Lexis: The Negative Effects Of Medical Marijuana

The use of medical marijuana (slang: Acapulco gold, ace, bhang, cannabis, hash, dope, ganja, grass, weed, hashish oil, hemp, home-grown, honey oil, indica, Jamaican roach, sativa, sinse, sinsemilla, tea, weed oil) has a been a major topic of debate for countless years. People all around the United States have seen propaganda of some sort regarding the legalization of marijuana. For example, with the ongoing discussion of legalization throughout the states, it’s abruptly mentioned in the news, everyday conversations, school topics for debate, and within stories of social media. In the article, “Is marijuana prohibition coming to an end”, Michelle Johnson a North Carolina journalist, states “Legalizing marijuana for a medical or recreational

Hall, P. W., & Degenhardt, P. L. (2009, October). Adverse Health Effects of Non-Medical Cannabis Use. The Lancet, 374(9698), 1383-1391.

Marijuana, in a medical form, can reduce seizure activity in people with epilepsy, especially when all other forms of treatment have been exhausted. One such case was with a girl by the name of Charlotte Figi, who first started having seizures at 3 months old, and by the time she was 5 was having 300 seizures each week. When the hospital told the parents there was nothing more they could do for Charlotte, they turned to medical marijuana. After working with doctors to find the correct dosage of cannabis oil that was needed, Charlotte, at the age of 6, was only having two to three seizures per month (Young, Marijuana Stops Child’s Seizures, CNN.com). Additionally, while the personal stories of those who have seen a reduction in the number of seizures that occur from the use of medical marijuana are more prevalent than that of published studies by doctors, these studies do exist and show

An example of the success of this treatment is a five year old girl who suffered from Dravet’s Syndrome. She would have three hundred episodes weekly, people would normally think that prescribing cannabis to child is complete unacceptable, but in this instance it could not have been a better blessing. The medical marijuana brought down her seizures from three hundred a week to only once. Now forty other children in her state are using the same strand of marijuana to treat their syndromes and it has been a positive outcome.

Anti-epileptic pharmaceutical drugs are powerful drugs that children with varying forms of epilepsy are often prescribed. Current epilepsy drug affects different parts of the brain, including the brain stem, which can basically shut off the body’s critical function if dosage is significant. Marijuana doesn’t do that and is part of the reason so many doctors are changing their minds. Marijuana may be safer because of cannabidiol, which with overstimulation or inhibition, does not shut off breathing or respiration like anti-epileptic drug could cause.

The use of Cannabis (Marijuana) for medical treatment is gaining momentum across the United States. Currently twenty three states and the District of Columbia have passed bills legalizing medical marijuana for treatment of cancer, AIDS, PTSD, neuromuscular disease and various other health issues (Medical Marijuana Pros and Cons, 2014). On May 3, 2013, Representative Robert Hagan (Democrat- Youngstown) introduced HB 153 ( a reintroduction of HB 214 to the 129th Ohio General Assembly) to the 130th Ohio General Assembly to legalize medical marijuana for patients and provision for statutory protection regarding medical use of marijuana (Ohio Legislative Service Commission, 2014).

The article “Marijuana Stops Child’s Severe Seizures” by Saundra Young reveals an unusual solution to a child’s illness. Starting from a young age, Charlotte Figi started getting frequent seizures. The seizures lasted from two to four hours and often required Charlotte to be hospitalized. After doing several tests, the doctors were not able to find the exact cause for Charlotte’s seizures. They eventually diagnosed Charlotte with Dravet Syndrome. Following the diagnosis, the doctors decided to start treatment which proved to be unsuccessful. The next step they took was to implement a ketogenic diet which worked for two years with some side effects. Finally, Charlotte’s parents decided to try using medical marijuana that has low THC levels. The medical marijuana used proved to be successful in reducing Charlotte’s seizures drastically.

Marijuana is a herb, also known as cannabis sativa. It is a hemp plant that refers to plant leaves and flowers. Cannabis is used for many things, mainly as a painkiller. It is also known as a relaxtion drug that gives a calm feeling to those who use it. Marijuana also has various other names, such as pot, weed and grass.

The fact that marijuana has proven to be useful in the treatment of multiple diseases that hinder Americans today seems to have been overlooked by the legal system in the United States, until now. At this point it's now possible to acquire prescribed amounts of Medical Marijuana from KW Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, among other sources now provided in certain states here in the United States. Most of the Medical Marijuana Dispensaries require that you first get a recommendation from your primary physician before you can get a formal prescription for Medical Marijuana filled, but it has now been proven that Marijuana can be used to help patients that suffer with ailments such as glaucoma, hypoglycemia, cancer, nerve damage, severe back pain,

In his Article, Jonathan Adler, who is the Memorial Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Business Law & Regulation, Case Western Reserve University School of Law notes that as of 1970, Marijuana is listed as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), by act of Congress (506). However despite that, Dina Titus, a member of United States House of Representatives, mentions in her policy essay that back in 1996 California voters passed Proposition 215 making them the first to legalize the medical use of marijuana and then two years later, the voters of Washington and the Oregon legislature followed by passing both the Initiative 6924 and the Medical Marijuana Act which legalized the medical use of marijuana in both states (40).

Forty other children in the state are using the same strain of marijuana to treat their seizures — and it seems to be working”. Also “The doctors who recommended this treatment say that the cannabidiol in the plant interacts with the brain cells to quiet the excessive activity in the brain that causes these seizures”,claims Kim Ann. So this means it’s basically working for Charlotte and she doesn't have deal with seizures every day.(4) “In weed, a few studies in the U.S., Spain, and Israel that suggest the compounds in cannabis could even kill cancer cells”Gupta mentioned.On another case,Gupta has found another teen who was using medical marijuana.This teen it’s about Chaz that has diaphragm spasms.Chaz has been consuming strong prescribed medicines that doesn't help him at all .Gupta said(5) “His condition is called myoclonus diaphragmatic flutter (also known as Leeuwenhoek's Disease ) and causes non stop spasming in the abdominal muscles which are not only painful, but interfere with breathing and speaking.Smoking marijuana is able to calm the attacks almost

People are afraid of the unknown, that is a fact. That is why people are so afraid of what Marijuana can do and what it is in general. Although the results of marijuana as a medicine have been seen, and they are remarkable results, people still fear of what this plant can and can’t do. Throughout this paper, there will be a highly debatable advocacy for the use of Cannabis in the medical field. Both sides of the coin will be shown, but the pro’s will outweigh the Con’s by a significant amount. Marijuana is significantly less harmful than many other prescription drugs and has the same result, if not better. It is also natural and has been proven that it is impossible to overdose on it. Medical

One study done by a scientist in Israel, Raphael Mechoulam, discovered that cannabis can be used to treat “conditions as glaucoma, Crohn’s disease, inflammation, appetite loss, Tourette’s syndrome, and asthma.” (National Geographic) Research on the health benefits has just begun. Research and studies were halted around 1970 when the government made marijuana a Class I drug, and research stayed at a halt until mid 20th century. When now research has opened up and is gradually becoming more accepted. Many people have different beliefs on the downsides of pot and the negative effects of pot are still very unclear. Overall, the research that has been done on marijuana is so minimal that a decision can’t be made either way on if marijuana is bad or good. However, it is clear that marijuana does help some people and make a very big difference in their lives. Now Ezra is almost 2 years old and is and has less than 10 seizures per

“Caring without science is well-intentioned kindness, but not medicine” (“Medicinal use of Marijuana”). Marijuana prescribed by physicians can be helpful but it does not have scientific backing and research to prove that it is a drug that should be legal. According to the article “Medicinal use of Marijuana”, using marijuana as a painkiller or to get rid of nausea goes against the use of actual medicines legal by the FDA (“Medicinal use of Marijuana”). The FDA has not approved marijuana because it has unknown chemicals. Tim Carpenter writes according to a physician from Kansas, the legalization of medicinal marijuana can lead to use for recreational purposes and more illegal markets (Carpenter). So making marijuana available for prescription

In making a case for the medical use of marijuana, I am not saying that all drugs should be legal and that advances in the medical use of marijuana is the first step towards everything being legal. But my argument will do more than prove that one particular industrial chemical has certain toxic properties. In this article, I will also talk about the positives of medical marijuana use, and why its medical uses separates it from other, more harmful drugs. My point about the national obsessions with sports reinforces the belief held by many scholars that students should learn how to think and communicate in an intellectual manner about topics that interest them like sports before thinking intellectually about topics that do not interest them,