Congress Can Stop Medical Marijuana

Despite the strong voter support and health advocates for the legalization of medical marijuana, the Congress still holds the power to decide if states will be able to legalize the drug. Many Americans do not feel that this is fair, however, the Congress can prohibit the drug’s legalization according to the United States Constitution, the U.S. House of Representative and Supreme Court votes, and the Controlled Substance Act. 

Medical marijuana use has proven to be effective in many patients suffering terminal and painful diseases. People who undergo pain from illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain and epilepsy have found medicinal marijuana extremely helpful in the treatment of their symptoms. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, during the year 1999, the most comprehensive study of medical marijuana’s effectiveness to date by the Institute of Medicine, concluded, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety…all can be mitigated by marijuana.” This statement opened the doors for many people in over 26 states to support the legalization of the drug. However, despite the strong support for the legalization, Congress still holds firm that they will not allow the legalization without their approval, regardless of the majority of Americans who have voted to legalize the drug. 

In July of 1787, five members of the Committee of Detail began arranging and preparing the United States Constitution. This Committee was in favor of allowing the United States Constitution to have “essential principles only; lest the operations of government should be clogged by rendering those provisions permanent and unalterable which ought to be accommodated to times and events.”