Premium
Physicians present case for legalizing marijuana
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the brown university child and adolescent psychopharmacology update
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7567
pISSN - 1527-8395
DOI - 10.1002/cpu.30266
Subject(s) - legalization , political science , government (linguistics) , public health , law , criminology , public opinion , recreational use , alcohol consumption , environmental health , recreation , medicine , psychology , alcohol , politics , philosophy , linguistics , nursing , biochemistry , chemistry
Three eminent physicians present a compelling case for legalizing marijuana in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health . The opinion piece, “The Physicians' Case for Marijuana Legalization,” written by David L. Nathan, M.D.; H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D.; and Joycelyn Elders, M.D., states that it's time for federal law to change and make marijuana legal, as it is for medical purposes in 29 states and for any purpose, including recreational, in eight states. More than 60 percent of Americans favor legalization. And most important, marijuana prohibition “has done more damage to public health than has marijuana itself,” they write. It has failed, just as alcohol prohibition failed due to “organized crime, increased use of hard alcohol and government waste.” Alcohol consumption did decrease during prohibition, but marijuana use has increased during prohibition.