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Does using marijuana have true medical value? essay
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The legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes has become an increasingly controversial topic, with many different issues on which people have many different opinions. There is opposition to the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes because it has the potential to be used incorrectly, however it is also considered that there is the potential for marijuana to be used in relieving the suffering of many seriously ill patients. Marijuana has been used by people for thousands of years to provide relief from many different serious medical problems. There are many doctors who currently support the effectiveness of using marijuana as treatment for various medical conditions. The many people who are suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, and AIDS have found that marijuana can be a very effective pain and symptom reliever. The legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is viewed by its opposers as one of the worst things that we could do. Their reasons are that they feel that marijuana should not be legalized for medical use because it is an illegal substance and until that is changed, prescribing it is against the law. "Attorney General Janet Reno announced that physicians in any state who prescribe the drug could lose the privilege of writing prescriptions, be excluded from medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and even be prosecuted for a federal crime" (Kassier 1). Government officials such as Janet Reno are not the only ones to object to the legalization of marijuana. Many parents groups like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers object to the legalization of marijuana for medical uses. Their objections come from a reasonable concern that there has been an increase in the use of marijuana by youth. Their concern is expanded since the marijuana of today is much more potent than the marijuana of a few decades ago. The potential for these teens to obtain the drug would increase. Also, the Federal Health and Drug enforcement officials feel that by legalizing marijuana, they would be sending the wrong message to young people ("Your Health" 1). Strong evidence that shows that regular use of marijuana for long periods of time could cause severe lung damage ("Your Health" 3). If the use of marijuana could damage a patient's lungs, then the risk could outweigh the benefit. Marijuana smoke can be twice as toxic as tobacco smoke to a human lung. The strongest point that many make opposing the legalization of marijuana is that there just is no clear evidence that smoking marijuana can help an individual who is ill ("Marijuana for the Sick" 2).
Of course, there are many people opposed to legalizing marijuana, despite the benefits. Some doctors are against legalizing marijuana because they think that it will cause “emotionally crippled adults”, and they think that people can become addicted to it. Doctor Howard Samuels believes that marijuana is a psychoactive drug which will create problems for adults in the future. I disagree with this. It doesn’t do anything harmful to your brain, so I don’t see how it would cause problems for adults in the future that use marijuana. You can’t become addicted to it, like you can with cigarettes and alcohol. Marijuana doesn’t have nicotine in it, which causes the addiction to cigarettes. Doctors prescribe morphine to patients, and that is very addictive...
Lately it seems that drug policy and the war on drugs has been in the headlines quite a lot. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the policies that the United States government takes against illegal drugs are coming into question. The mainstream media is catching on to the message of organizations and individuals who have long been considered liberal "Counter Culture" supporters. The marijuana question seems to be the most prevalent and pressed of the drugs and issues that are currently being addressed. The messages of these organizations and individuals include everything from legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, to full-unrestricted legalization of the drug. Of course, the status quo of vote seeking politicians and conservative policy makers has put up a strong resistance to this "new" reform lobby. The reasons for the resistance to the changes in drug policies are multiple and complex. The issues of marijuana’s possible negative effects, its use as a medical remedy, the criminality of distribution and usage, and the disparity in the enforcement of current drug laws have all been brought to a head and must be addressed in the near future. It is apparent that it would be irresponsible and wrong for the government to not evaluate it’s current general drug policies and perhaps most important, their marijuana policy. With the facts of racial disparity in punishment, detrimental effects, fiscal strain and most importantly, the history of the drug, the government most certainly must come to the conclusion that they must, at the very least, decriminalize marijuana use and quite probably fully legalize it.
The controversy of legalizing marijuana has been raging for quite a while in America. From some people pushing it for medical purposes to potheads just wanting to get high legally. Marijuana has been used for years as a popular drug for people who want to get a high. All this time it has been illegal and now it looks as if the drug may become legal. There has been heated debate by many sides giving there opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in his battle with testicular cancer. He says "I turned to [marijuana] when I got cancer because marijuana gives healthy people an appetite, and prevents people who are nauseated from throwing up. "(Brookhiser 27) Cancer patients are not the only benefactors from the appetite enhancer in marijuana, but so are any other nauseous people. Arizona and California have already passed a law allowing marijuana to be used as a medicinal drug. Fifty Six percent of the California voters voted for this law. "We've sent a message to Washington," says Dennis Peron. "They've had 25 years of this drug was, and they've only made things worse." (Simmons 111) The Arizona proposition garnished an even wider margin of separation between the fore's an against in a sixty five percent support tally. Ethan Nadelmann insists that " these propositions are not about legalization or decriminalization. They're about initiating some non radical, commonsense approaches to drug policy." General Barry McCaffery disagrees saying, "I...
But one of the arguments is that there are alternatives to using marijuana such as medications that come in pills, solutions, shots, or drops. There is no prescribed drug today that is smoked. Another concern is that marijuana is illegal is the United States. Making it a medicine would require a change in the current law which would have to be voted on by Congress. The biggest and most important argument against marijuana is the negative effects it could have on a person. Marijuana effects coordination and short-term memory which may make it impossible for a person to operate a vehicle or learn anything new. Smoking marijuana could cause lung cancer. Smoking three to five joints a day is equivalent to smoking more than twenty cigarettes a day. But marijuana has many helpful effects also.
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants (Nahas 8). Since it became illegal in 1967, there have been questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine, other than being a leisure drug. Debates between pro and con groups for the use of marijuana in the medical profession, have been heated and in recent months, referendums have been pasted in a least three states to make it accessible for medical treatment. Personally, I feel that marijuana has the potential to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, more research needs to be done to maximize its potential.
The year 1972 is when Congress placed marijuana under schedule I substances. Congress felt that marijuana had no medical use and was only subject to misuse. Since then, 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical uses. Supporters of marijuana exclaim that it’s a safe and effective treatment for diseases such as cancer. Medical marijuana use is cited throughout world history through ideas such as peer-reviewed articles and reports documented by the government. The enemies of medical marijuana would argue that it’s too dangerous, FDA approval is lacking and the use is unnecessary for society. According to Should Medical Marijuana Be Approved for Medical Use, “Most of the controversy surrounds whether marijuana and its plant properties are
Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While marijuana has a small amount of negligible effects to its users, the herbal drug more importantly has remarkable health benefits, and legalizing one of the oldest and most commonly known drugs would redirect America’s future with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages.
Many could argue that marijuana is destructive physically as well as mentally. “The National Institute on Drug Abuse says marijuana can cause heart irregularities, lung problems, and addiction” (Welch). “One joint can be just as damaging to [the lungs] as smoking at least two and a half cigarettes” (Ruff). According to Dr. Tom Wright, director of a substance abuse treatment center for adolescents in Rockford, “teens may be especially sensitive to marijuana’s effects because their brains are still being formed” (MJ Rebuttal). However, the marijuana legalization proposition would have tight restrictions and regulations by the states that would eliminate some of those issues, such as age. These facts are not consistent; the evidence is not backed from reliable sources. One institute is referred to, but more experts are needed to verify the information.
Legalization of marijuana has become an increasingly popular topic for debate in society with “sentiment in favor of legalization [increasing] by 20 [percentage] points in just over a decade,” bringing support for legalization to 52% (Dionne and Galston). The most common arguments for reforming current legislation are the following: enforcement wastes public resources, taxation can provide a new source of revenue, and enforcement of current laws is discriminatory (Dionne and Galston). It is necessary to look at the impact on the primary stakeholders by analyzing the various harms and benefits through application of the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology, in order to determine the solution that will result in the best possible outcome.
So far, twenty-three states have legalized cannabis for medical uses. Originally, medical marijuana was use for lesser ailment like pain or insomnia due to the lack or research. Then as people started to do more research they realized marijuana could actually help patient with more serious conditions like glaucoma, or to help those who suffer form seizures, or even to fight cancer. Marijuana helps people with cancer a great deal. For starters, the chemicals in marijuana make patients hungry and help to keep patients strong. Second, research has shown promising evidence that the chemicals in cannabis fight the spreading of cancer cells and even help to kill cancer cells. Medical marijuana also helps to prevent users from obtaining other serious afflictions. Currently, researchers are studying the way the chemicals in marijuana effect amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaques, are the number one cause of Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers now believe marijuana use can help fight and help prevent this horrible disease. All of these studies could help to one day make incredible break throughs in modern medicine, and possibly find cures for Cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Medicinal marijuana is just one reason for the legalization of
Legalization of Marijuana has quickly become a controversial issue in America. In the United States, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is spreading to the state level. For example, in November 1996, the people of California and Arizona voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal reasons. As a result of Proposition 215 in California, patients now smoke marijuana provided their physician recommends its usage. A prescription is not required, and marijuana continues to be illegal to prescribe. The Clinton administration responded that it “would not recognize these decisions, and would prosecute physicians who recommend or provide marijuana to their patients.” Although California and Arizona are the only two states to have already passed laws regulating marijuana usage, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws and resolutions regarding marijuana usage. These laws and resolutions range from establishing therapeutic research programs, to allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, to asking the federal government to lift the ban. Despite the states’ desires to have marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, the US National Institutes of Health examined all existing clinical evidence about smoked marijuana and concluded that, “There is no scientifically sound evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies.”
Those opposed to the use of medical marijuana contend that there have not been enough studies, it is too dangerous and it is ineffective enough to call for its legalization. They believe that marijuana is addictive, is a gateway drug, can lead to infertility and can injure the brain, lungs and other organs. However, advocates of medical marijuana point out numerous government studies, peer-reviewed clinical trials and the long, proven history of cannabis used medicinally throughout the world as counter-points to the opposition. Advocates also point out the various harmful side effects of prescription drug medication, and hold that if those are approved by the FDA for patient use, than marijuana should be as well.
One of the main reasons they argue is that “Marijuana smoke may contain known carcinogens and produces dependency in users” (Medical). But there have been many studies that have proven that it actually does have some harm that is also associated with smoking, but the according to the National Academy of Science they believe that “marijuana’s short term medical benefits outweigh any smoking-related harms for some patients”(Medical). Though marijuana has been proven to be less damaging to the lungs than tobacco, a study in 2006 “found no evidence that marijuana smokers had higher rates of lung cancer” (Medical Marijuana). The FDA has conducted tests proving the effectiveness of marijuana many times and has found that the cannabinoids in marijuana are helpful in “treating pain associated with chemotherapy, postoperative recovery, and spinal cord injury, as well as neuropathic pain, which is often experienced by patients with metastatic cancer, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes”. There has been no solid evidence proven showing that patients who have and are using marijuana become addicted to other drugs, even though the opposing side disagrees about this, there is no shown proof in the supporting this claim, which therefore, the claim becomes invalid.
Recreational marijuana should not be legalized because of the many negative health effects it has on a person. Marijuana has a big effect on the lungs and when marijuana is smoked it can cause harm to the lungs. The smoke from marijuana has cancer causing substances in it. “Smoking marijuana can cause large air sacs, called bullae, to form. Bullae normally form in young marijuana smokers (less than 45 years old.)” (Drake and Slatore). Marijuana smoke has the same harmful chemicals that tobacco products contain, and marijuana smokers develop lung damage because of this. The fact that marijuana smokers hold the smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers and there is no filters in bongs, bowls, blunts, or joints, there is no safe way to smoke marijuana. Blunts are the wrapping of a cigar filled with marijuana, a...
The legalization of marijuana has being highly debated through out the years. People want to use it medically and others want to use it recreationally. There have not been any reports of anybody dying from smoking pot; they should just regulate it. People’s lives should not be ruined for the possession of marijuana. It does not cause any harm to anybody’s life so why punish for it. It seems like the state governments has took the incentive of some what legalizing it, but the national government can still punish those people in the states that have possession of cannabis.