Should Marijuana Be Medicine?

One argument is that marijuana could never be a suitable medicine because of the damage that can occur from smoking the plant. The Institute of Medicine addressed this argument in the report, “Marijuana and Medicine,” "Marijuana is not a completely benign substance. It is a powerful drug with a variety of effects. However, except for the harm associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications. Thus, the safety issues associated with marijuana do not preclude some medical uses."(126). Although the Institute of Medicine have shown through studies that the benefits from marijuana out-weigh the negative aspect of smoking the plant as a delivery system, there are many other types of delivery systems available to eliminate the need to smoke the plant. Some of which include digesting the plant. Also extracting the THC and inhaling the vapors released when heated to boiling temperature. Marijuana has also been used to make many medications, including: Marinal, Cannibinor, Naboline, and Sativex. These medications were made from extracted THC or synthetic THC.(MedicalMarijuana.ProCon.org)

The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is a long-standing controversy. For centuries marijuana was prescribed to alleviate symptoms associated with a variety of illnesses. Anti-medical marijuana sentiments began with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act banned the use of marijuana completely, categorizing it as a drug with no medicinal value, high abuse rates, and detrimental health effects (http://www.farmacy.org/prop215/apha.html). Since 1996, numerous states including California, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have passed medical marijuana initiatives supporting the right to prescribe marijuana for seriously or terminally ill patients (http://www.marihemp.com/marimed.html). The American Public Health Association and the Institute of Medicine represent two organizations that have recently researched and endorsed advancements in the study of medical marijuana. Both groups support the use of marijuana for specific treatments, such as reducing nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, stimulating the appetites of AIDS victims, and limiting spasticity in MS patients.

Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General, once spoke about the legalization of marijuana for medical use in a press conference. "It's criminal to keep this medicine from patients," she said (Silverman, 1995, pg. 2). She received criticism not only from many citizens of the United States, but also strong criticism from the President who appointed her. The legalization of marijuana for medical use has always been a sharply debated subject, and many of the debaters are uneducated about the effects of using this illegal drug for therapeutic use. Many studies have been done and the results are clear. As a medical drug, marijuana should be available to patients who do not adequately respond to currently available

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

I'm in favour of cannabis being used medically because if a plant such as opium, which is used to create

Medical use of Marijuana is probably the most discussed topic of the legalizing campaign over the recent years. Some opponents of Marijuana say that it does not have any medical uses at all, and argue that Marijuana is only harmful and should remain illegal. Others for legalization have an opposite view that is starting to gain more recognition as time goes on. Around the late 1990’s, some members of the nation’s medical establishment began to acknowledge marijuana’s potential health benefits. One respected health organization, the Institute of Medicine, released a report in 1999 which stated that “nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety can all be mitigated by marijuana (Medical). In an article Drug Legalization, Advocates of medical marijuana say that in many cases it is the only treatment that has been shown to work. “It is a very effective medication for people who have failed to get good results from standard medications,” says Ethan Russo, a neurologist who has studied medical marijuana, “and that is why so many people are devoted to risking their lives and career to get this drug”(Drug). There are many reports that Marijuana can help with conditions traditional medicines do not seem to help with. Marijuana has also been a huge help to patients with Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Glaucoma, and Insomnia. With a lot of prescription medicines being expensive, Marijuana would be a cheaper alternative to buy if people chose to do so.

This book explains real the medicinal value of marijuana. why is it illegal? David Ford explains how the federal government created a systematic campaign of deception that began in the 1930's. From fifty years of research and interviews with hundreds of marijuana users, the author offers many arguments why marijuana should never have been illegal. The government is aware that marijuana never resulted in even one documented death. In 1966, the voters of California and Arizona approved marijuana for medical purposes. This has sparked up a controversy. Should it be legalized or not? I want to write about this because, this is one of the most talked about and most argued about subjects in America today. It is definitely a subject that should be examined and researched a little more. I will use David’s book to illustrate whether or not marijuana should be legalized or not. In honesty I am not a fan for marijuana, I think the world functions just fine as it

            Many citizens in the United States suffer from lifelong diseases that cause them to lose the ability to live their day-to-day lives. The United States is now faced with the problem over whether or not drugs, often stigmatized by society, should be made legal. One of these lifesaving drugs is medical marijuana. This leaves us with the troubling question: “should medical marijuana be legalized in the United States?”. Supporters of the drug have argued that it should be legalized because it is superior to other painkillers and can be beneficial to people suffering from numerous illnesses. However, those who oppose its use, argue that not enough research has been done and it may be harmful. The

Marijuana is considered by many to be an effective alternative to analgesics. Although still being

In today’s society you always hear about medical marijuana and if it should be legalized in the United States. The fact that if it is only available to people with a serious medical issue can access it. It even has parents going out of their ways, and living to get the drug for their children, and people breaking their state laws just so they can have a treatment that maybe their prescribed drugs do not help with. Dr. Allen Weiss, head of NCH, has pointed out, “there are already excellent medications available,” with that being said, is medical marijuana a drug that can help treat a lot of health issues, it is a better alternative to the common medications, in considering the ways it helps treat cancer, epilepsy, AIDS, glaucoma, and schizophrenia?

Marijuana should be a medicinal option because it relieves major chronic pain to many symptoms. According to the Herald Editorial board, Marijuana shows a great impact on pain, “from a widespread number of causes, including cancer, spinal cord injury and disease, severe spasms, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea, glaucoma, Parkinson’s and other debilitating ailments.” This drug is useful, as patients at times cannot use certain drug due to allergies or other complications. Marijuana helps elevated those who suffer severe pain that other drugs cannot, but doctors still prescribe stronger and more addictive opiates that are legal. If marijuana was a legal drug for the purpose of medication, marijuana can potentially save lives. Marijuana should be prescribed as there are fewer side effects compared to the drugs prescribed by doctors. Why would the government not allow doctors to prescribe patients with extreme health issues that can potentially help elevate their pain. There are individuals who suffer from epilepsy, epilepsy is a condition that causes nerve cell activity to disturb the brain. At times individuals can have up to 10 seizures a day, at any given moment. Having 10 seizures a day at random times makes it difficult for them to go on with their day, but marijuana can decrease the amount seizures into one day. It’s remarkable on how marijuana can reduce the amount of seizures an epileptic person has. Marijuana needs to be an option for medical purposes for the amount of benefits it provides.

The use of cannabis toward medicine should not be shocking to anyone, since it has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, it has been under medicinal aid for an estimated 5,000 years. Western medicine truly grasped marijuana’s medicinal abilities in the 1850’s. Infact, doctors documented over one hundred papers about how marijuana helped numerous disorders, such as nausea, glaucoma, movement disorders, pain relief, depression, and anxiety. It also helps cancer patients and those with HIV or Aids. Currently, many American patients have access to marijuana use so that they can have effective treatments for their illnesses. Medical marijuana use is achievable because

According to article, “Recent Research on Medical Marijuana,” written by Paul Armentano, and published on NORML.org in 2015, he mentions in the United States, federal prohibitions outlawing cannabis ' recreational, industrial, and therapeutic use were first imposed by Congress under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In the article, “23 Health Benefits Of Marijuana,” by Jennifer Welsh and Kevin Loria, published on Business Insider.com in 2014 they emphasizes: “There are two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think have medicinal applications. Those are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which has pain relieving and other properties” (Welsh and Loria 1). In “Medical marijuana could reduce painkiller abuse, study suggests,” article published in an online newspaper the Los Angeles Time, in 2015, Melissa Healy wrote: “Could medical marijuana be an antidote for the nation 's scourge of fatal overdoses caused by prescription pain medication? A new study suggests the answer is, “yes.”

The Government proclaims there is no therapeutic value in the medicinal use of marijuana, but they do not have hard evidence to prove it (Grinspoon 46). Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, (at a congressional forum) expressed: “the government has demonized all drug use without differentiation and has systematically and hysterically resisted science.”(Koch 714) Possibly if the two “sides” would work together an agreement could be established concerning procedures for further development and treatment. Marijuana has eased the pain of chemotherapy, severe muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, weight-loss due to the AIDS virus, and other problems (www.abcnews.go.com/medmj990317.html).