Argumentative Essay: The Legalization Of Medical Marijuana

When many people think of using marijuana, the image of Woodstock, “Cheech and Chong” or Willy Nelson immediately pops into their heads, but marijuana isn’t just used to have a good time. Marijuana has generally been used recreationally. In recent years, however, research has found new ways to implement its effects. Marijuana has the ability to help bring comfort to patiens who have nausea and appetite loss, chronic pain, and mental disorders. I believe that marijuana should be legalized, not for recreation, but for the betterment of the lives of people suffering from illnesses throughout the United States.

Marijuana has been used for medicinal purposes for over the 3,000 years and has been met with much resistance in the recent decade (Bearman 12). In the early part of the century, marijuana, also known as cannabis, was a part of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) for about 90 years, but drug companies began to drop marijuana from medications when the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act was passed (4-6). Medical marijuana can be used in two ways; it can be smoked in a cigarette form or taken in a capsule. Marijuana’s most potent ingredient is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can be taken as a pill, but is “easily

absorbed and acts quickly” when it is in its vapor (Economist 5).

However, there is also reasoning as to why the U.S. government is cautious about legalizing this drug. In spite of medical marijuana being able to help those suffering from illness, it can possibly possibly damage the health of the people who turn to this “harmless” drug for relief from their already harmful afflictions (Kraus 11). In his article, Kraus has brought attention to the fact that marijuana possesses just as many “toxic or carcinogenic compounds” as tobacco and may lead to lung cancer and emphysema (4). Marijuana is used to relieve pain from patients with HIV-AIDS wasting syndrome, but a marijuana cigarette has “over four times the amount of tar” and a “higher concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” and can put those with an already compromised respiratory system at greater risk (4). Since cannabis has blood pressure reducing properties, it may cause those with cardiovascular diseases to have “tachycardia and abrupt changes in blood pressure” and can result in the death of the user. (6)

While this may be true, marijuana still regained its popularity in the medical world for its use by cancer and AIDS patients to help relieve nausea caused by chemotherapy and to increase the appetite of those with wasting syndrome. Patients who have severe cases of wasting syndrome use cannabis as a last-resort drug and use it to "gain the right kind of weight" (Economist 11). Due to the plants well-known appetite inducing abilities, it is possible to "restore lean tissue" to patients left emaciated from AIDS (10). The government recognized its medicinal benefits and created the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program (IND) from 1978 to 1992 (Bearman 11). In this program, AIDS patients would receive 300 marijuana cigarettes composed of 0.9 grams of cannabis every month, but the government was quick to end the program when “too many people were applying” (11).

Marijuana has also been used in cases of mental disorders to lessen the effects of the disorder. Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can benefit from cannabis because their disorder can be set off at any moment; whether it be a firework or a car alarm, it can send them back into a mental warzone (Bearman 25). Above all, marijuana can help bring them a sense of security and ease, since the plant is known for its euphoric state inducing properties. People who suffer from ADD, panic attacks, and Tourette’s syndrome can find marijuana’s effects to be calming to their ever-running minds (24).

Finally, millions around the world are afflicted with chronic pain and disorders that accompany it. Much like its uses for panic attacks, cannabis can be used to control the symptoms of severe headaches. Migraine sufferers have reported lesser pain and for some, even the prevention of migraines all together (Bearman 22). A headache is caused by an overload of neurotransmitters being sent in the brain and the only solution is to slow down the speed of the impulses with a chemical reaction produced by cannabis, dopamine (32). Chronic pain is a side effect of many diseases, such as Multiple Schlerosis (MS) and Arthritis, but they can be treated with smoking marijuana. Cannabis has been shown to be able to “relieve tremor and unsteadiness of gait” and “limit muscle pain and spasticity” in patients with MS. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that can help those with excruciating arthritis.

I support the legalization of medical marijuana in hopes that it will help better the quality of life to those who have protected our country and have found their life cut short due to terminal illnesses.

In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson stated that all Americans are entitled to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” However, since using the drug medicinally isn’t legal everywhere in the U.S., its users are at the risk of losing the liberty to better their quality of life and their pursuit of happiness. The people who turn to this drug for comfort are left at the mercy of the disease they suffer from, even though they can find relief by smoking or taking medicinal marijuana to lessen their pain, nausea, or mental

illnesses.