Beginning of Essay
? Marijuana has been used extensively as a medical remedy for more than five thousand years. In the early 1900s, medical usage of marijuana began to decline with the advent of alternative drugs. Injectable opiates and synthetic drugs such as aspirin and barbitura ....

Middle of Essay
.... federally 'Scheduled' by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). A drug's scheduling under Federal law is determined “according to [its] effects, medical uses, and potential for abuse” (Claim V). In this classification system, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, grouped with heroin, LSD, hashish, methaqualone, and designer drugs. These are drugs having “unpredictable effects, and [causing] severe psychological or physical dependence, or death” (Claim V). A closer analysis of the DEA's Federal Scheduling system reveals that, according to various studies by physicians on both sides of the legalization debate, marijuana does not meet the requir ....