Legalizing Marijuana Research Paper

The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Purposes

Mary Jane, weed, ganja… Regardless of how the public may refer to it, marijuana is quickly gaining momentum as one of the most polemical and controversial topics of the 21st century. A quick scan of the medical literature available can show that the effects of marijuana have been researched in many circumstances and for many diseases, leading to both positive and negative results. In Europe, countries like the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, just to mention a few, have performed studies and have already made consumption of cannabis legal. On the other hand, the United States is just now considering legalizing marijuana, and states like Washington, Colorado, and California have already

For instance, physician Mark Kraus, a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, opposes the idea of legalizing marijuana because of its medical benefits (Kraus, par. 1). In a piece titled “The Dangers of Legalizing Marijuana: A Physician's Perspective,” Kraus debates that the use of marijuana does not have the therapeutic purposes that the public attributes it. Kraus believes cannabis should not be a conventional medicine, because it has not passed through the “rigorous scrutiny of scientific investigation” that other drugs have to pass through. Kraus states that the public only evaluates marijuana legalization based on the testimonies of users; although marijuana may give these patients temporary relief, the long term effects are not so positive, sustains Kraus (par.

Morphine, oxycodone and dilaudid are used to treat this type of neural pain, but they do not work well for pain and create a tolerance problem, sustains Gupta (par. 27). Prescription drugs like these cause accidental overdoses; in contrast, there has never been any documented overdose of marijuana (par. 28). Gupta goes further by pointing out that researching marijuana effects is still a challenge because in most parts of the United States marijuana is illegal, even for research. Nevertheless, Gupta is hopeful that countries like Spain and Israel, who are leading studies on this drug, may very soon have positive results on the use of cannabis to fight diseases like breast cancer and PTSD (par.