Medical Marijuana Persuasive Speech

What would you do if your six-month-old baby girl was having a seizure right in front of you? You have no medical experience, no understanding of what is happening, you just know that you are scared and she is in pain. You go to a hospital as fast as you can. The doctors tell you that this seizure was just a fluke. It happens again and, again, you are told that it was a fluke, but this just keeps happening. When she is eleven and has already suffered more seizures than you care to count, she is finally diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome and is prescribed medicines that completely change who she is as a person. The side effects include her losing her speech and ability to eat for two or more weeks. Not to

mention that they don’t stop the seizures, they just make her muscles go limp. This is the reality for Paula Lyles. She as a parent didn’t know what to do, until she heard of people migrating to Colorado to get medical marijuana to treat their children. All her friends and family, her home and her career, were in Oklahoma, but she had to move to save her child. She gave up everything for her baby girl because she had no access to the medicine she needed where she already lived (Young, 2014).
When we think of marijuana we typically think of a guy with long messy hair sitting alone in his room hitting a bong or smoking a joint.

We think of Colorado and how everyone there must be high all the time simply because recreational use is legal in the state. We may simply think of the drug itself and associate it with harder drugs such as heroine and crack cocaine. This idea of marijuana is not only dangerous but it is preventing people like Paula’s daughter from getting the help that they need. Medical marijuana can and should be seen as a viable medical option and it should be legal in all fifty states so those who are already suffering don’t have to lose more.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines medical marijuana as: “refers to using the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or basic extracts to treat a disease or symptom.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a ‘recreational drug’ as: “a drug used without medical justification.” While both recreational and medical marijuana are the same genetically, it is how they are used and what they are used for that makes the difference between the two. The Merriam-Webster dictionary also define cannabis as: “any of the preparations…or chemicals…derived from the hemp and are

psychoactive.”
Medical marijuana, despite being classes as a drug itself, is used to ween people off of harder and worse drugs. “…a Massachusetts Canna Care clinic, has treated about 80 patients who were addicted to opioids, anti-anxiety medication or muscle relaxers with cannabis through a one-month tapering program. More than three-quarters of patients stopped taking the harder drugs…” (PDFK, 2015). Cannabis is proven to be a safe alternative to simply taking them off all drugs without much warning as the symptoms of withdrawal can be lessened with marijuana use. However, this does have its drawbacks. Dr. Anil Kumar says, “If you don’t have a way of monitoring the patient who is saying ‘give me marijuana and I will stop taking narcotics,’ they may do both.” (PDFK, 2015).
Those who have cancer are always terrified of what the future will bring, how they will pay for their treatments, and when they are going to die, because most cancer patients know that it is going to kill them someday. However, recent studies suggest that using medical marijuana can treat symptoms and slow the progression of the cancer cells. “…smoked marijuana…can be helpful in treating nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy…inhaled (smoke or vaporized) marijuana can be helpful in treatment of neuropathic pain…slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes…may slow growth and reduce spread of some forms of cancer….” (ACS, 2017). Marijuana is also used in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, a progressive disease that destroys brain tissue. “Participants with stable MS were randomly assigned to receive oral cannabis extract…and reported their perceptions of changes in muscle stiffness…improved by almost twofold…and improvements were also noted in body pain, spasms and sleep quality.” (NMSS). Not only can cannabis be used for treating physical diseases, it has also been used in treating PTSD. “Jose Martinez…a U.S. Army infantryman in Afghanistan…lost both legs, his right arm and his left index finger…Doctors piled him with pills after…he recalls, “I was numb to the world.” …he ended up replacing those pills…with marijuana…has stayed his pain and tamed his demons…it soothe[s] the phantom pain of his missing limbs…it really calms [his] anxiety.” (Thompson, 2016). In the beginning of 2017 alone over two million people were using medical marijuana to treat a variety of ailments (NIDA, 2017).
However, for all its benefits, there are still some dangers that come with using marijuana as a form of medical treatment. Short-term effects of marijuana can include altered senses, changes in mood, impaired body movement, difficulty breathing, and difficulty thinking and solving problems (NIDA, 2017). No matter who uses marijuana for any reason, they will experience some or all these effects, a few of which may last their whole lives.
There are long-term effects of marijuana on the body as well, but most are rooted in long-term and often use. Frequently, it shows itself in the form of breathing problems and can cause permanent problems with learning and cognition. Smoking marijuana will also worsen conditions like asthma and other chronic breathing issues. (Armand, 2016). If used from a young age, these conditions can be worse if marijuana was used regularly while the brain was still developing (NIDA, 2017).
Medical marijuana should be made legal in all fifty states so that people do not have to lose everything just to treat their children. It needs to move past being a drug used by delinquent teens and become recognized as a viable option in treating all sorts of diseases and medical issues. And, while the effects of medical marijuana can be dangerous, the benefits of using it to assist in treating a disease outweigh the risks.
Research has shown that, in treating certain diseases’ symptoms, cannabis can be used to help the person suffering live at a decent quality of life. Scientists are continually begging to be able to put more research into this type of treatment, but are being shot down since marijuana is currently classed as a schedule one drug, or a drug with no medical purpose, despite the opposite having been proven over and over. As a country, the US needs to implement a way to regulate and distribute medical marijuana to all those who are in need.