Marijuana Use: An Ethical Examination Essay

The legalization of the drug marijuana is a hot topic nowadays. Many people want this substance to be legalized and regularly available like cigarettes. But what some people do not know are the serious health risks involved when using marijuana. There is a lot more to marijuana than just smoking it.

Thesis Statement: Marijuana has been regarded as a harmful plant that can endanger lives and is thought to be nothing more than an extra problem to be dealt with in today’s society. However, based on its economic value and medical benefits, the cannabis has proven to outweigh its negatives with numerous other positives.

Medical Marijuana Marijuana is medicine. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of ailments. Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) was legal in the United States for all purposes - industrial and recreational, as well as medicinal until 1937. Today, only eight Americans are legally allowed to use marijuana as medicine. NORML is working to restore marijuana's availability as medicine.

In the United States, we have enacted numerous bans and restrictions against certain drugs and substances with the purpose of protecting the general public from their negative effects. On this list of illegal drugs are harmful and addictive substances such as cocaine, methamphetamines, and heroin. A substance called cannabis, also known as marijuana, is also on this list. As of now, it is illegal to buy, sell, possess, or use marijuana in any shape or form in the state of Louisiana. However, due to the advancement of technology and of human perspective and innovation, it has come to light that marijuana could actually be of benefit to our society through its medicinal uses in treating a range of conditions and diseases as well as its possible social benefits in helping individuals stray from heavier drugs by acting as a substitute. Now that the wheels of time are turning and that medical marijuana is becoming a budding industry, the question remains: should marijuana be legal all across the United States of America? With the benefits it could bring with its medical, social, and economic uses, marijuana could be a profitable asset to our society if it were to be legalized, and I believe that we should strive for that outcome.

In the United States, marijuana for medical purposes has gained more prevalence in current political discourse than in previous years. Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a flowering plant that originally came from South and Central Asia. For centuries, the cannabis plant has been used for many natural products such as seed oils, seed, fiber that is used to make hemp products and contains over four hundred chemicals, some of which have an antibiotic like effect (Nordqvist, 2013). Studies have shown that two of the chemicals, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD), have a positive effect on humans for mild to moderate painkilling effects and sedative effects (Nordqvist, 2013). The purpose of this paper is

Over the past few years, the issue of the legalization of marijuana has become a very controversial topic. When confronted with the issue, it feels almost instinctive to feel as though marijuana should forever be illegal. However, when the issue is really dissected and thought about, it becomes apparent that ther

The controversy of legalizing marijuana has been raging for quite a while in America. From some people pushing it for medical purposes to potheads just wanting to get high legally. Marijuana has been used for years as a popular drug for people who want to get a high. All this time it has been illegal and now it looks as if the drug may become legal. There has been heated debate by many sides giving there opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in

Marijuana or Cannabis is one of the bused drugs in America and the rest of the world. Interesting accumulating evidence show that the significant negative impact of this drug outweighs the positive effects. However, the medical benefits of the drug seem on the process of chemical compounds as compared to the drug itself. Medical debates show that chemical compound in marijuana are the problem as compared to the plant. The said chemical compound affects the mental and physical health of the persons abusing this drug. There have been traditional efforts to control the use of marijuana through legislation laws, (Crick, Haase, & Bewley-Taylor, 2013). However, in the recent past the efforts and the laws are being lifted to relax the implementation of the same legislations and the population is responding fast in accepting the legalization of the use of marijuana. The aim of this paper is to discuss how lifting on the laws of the said drug indicate adverse tolerance of Cannabis among populations. The paper will also discuss impact of legalization marijuana on the safety, security and overall quality of human life. Also, the paper will analyses the effect of relaxation of the laws controlling this drug to other hard core drugs such as cocaine, heroin and meth-amphetamines among others.

Should medical marijuana be legal across the United States? Imagine a world where individuals who have chronic pain did not have to suffer anymore. Envision a cure for cancer, a disease many Americans are killed by daily. Picture people with severe, violent mood disorders being treated. Most people think the answers to these problems are simple and could be solved by over medicating patients. Today, there are twenty states in America who have legalized medical marijuana for specific health and medical related conditions (Medical Marijuana 1). The United States should legalize medical marijuana so patients who suffer from chronic pain can be treated, cancer could be cured, and mood disorders can be treated.

The process by which society detects and interprets information from the external world in a utilitarian theory claims: one should always do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. When one has the motivation to reach goals for the benefit of one’s self it is known as ethical egoism. In this paper we shall consider a brief history of cannabis, the parallels of legalizing medical marijuana and prohibition of alcohol in the 1920’s with regard to ethical egoism and utilitarian theories.

Did you know that almost half of the population in the United States belongs in jail, according to the law on marijuana? It’s true. In 2008 Time Magazine reported that researchers had found more than 42% of people surveyed in the United States had tried marijuana at least once (Lynch, 2008). So if marijuana use is so common in the United States, why should it not be legalized? In this paper I will discuss both the supporting and opposing positions on the legalization of marijuana. I will also explore the moral and ethical views for legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana is the familiar name for a raw drug made from the plant cannabis sativa. One of the active chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinal (THC); a stimulant it give users the pleasure effect of relaxation, known as a “high” or hallucinating when consumed too much either through oral or smoking. It is the mainstream drug and a blistering topic to our nation in this day and age. Legalizing marijuana is an ever-growing political and social battle making its way to the top of American controversial issues list. Marijuana is one of the prime adversaries on the outlook of America’s war on drugs. Numerous people crave this drug to be permissible and readily available similar to tobacco and alcohol. While it is mind-boggling that

Since the use is illegal I bring the point of ethics to the matter. Utilitarianism is a classical theory that argues that, given a set of choices, the act we should choose is that which produces the best results for the greatest number affected by that choice. The theory also suggests that there is an obvious solution that is fair, and it may be one that appeals to common sense as well (Moser, 2010). Jeremy Bentham is considered the founder of utilitarian thought and stated that that human beings resolve their ethical questions in light of maximizing the amount of pleasure they experience while minimizing the amount of pain. He considered ethically good conduct as that which expands an individual's as well as a community's liberty by adding to the sum total of its pleasure (what later was termed maximizing the "Greatest Happiness Factor" [GHF]).  Conduct is unethical, then, because it limits an individual's as well as a community's liberty and general welfare by subtracting from the GHF. So if we are to use the utilitarianism theory in regards to the legalization of marijuana, then one

A number of movements to legalize marijuana have been gaining attention lately. Currently there are 14 states where marijuana is legal for medical use (medicalmarijuana). 41% of U.S. citizens believe marijuana should be legalized (drugpolicy) but others are still concerned about health damage. American society has lost the war against marijuana, and that's okay. We should stop wasting time and money trying to reverse history and instead legalize both medical and recreational use of this mild narcotic widely seen as no more harmful than alcohol.

The medical use of marijuana has been a discussion that has been in the news and all around us recently. This is currently a hot topic of interest. There is an enormous amount of evidence that marijuana could be effect against many things. For example evidence shows it could be used to help relieve pain during chemotherapy, but along with this there is also evidence that at times marijuana can cause harm to someone as well. As nurses we must see each side of the debate to make our care for our patients sounder. One quote that directly applies to this topic, which is very important, was written in the Journal of Clinical Nursing: