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Medical marijuana can be seen as a miracle drug because of all the things that it can do. For one, it can be used as an effective painkiller. Much safer than some other painkillers like opioids and xanax which are shown to kill nearly 50,000 in the US per year because of their highly addictive properties.(NIH) 

In an article by Pro Con, it is stated that medical marijuana can treat the symptoms of cancer, AIDS and  multiple sclerosis.  This shows the many possibilities and potential of medical marijuana. For example, someone suffering from severe pain could use medical marijuana and it would relieve them from the pain and yet, they wouldn't become addicted to the medication. 

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Hearing about all the things it can do, you may be thinking that there is some high-tech process where people are splitting atoms and creating medical marijuana, but no! In an article by Web Md, a credible, authoritative source of health information, it is clearly stated that medical marijuana is, “basically the same product as recreational marijuana, but it's taken for medical purposes.” (WebMd) this shows that medical marijuana is just simply recreational marijuana but used as medicine. And in case you're wondering how that is made, it is the dried-up cannabis plant so your medication is coming straight out of the ground. 

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There must be nobody that disagrees with legalizing this drug, right? Wrong. An article by Missouri medicine states that “If marijuana is to be ‘prescribed’ by physicians and used as a medication, it should be subject to the same rigorous approval process that other commercially available drugs undergo.” That makes sense, however, right now, if you were going to buy marijuana from the streets, there's no assurance of it being safe either. It can be laced with dangerous substances such as fentanyl which can be lethal. Wouldn’t it be much safer over the counter even if not fully regulated yet? At least, it would be pure. Could there be a transition period to slowly roll it out of the streets? It seems like there can be a middle ground that even if not perfect could be safer than what is happening now.

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In a survey done on 8th-grade students in Mrs.Leskas red class, a question was asked about the procedure for obtaining medical marijuana because, in the same survey, many people thought the medical marijuana would fall into the wrong hands like some guy in an alley with a bag of green stuff. A student wrote this. “I think you should only be allowed to get medical marijuana in a pharmacy where you have been prescribed some.” (Guster) This quote is showing what kids think the procedure should be and I highly agree with it. This quote can also be used to go against those who think medical marijuana shouldn't be legalized because it can lead people to interact with drug dealers. In that same 8th grade class, an inspiring young man said that “I think medical marijuana could be very useful because it is a relaxation drug that could reduce stress levels.”(Prior, Cam)  this very credible source’s quote shows me what kids think about medical marijuana. 

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Medical marijuana needs to be legalized in all 50 states and I know after reading this top tier op Ed you think it should too. This is why we need to write to our Health Department and legalize this all over the country. If you still think it shouldn't be legalized, just think about the people struggling with severe pain or struggling with the symptoms of cancer and aids with only addictive risky drugs helping them. Also think about the people who are getting weed from dealers that are lacing it and can be killing them. THEY DESERVE SAFE MEDICAL MARIJUANA.