easethe pain caused by AIDS and AIDS-related diseases (Randall and O’Leary 200). Thesenew medical uses of cannabis led to wider folk experimentation. The use of marijuana inthe symptomatic treatment of convulsive disorders, migraine, insomnia, anddysmenorrhea was rediscovered. During Richard Nixon’s campaign on the drug war inthe 1970’s, beginning with the establishment of the Office of Drug Abuse LawEnforcement (ODALE), marijuana was then confined to Schedule I under the ControlledSubstances Act. This classified marijuana as a drug that has a high potential for abuse,lacks an accepted medical use, and is unsafe for use under medical supervision (Miller103).In November 1996, California endorsed a change in the state's drug laws thatcontradicted the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Office of National DrugControl Policy (ONDCP). California voters approved Proposition 215, an initiative thatmade marijuana legally available as a medicine in the United States for the first time intwo generations. Under the new law, patients or their caregivers who possess orcultivate marijuana for medical treatment recommended by a doctor would not besubject to criminal prosecution. The recommendation may be either written or oral anddoctors cannot be penalized by the state for making it. A similar but more restrictiveinitiative was passed in Arizona at the same time (Randall and O’Leary 250). Thefederal government, in a decision by the Supreme Court, overruled the propositions ofCalifornia, Arizona, and six other states. Several “Legalize It!” groups continue to speakout against the ferderal government with rallies, websites, and conferences. Thesegroups include NORML (National Reformation of the Reformation of Marijuana Laws),DRCNet (The Drug Enforcement Organization Network), and MPP (The MarijuanaPolicy Project) (Randall and O’Leary 420-437).One of marijuana's greatest proported advantages as ...
