Legalization of Medical Marijuana Essay

Legalization of marijuana is a critical issue nowadays. It has caused many arguments amongst society. People of all professions, ages, and gradations discuss its possibility and applicability in the USA. Each person can find positive and negative factors of Cannabis legalization. My sole aspiration of this argument is to state that if an employee or a welfare applicant or recipient is prescribed to medical marijuana for health purposes, they should not be drug tested or if so not all of them have to experience rejection to obtain Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or workplace, for example. My point of view is shared and supported by Jack Healy, whose article “Legal Use of Marijuana Clashes With Job Rules” was published in the New York Times, 2014.

Since medical marijuana usage became legal in some states there appeared many cases when people had to pass marijuana tests, and because of positive results they were fired from their jobs or did not get welfare assistance. Healy aimed to cover a vast audience which includes all citizens of the USA as each of them can occur in a situation when smoking marijuana on medical purposes can cause them being fired from a job. Mainly that is a sympathetic audience. However, he had used many facts to support his claim. Thus, the audience can be extended to the neutral one to persuade them to hold Healy’s position.

There are some fallacies which bias the issue. Firstly, taking medical marijuana must be under control. Secondly, the person who takes medical marijuana cannot be involved in specific activities in order to reduce the chance of trauma and other possible adverse outcomes. Thirdly, each particular case must be analyzed separately. Thus, there is no a single salvation to this problem.

The ethos. The article was read by many readers of the New York Times. Healy’s arguments were convincing as they were full of facts and relative information. His position was supported as nowadays almost all the companies of any size and branch of work have their own rules on employees drug testing. Every company has its drug policy, some of them are entirely against of marijuana usage no matter if it is a medical issue or not, but some of them are tolerant and do not prohibit marijuana usage in legal limits. Their politics in this issue is based on the following idea: employees can do whatever they want at their free time, but they have to be alert and sober for regular work performance at work hours. 

The pathos. Healy’s arguments touched a vast audience. He had raised public awareness by telling his story. Nowadays, many people all over America are forced to experience the unfair attitude of their employers and social workers because of needing to take medical or recreational marijuana. There are also cases when a person having a medical marijuana card and being fired for consuming it from one place was unable to find a job for oneself in another place because of this reason. Such people often apply to the court to restore them at the previous position, to get financial compensation or other reasons. The lawyers of such companies often argue in the courts that the medical use of marijuana has to be legalized entirely and the law has to fully protect such people from being fired from their job positions.

The logos. The law says that there is no requirement for most of the private employers to test their co-workers for drug or alcohol use. There are only a few exceptions for the companies that work in safety-sensitive spheres of industry and especially transportation, such industries are regulated by different authorities such as Highway and Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard. Their direct duty is to test their employees for drug and alcohol consumption to provide safety in their sphere.

My attitude to drug testing of those people, who are forced by some medical circumstances to smoke marijuana (especially, if it is legal in the particular state), is negative. I think that such people have a right to live their lives and feel good or at least do not feel constant pain in their bodies. There is no doubt that each rule has its exceptions, and there are people who trick their relatives, employers, social workers and smoke marijuana for pleasure but not for medical purposes. That is why drug testing has to be applied to all the people, but its results have to be taken into consideration only along with the reasons why a particular person smokes marijuana. The same decision-making process does not have to apply to all the tested applicants or recipients. Circumstances have to be taken into consideration.

All in all, Jack Healy’s article raised social awareness regarding the medical marijuana issue. His audience is vast because each person is at risk to get a severe trauma and being in need of effective pain relief. He has provided necessary data to touch the sympathetic and neutral audiences. The issue has several fallacies. Drug testing at the workplace and for welfare applicants and recipients must be applicable as some activities require a person being attentive and sober. However, firing people from their workplace or rejecting people to get benefits from the state for smoking medical marijuana cannot be applied automatically because such people do not have another choice in most cases, and it is not fair to create more problems for them.

Works Cited

Healy, Jack. Legal use of marijuana clashes with job rules. The New York Times. 2014. Web. Retrieved on Oct. 18, 2018, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/us/legal-use-of-marijuana-clashes-with-workplace-drug-testing.html?_r=0

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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