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Should States Have Legal Control of Medicinal Marijuana?

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Running head: SHOULD STATES HAVE LEGAL CONTROL OF MARIJUANA
Should States Have Legal Control of Medicinal Marijuana?
Richard J. Radde
Columbia Southern University

Abstract
The use of marijuana for medicinal treatment has recently been an argumentive issue in state politics. The intent of this paper is to inform the reader of the benefits of using marijuana to assist patients with incurable diseases and to prove that states should have the right to legally control the use of it.

State’s Control of Marijuana for Medical Use
Marijuana is the drug made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The active ingredient of marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a sticky resin that is …show more content…

Lester Grinspoon, M.D., the Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School states that although cannabis is not entirely harmless, it is a safe drug. He also says that it is less toxic than the other conventional drugs that it would replace if it were legalized. In the history of its use it has never caused an overdose death. Cannabis would be one of the least toxic and addictive medicines in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia if rescheduled and legalized for medical use. Patients would not have to deal with the anxiety and expense that they deal with now. Cannabis would be at least 100 times less expensive than current medicines that perform the same treatment. Dr. Grinspoon also states that the most serious concern would be respiratory damage from smoking. The particulate matter in the smoke could be separated from the active ingredients, the cannabinoids to reduce the risk. Prohibition has prevented this technology from happening (Lester Grinspoon, 1997).
AARP Magazine conducted a telephone survey of 1,706 U.S. residents age 45 and over in November 2004. 72 percent agreed that adults should be allowed legally to use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it, 59 percent believe that marijuana has medical benefits, 55 percent say that they would obtain marijuana for a suffering loved one, 33 percent think that adults should be allowed to grow marijuana for

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