Marijuana has been used as a medicine and an intoxicant for thousands of years in many parts of the world. But in the United States, marijuana use has been prohibited by state and local laws since the early 1900s and by federal law since 1937. In spite of these laws, use of the drug became widespread during the 1960s and '70s - especially among young people. This brings up my topic.
Drugs are the biggest problems in the United States today. The worst drug is marijuana, according to the surveys of PRIDE. In 1991, 16.9 percent of high school teenagers used marijuana. In 1995, 28.3 percent of high school teenagers used marijuana. That is an 11.3 percent increase in four years. Which means over three-tenths of high school teenagers use or have used marijuana.This is one of the reasons that President Clinton has declared a war against drugs. Bill Clinton has not been very successful about this.
In the fall of 1996, the state of California made a law that legalizes the use of marijuana for medical needs. The law says a person could buy or sell marijuana without a permit, but only with an approval of a doctor or a physician. This law nearly gives freedom for marijuana users and drug dealers in California.
A drug dealer could buy marijuana much easier than in any other state. Even a doctor could be a drug dealer and give you marijuana instead of any other prescribed medicine, and get you hooked without even knowing what it is you're hooked on to. Doctors would do that for business; it is very much possible.
Now drug dealers, drug users and some doctors will make tremendous amounts of marijuana, and spread all over California, and possibly the United States.
In my opinion (possibly most other teenagers'), I don't want to see teenagers getting in trouble with the law or in jail because of marijuana, and the government is making it too easy to do so. I hope our trusted government will protect teenagers by changing their minds for our future.
Daniel Kim, age 13
Orem