Legalization of Marijuana (medicinal purposes only) Research Paper

Legalization of Marijuana (medicinal purposes only) - Research Paper Example For instance, in â€Å"Drugs: The Facts About Marijuana,† Ted Gottfried claims that â€Å"cannabis was used during the last half of the nineteenth century to treat gout, migraine headaches, rheumatism, hysteria, depression, loss of appetite, childbirth pains, and many other conditions† (11). During this time in history, marijuana was used extensively for its medicinal purposes. It was much beneficial but lacked consistency and standardization in the drug’s strength. Hence, slowly, the use of the drug for medicinal purposes declined. By the mid 1960’s, marijuana became the most abused illegal drug of the country. In the 1969 concert famously known as Woodstock, the use and abuse of marijuana created an outrage. Thus, from the 1970’s onwards, marijuana was not only illegal but was a serious crime against the law. Central to this debate today is whether to legalize its use or not and if to legalize, the limitations to be imposed. In religious, politica l and economic scenes, proponents have mainly based their arguments on the plant’s medicinal benefits while opponents cite issues to do with crime rate and health consequences e.g. brain damage among others. For instance, in 1996, the state of California legalized the use of marijuana in medical institutions for the relief of certain problems such as nausea and migraines. Contrary to this is the harm that marijuana legalization would entail. Thus, majority of the U.S. are against its legalization. In Ian Thomson’s â€Å"Inhaling: The Changing Significations of Marijuana in Hegemonic and Subcultural Discourses, from Antiquity Through its Prohibition,† he claims that the use of marijuana â€Å"had cost U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Douglas Ginsburg, a seat on the bench in 1987, a fact undoubtedly not lost on fast-rising political star Bi11 Clinton. He suggestively pointed out that similar use during the 1988 campaign by Bruce Babbit and Al Gore did no harm to their political careers† (3). The current American President, Barrack Obama, also admitted to have used it rather frequently in his early years. However, Obama, unlike Ginsburg, made it clear in numerous occasions that he is against marijuana legalisation but claimed that new ways need to be formulated. Kayla Morgan elucidates this in a work entitled â€Å"Legalizing Marijuana,† by saying that raids and prosecution of marijuana users would no longer be necessary (7). Nevertheless, the debate still remains open to question. The legalization of marijuana can be seen from two general perspectives, that is, from its advantages and disadvantages. Marijuana legalisation, being a controversial issue across the world, has both its pros and cons but in essence, its pros far outweigh its cons. It is important to appreciate that other people’s views are necessary in developing landmark legislations. This calls for the need to look keenly into the moral and economic issues that s urround marijuana use, whether it be for medicinal use or as a normal recreational drug. It is also quite necessary to dig deeper into the reasons as to why this issue is controversial, as well as the possible reasons people fight for its prohibition; one being its moral implications. In â€Å"Legalizing Marijuana,† Kayla Morgan states, â€Å"Legalizing marijuana is a moral issue for people on both sides of the debate† (10). These people argue that legalizing marijuana is morally wrong not because of its health or economic basis but because it manipulates

War literature has common themes such as loss, patriotism and Dissertation

War literature has common themes such as loss, patriotism and futility, how far is this true in relation to the literature of ww - Dissertation Example Such sentiments continued as basic war themes in various poems, dramas, and novels, right to the end of the nineteenth century. With the coming of the twentieth century, however there appeared a wave of modernism that removed all ideologies of romanticism from the realms of war literature. Romanticism, heroism, and patriotism were replaced by the theme of death, cynicism, and dilemma on the futility of the wars fought and lives lost. The Vietnam War, which belongs to the postmodern era, conveyed a picture of realism that focussed on mainly on evils of war. This article will examine the transformations in the war literature that took place for almost over a century, starting with the nineteenth century era of romanticism and hero worship, to the modern twenty- first century wars that speak of death and gory in the battlefield, with special emphasis on WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam war. War themes in the literature of WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War 1 Introduction Soldiers, prepare! Our ca use is Heaven's cause; / Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause: / Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky: / Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day! Prepare, prepare!† – William Blake (A War Song to Englishmen) Throughout history, war has always played the role of a major determining factor in shaping a country’s socio-economic, cultural, and religious aspects. War, right from start of human civilisation, received societal approval, until the end of the 19th century. Therefore, it is of little wonder that war has been a persistent theme in art and literature, throughout the various ages. War literature always mirrored the hopes and aspirations of men in the battlefield, and also that of the society back home. There was a conscious feeling of patriotism, which intermingled with a pervading sense of futility about the lives lost in the various wars. The literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, also show a certain air of romanticism attached to the notions of war and the heroic actions of the brave soldiers at the front. However, all these started changing with the beginning of the twentieth century, when war slowly became a more grim matter, an issue of death, dying, and endless suffering, with a complete lack of the Victorian glorification of the war. We notice this slow transformation during the WWI when the era of modernism with its themes of  individualism, a deep mistrust towards all state and religious institutions, and a general air of breaking away from social and conventional norms, entered the literary world. The basic principles of modernism can be summarised as related to concerns centred upon â€Å"the deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life" (Simmel, 2004, 79). The Vietnam War was however like a huge jolt, which shook the entire social world out of its repose, while also transforming the genre of war literature, making it more realistic, and reflecting the large scale destruction that war actually spelled out. The Vietnam War further removed all traces of nationalism from