Issue Position

Medical Marijuana

I support the use of medical marijuana for medicinal purposes. Medical Marijuana has been proven to help the sick and dying. Not only is it inhumane to deny this plant, which was created by God, to the dying and sick- it is up to the individual States to decide whether they want to decriminalize marijuana.

The Federal Government, however, continues to waste billions of dollars on the eradication of marijuana with little or no impact on usage rates.

Gonzales v. Raich

Nowhere in the Constitution does the Federal Government have the authority to ban a weed from growing in people's yard. As a Constitutionalist, every man and woman has the right to live their life as they see fit as long as it does not interfere with the rights of others.

If dying and sick Americans need to use marijuana to ease their pain, they must have that right.

The United States is a Nation of laws, based upon individual personal freedoms, yet when it comes to medical marijuana many argue that the federal government has the right to deny this choice to citizens. I do not agree with this view. If we were a truly free society, marijuana would not be illegal on a federal level and personal consumption use would not be banned.

Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug. The new gateway drugs are legal ones that psychiatrists are prescribing to your children. Giving 8-years old children prescription drugs is only going to lead to greater drug abuse and addiction.

Parents should not be overly concerned with marijuana but instead legal Opioids/pain relievers (Dilaudid, Lorcet, Lortab, OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Tylox, Vicodin), Depressants (Valium, Xanax), and Stimulants (Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin). They are killing your children and turning them into drug addicts.

Every school shooting in America was done by a child that was prescribed an anti-depressant or anti-psychotic.

Prescription drug addiction is was now killing more people than crack cocaine in the 1980s and heroin in the 1970s combined.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that more than 2 million teenagers misused prescription drugs in 2005. According to SAMHSA:

* One in 5 teens has misused prescription drugs.
* One in 3 teens has reported that there is "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "every once and a while."
* One in 3 teens has reported knowing another youth who misuses or abuses prescription drugs.
* Every day, nearly 2500 youths misuse a prescription drug for the first time.
* Prescription drugs are abused by teens more often than cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and methamphetamine combined.
* Prescription drugs are the drug of choice among 12- and 13-year-olds.
* Girls are more likely than boys to intentionally use prescription drugs to get high.
* Most teens (57%) who use these products admit that they get prescription drugs for free from a relative or friend (47%) or take them from a relative or friend (10%) without permission. An additional 10% buy narcotic analgesics from a friend or relative.
* Adolescents are more likely than young adults to become dependent on prescription medication.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 2005--2008

* Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over take antidepressant medication.
* Females are more likely to take antidepressants than are males, and non-Hispanic white persons are more likely to take antidepressants than are non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons.
* About one-third of persons with severe depressive symptoms take antidepressant medication.
* More than 60% of Americans taking antidepressant medication have taken it for 2 years or longer, with 14% having taken the medication for 10 years or more.
* Less than one-third of Americans taking one antidepressant medication and less than one-half of those taking multiple antidepressants have seen a mental health professional in the past year.

Antidepressants were the third most common prescription drug taken by Americans of all ages in 2005--2008 and the most frequently used by persons aged 18--44 years. From 1988--1994 through 2005--2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the United States among all ages increased nearly 400%.

More than 8% of children in foster care have received Anti-Psychotic Medication

We as a nation must stop wasting money and resources on the prohibition of marijuana as "legal" drugs are now the largest threat to the safety and security of young people. Marijuana use has not been proven to increase where it has been decriminalized. Wake Up America- prescription drugs are creating a new class of drug addicts while killing our young people.

1 in 10 Kids live with Alcoholic Parent