitutional later anyway.

Some effects of the issue is that the actual patients or people that need this drug to help them cannot achieve it legally. The drug's popularity of using it as medicine spread throughout Asia, the Middle East and then to Africa and India where Hindu sects used it for pain and stress relief. People who are depressed, have a certain issue, or is in a lot of pain are affected by this issue. If we resolve this issue then theses people won’t have to keep living in pan and it will also be a prescription prescribed by a doctor.

Some people are either totally against medical marijuana or they are on board with the idea. The opponents on the idea think marijuana is only a drug with no benefits and can’t help anyone in a good way. The proponents think the opposite and that medical marijuana can be very helpful for people with pain, bad stress, or a certain disease. Medical marijuana can be very helpful. There was one case where there was a man and he couldn’t speak unless he smoked medical marijuana because it calmed him down and made it easier for him to speak.

I feel that medical marijuana should be legalized. I don’t think there is any loss if we legalize medical marijuana. The doctor would prescribe it and if they don’t think it is necessary they wouldn’t, it’s that simple. It will be a good choice to really help out the people who truly need medical marijuana. If some people can’t get it legally they would just get it illegally to help them and they would just get arrested for it. Crime would go down if the people who actually need it get it legally. I hope you choose to legalize medical marijuana for the health and happiness of people and that this letter helps you to decide

Sincerely,

Joseph Carusone

Student, West Milford High School