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Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

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Although other physician recommended drugs can relieve various illnesses, for some patients these drugs do not relieve their symptoms, as they should (Joy 117). For this type of patient, medical marijuana is an obvious alternative, if only it were legal. The legalization of marijuana is becoming a more polemic debate as several states are, at the very least, decriminalizing it. The decision for legalization is conflicted between whether the drug can provide benefits towards certain medical conditions and also be safe to consume. Marijuana should be legalized for medical uses because it has a broad set of therapeutic effects that are beneficial to certain patients. Two FDA-approved drugs contain a chemical that resides in marijuana, which shows that the side effects of prescription drugs are similar to marijuana. The legalization does not have a negative influence on society, especially teenagers, according to research done with eight states. Like other prescription medicines, marijuana has a large variety of remedial aftereffects that can be beneficial for certain conditions. HIV/AIDS and chronic pain are the most common disorders that can be treated with marijuana. These patients reported that marijuana alleviated nausea and vomiting, and also augmented their appetite (Joy 19). According to the United States General Accounting Office, the state-qualifying conditions are cancer chemotherapy treatment, glaucoma, epilepsy, wasting syndrome, anorexia, and multiple sclerosis

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