After a long battle among citizens and government, Congress has approved the bill to make medical marijuana legal in Washington DC.

By legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, doctors will now able to prescribe marijuana to patients for therapeutic reasons. Cancer, glaucoma, and HIV/AIDS are some of the chronic diseases that are benefitted by and permit the use of marijuana for treatment. Patients will be limited to receiving up to four ounces of marijuana.

Some people find reason to believe that marijuana will help to relieve some chronic pain for a period of time more effectively than other prescription drugs that were previously legal.

“It’s a good thing to have the option, because people can’t abuse it since it is for medical purposes only,” said freshman Derek McMahon.

While some people agree with this reasoning, others do not concur. Those opposing hold the opinion that by legalizing marijuana, the illegal use of the drug will continue to rise. It will become more difficult for law enforcement to distinguish between those who are using marijuana for medical purposes and those who abuse the drug for their own personal pleasures.

“I think there are plenty of options for treatments, so I don’t think you need to use something that can possibly make you addicted,” said sophomore Abby Walker.

However, this bill which was approved by the DC Council was not passed in its entirety by Congress. While the idea of growing marijuana was up in the air, originally, Congress declined the ability for individuals to grow it themselves.

“It’s a good thing that Congress is not allowing people to grow their own marijuana because that would be abused by illegal marijuana users,” said sophomore Emily Colon.

Instead of the home-growing option that could create problems for government officials, Washington, DC will have licensed companies distribute the drug to patients. Each dispensary will be limited to the growth of 95 marijuana plants, in order to stay within the federal law prohibiting the planting of 100 plants by a single dispensary. They will be placed throughout DC for patients to purchase the drug. However, the locations of these dispensaries have to go through somewhat of a process.

These locations cannot be finalized until residents in the area have an opportunity to protest against having it near their homes. In addition, companies have to keep in mind that these dispensaries may not be within 300 feet of any school in the district.

“It’s a good thing to consider the proximity to the school because then no student could get it but the fact that they considered it isn’t realistic, since they would find a way to get it anyway,” said senior Kim Boeckmann.

Even though the marijuana bill has become a law in DC, some believe this law will not last long due to the possibility of an increase in the abuse of marijuana. Whether or not the use of the drug for treatments will be worth the trouble is still to come. The long term effects probably won’t be discovered for at least a few years down the road.

“I could see this law facing lots of opposition because people could find ways to abuse it,” said junior Michael Speer.