Legalizing Medical Marijuan The Effect On Patients

Medical marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a controversial topic because many find it beneficial as others find the usage to be recreational. Throughout the years, medical marijuana has gone through periods of times in which it was legal and illegal. Over the years laws have been developed in order to try and regulate the usage of the drug. Studies have shown many the benefits of treating diseases and symptoms. Today it is used in treatment with many different diseases and disorders such as cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and multiple sclerosis. As medical marijuana has different species and uses of the product, it is important to depict where the drug can be used for treatment. The usage of this drug enables patients to have a more positive and livable outcome with treatments.

Many medically ill patients experience agonizing pain everyday that they can not easily control with regular pain medicine, so what’s the next best thing? There have been many recent cases where medical patients have used medical marijuana for therapeutic uses and found that it had slowed the progression of their disease or helped cure it. Medical marijuana has started to become more popular with medical communities and researchers. Medical marijuana can affect many things in a positive way such as financial situations and social aspects, while having benefits on medical illnesses. Medical marijuana that does not contain the THC drug should be legalized in the United States because it would provide therapeutic benefits without making the user feel high.

Marijuana has several medicinal benefits that some have accepted and started the study and use of, although many still don't. These include better treatment for causes of peripheral neuropathy , a relatively safer and better alternative to a great many cancer treatments, and also has fewer and less severe side effects of opioids used in medicine. Tests show that medicinal marijuana is more effective than most commonly prescribed treatments for peripheral neuropathy, which includes diabetes, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries. According to the CMCR(Center for Medicinal

The MMJ revolution is slowly spreading across the US. Twenty-five states have now voted to follow Colorado. When MMJ (Medical Marijuana) approval occurred in Colorado, it was a shock to the state government. The MMJ initiative labeled as Amendment 20, and approved in November of 2000. This coined the name 420, and Colorado celebrates this in April of every year. This law successfully legalized illness specific quantities of medical marijuana for patients and their primary caregivers. In 2012, the voters successfully voted on Amendment 64 to allow retail shops. The retail shops are rare in Southern Colorado, with only one in Manitou Springs, a few in Pueblo, and many more stores in Denver. Seventeen years later, it is a thriving business, despite

References 1. Bearman, P. (2011, November 30). Medical Marijuana. In Procon.org. Retrieved from www.procon.org 2.

The earliest human records attest to the fact that human beings have been using addictive narcotics since we were hunter-gatherers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, physicians prescribed drugs like opium, morphine, cocaine and even heroin in the United States. (Crocq 355) Currently, these substances are either highly regulated or they are outright illegal. The irony here is that the the largest pharmaceutical companies or Big Pharma as they are better known, are selling the general public narcotics that are just as addictive and harmful as what the many gangs in the United States are selling to their customer base. The last statement may sound extreme, however, the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer are prescription drugs both in the United States and in Europe. (Gotzche 628) Unfortunately, these pharmaceutical companies are not satisfied with just making us addicts, they are also bankrupting the American consumer and our health care system. The statistics of deaths and the criminal practices of these pharmaceutical companies are distressing, however, it is not surprising since their main objective is to maximize profits. First, let us take a look at some of the offenders.

The topic of legalizing marijuana has been on the fore front of controversial issues ever since marijuana, cannabis, was brought into the United States from Mexico in the early 1920s. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana use in the past two decades, however, only four of those states, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, have passed the law legalizing recreational marijuana use. Some states have already enacted laws that allowed for the possession of marijuana to such individuals that received a written prescription from their doctors. Federal law, however, has continued to prohibit doctors from writing patients a marijuana prescription, meaning

The most abused narcotic prescription medications are stimulants such as Adderall, Ritalin, and amphetamines, painkillers such as oxycontin, oxycodone, or hydrocodone, and tranquilizers such as Xanax or Vallum. Many times medications are mixed. One of the well-known mixes of prescription medications is called the “Holy Trinity” which involves taking a narcotic pain reliever, an anti-anxiety drug, and a muscle relaxant together. Mixing these medications together puts a person in

For years there has been a controversy over the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is a drug made from the top of hemp plant. In the united state, it it classified as a narcotic drug that has been illegal. Since 1937.Unlike most narcotics through, It does not cause physical dependency or addiction. Intoxication may cause sedation, plesent tranquility, mood changes, and altered sense of time space, and body dimensions. Such effects are desired by many and condemned by others. The debate on legalizing marijuana for medical use is not just a simple pro/con debate. It is very complex issue that has many different approaches to it and in each of the approaches there are difference of opinion.

The legalization of marijuana has gotten to be a very controversial topic over the last few years with many valid arguments for both for and against marijuana. Use of marijuana dates all the way back to 2727 B.C. where it was used by the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung. By 1515 marijuana spread to the west where it was used for its use as fiber. “... made into things such as paper, rope, and clothing” (DEA Museum). Hemp was even encouraged to be grown by the US government. “... marijuana became a popular ingredient in many medicinal products and was sold openly in public pharmacies” (PBS). In the United States people began to fear marijuana along with Mexicans after the Mexican Revolution of 1910. The reason for this is that Mexicans initially introduced the recreational use of marijuana in the United States. Anti- drug propaganda warned American people about the dangers of Mexicans and their “Marijuana leaf” (PBS). It officially became illegal in 1937 following the Marijuana Tax Act. Which made marijuana a schedule 1 drug along with meth and heroin. This is simply crazy because when you look at meth users and compare them to marijuana users you can see the vast differences and the reasons why marijuana does not fit in this category. Even with its large variety of uses and low addiction rate, marijuana is still a schedule 1 drug along with way more disastrous drugs such as heroin. The reason for this is simply because of the War on Drugs which spends more than 12 billion dollars

When we imagine the uses of marijuana, we see the dazed hippies of the 1960s and 70’s, but really the first written record of cannabis goes back to 2727 B.C. by Chinese Emperor Shen Nung and it has been dated through almost every historic time. Not only was cannabis used for recreational and medicinal properties, but hemp was also used for cloth and textiles, paper, soap and hygiene products, food, and even industrial products such as fuel. Marijuana is not just the idolized drug mentioned in countless songs and movies that we tend to dismiss as just a joke. It appears in our daily life in various ways mostly to eliminate it, but recently it has become a more controversial topic with the legalization in some states. The debate to end the prohibition has gone into the recent presidential campaign and with the knowledge of Colorado’s recent change to legalizing marijuana we can know evaluate the evidence. The Federal Government should legalize marijuana across the country because of the economic benefits, the societal impacts, and the economical effects.

The debate on whether marijuana should be legal has long troubled many. Currently there are 23 states that allow medical marijuana. In states where medical marijuana is legal there has been a 25% decrease in opioid deaths. Research seems to indicate that the decline is due to more and more people abandoning the harsher painkillers, and opting for the plant form of relief. “The difference is quite striking,” said co- author Collen Barry, a health policy researcher at John Hopkins Bloomberg, a school of Public Health in Baltimore. The difference showed up quite quickly and became visible the year after medical marijuana was accepted in each state (Main). Marijuana can be used for a multitude of illness some of those illnesses are multiple sclerosis, Aids, glaucoma, epilepsy just to name a few. There are those who are against medical marijuana, they argue that it is too dangerous to use, and lacks FDA approval. They also

There are three types of prescribed abused drugs: opioids, depressants, and stimulants. The most powerful is opioids. Opioids are used to block out pain. Some of these include opanas, oxycontin, and roxicodone, and 5.1 million Americans abuse them regularly (Drugabuse.gov). Some of those pills can cost any where from five dollars a pill all the way up to ninety dollars a pill (Drugs a-z) and could even cost more than that depending on where you live. Some of the street names can be roxy, o.p.s, oxy, and captain coden(Drug abuse.gov). ´“At the age of 20, I became an addict to a narcotic,which began with a prescription following a surgery.¨´-James. People normally become addicted to painkillers because of doctor giving them prescriptions after a major surgery.

Next, let’s examine groups that support marijuana becoming officially authorized. These groups dispute that it has medical benefits for patients that have cancer or AIDS. It helps relieve pain, relaxes, and may help the patients get their appetites back. Marijuana is also known to help slow down the progression of the disease in Glaucoma patients. People suffering from epilepsy use marijuana to prevent the epileptic seizures. It’s also known that marijuana helps with the treatment of people who maybe clinically depressed.

The legalization of marijuana in the United States remains a major issue and has caused much controversy due to opposing views. With the economy being in the state that it is, we need to utilize all available resources and set aside personal emotion regarding “smoking weed”. While some support decriminalization, there are many reasons why other individuals, including the government, do not. From a utilitarian point view, legalizing marijuana will produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the choice (Mosser, 2010, sect. 1.7) Misleading perception and harmful effects influence the decision of marijuana remaining illegal. But, the best way to control its use is to legalize it for its positive effects on the environment, medical uses, and revenue it generates for the government; therefore, producing the best results for the greatest number of people.