Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

Marijuana is no longer used just to achieve euphoria or by hippies to show rebellion against the United States authorities. In today’s world you do not need a lava lamp and a van down by the river, you can now receive marijuana from doctors. The medicinal use of marijuana is fairly new in the U.S. One of the most common diseases medical marijuana patients suffer from is glaucoma. Although it is now legal, recent studies show hemp may not be the answer for glaucoma patients. The benefits of marijuana’s use for glaucoma treatment has not proven to outweigh its risks.

Marijuana could help by stimulating a person’s appetite while relieving the nausea and vomiting. Depression, already being a terrible illness, is a side effect to those with cancer in addition to all the physical pain. However, the usage of marijuana is said to be an effective treatment of depression. Finally, we have Glaucoma. The leading cause of blindness in the United States is due to a disease called glaucoma.

Roughly three million people in the United States suffer from glaucoma and the disease has actually impaired two million of those people. Glaucoma is the number one cause of blindness in the United States. Smoked marijuana does have properties that lower high internal eye pressure (intraocular pressure or IOP), alleviating the pain and slowing, sometimes stopping the damage to the eyes.

For example would it lead to an increased abuse by children. “Long-term, regular use of marijuana—starting in the teen years—may impair brain development and lower IQ” (Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz). The only thing that is not considered is that taxing marijuana will bring an enormous budget to North Carolina which will be used to educate children and teenager even better which helps preventing them from abusing cannabis. The budget will also be used to control the selling of marijuana which would lead to better control of the substance. Another thing to consider is that not only children could suffer from the legalization of marijuana but also legal consumer. With legalizing cannabis also comes cheaper cannabis as well as higher concentrated cannabis or even oil. That means that many people using the substance could suffer from major illnesses and it would also increase driving under the influence because more people will be smoking cannabis. But if thing they have not considered is that there will be a limit for buying marijuana which would prevent persons from buying and smoking too much. And of course, if marijuana should be legalized, the driver controls by the police would be majorly increased which the tax revenue would make possible with any further problems. Even though there are some arguments speaking against the legalization of marijuana the financial gain could bring all of

Dr. Vokow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has also found that long term use of marijuana can affect the IQ of adolescent children in which they never recover (3). Furthermore, young people can also suffer from anxiety; depression; even thoughts of suicide.

Firstly, marijuana has many health benefits. It can be used to treat a disease in the eye called glaucoma, by

Another advantage of legalising marijuana may be the medical benefits of cannabis which can be used to create a safe therapeutic effect, when used medicinally in its purest form. Studies also show the marijuana when used under a supervised routine of medical care can be used to reduce stress, as well as relieving and reducing nausea from cancer patients who participate in chemotherapy. Other medical source’s state Marijuana, once again when used under supervision for medical reasons can be effective in treating glaucoma, through relieving pressure on one’s eye socket, as well providing relief to those suffering from AID’s and Multiple sclerosis. Whilst to put in perspective the damaging effects of marijuana in

Marijuana has a significant effect on the general physical health. One of the short term and obvious effects is the reddening of the eyes. This occurs due to expanding blood vessels

Medical marijuana can also be used to treat and prevent the eye disease glaucoma, which can damage the optic nerve, by increased pressure of eyeball and causing loss of vision. According to the National Eye Institute: "Studies in the early 1970s showed that marijuana, when smoked, lowered intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with normal pressure and those with glaucoma." These effects of the drug may prevent blindness. Marijuana use also decreases the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet's Syndrome. THC may be able to slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease, a study led by Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute suggests. Another benefit of medical marijuana is that it relieves arthritis discomfort, by reducing inflammation, which may help

Studies have proven that marijuana is no more harmful to a person’s health than alcohol or tobacco. Every year, tobacco kills roughly 390,000 people, alcohol contributes to 80,000 deaths in America and marijuana contributed to 0; no deaths from marijuana have ever been recorded in US history (Abovetheinfluence.org). When smoking tobacco, the user inhales tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and 200 other known poisons into the lungs (Abovetheinfluence.org). All forms of tobacco, including cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco, contain the addictive drug nicotine, and can also cause cancer. Alcohol alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. Alcohol plays a role in at least 50 percent of traffic deaths, about half of murders, and about 25 percent of suicides (Abovetheinfluence.org). Marijuana side effects include delusions, impaired memory, hallucinations and disorientation, which are no different from the side effects of alcohol alone.

There are many scientifically proven health benefits to smoking marijuana the first of which is it can be used to treat glaucoma and other eye disease. Pot doesn’t just treat glaucoma it can be used to prevent it. According to the National Eye Institute "Studies in the early 1970s showed that

Glaucoma is a condition which can lead to blindness if left untreated. It is caused mainly by the increase pressure in the eye. Marijuana is made primary of cannabis which contains Cannabinoids. Cannabinoids successfully lowers the pressure in the eye making it a possible cure for glaucoma. What about patients who suffer from epilepsy or seizures? In 2015 at the New York University medical school researchers have found a fifty percent decrease in the patients using Cannabidiol(CBD). Cannabidiol is simply defined as a compound found in marijuana except it will not make the person high. Many parents of children who suffer from seizures are being treated with Cannabidiol.

study, a woman with glaucoma was given a conventional glaucoma prescription drug and marijuana. By using both these things, the woman reduced the dangerous pressure that had built up in her eyes(Zeese and Ruzzamenti 23). But does this mean that a person has to get high so they don’t go blind? Researcher Paul Palmberg states that a person develops a tolerance to the drug so that the patient doesn’t get high but still gets relief(Zeese and Ruzzamenti 23). Marijuana helps with nausea, weight loss, and glaucoma, but what else does it do?

If cannabis for medical use was passed as a law researchers would be more capable of doing studies to add onto the already numerous amounts of studies that they have done, but these new studies would open up the eyes to many negative or positive. What we do know is that studies have shown that medical marijuana reduces intraocular pressure in the eye, which slows the development of glaucoma. (Businessinsider.com) In another study done in 2007 medical marijuana, which contains cannabidiol, was once again able to slow down the advancement of the spread of cancer cells because the affect that this cannabidiol has on a certain gene (businessinsider.com). Once again due to a study completed by Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute in 2006, showed that the THC contained in marijuana slowed affects of plaque build up that destroy brain cells and cause the disease known as Alzheimer’s (businessinsider.com). These are only a few reports of the diseases that marijuana can have a positive affect on.

Marijuana has been found to alleviate symptoms of serious diseases. Asthma, glaucoma, and muscle spasms are just a few. It has also been proven to help a