Medical Marijuana
...dical marijuana ... for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. ... Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications." (Earlywine 180) Even though the U.S. government has found that it would benefit some patients and the short term medical effects are greater than the smoking-related harms they are still denying marijuana’s medical value. Doctors have also come up with a THC pill that has the same effects as marijuana but without the added chemicals of smoking it. Since 1996, nine states have laws excusing patients who use marijuana under a doctor’s supervision from state criminal penalties. In 1999, the Hawaii government passed a similar law. These laws do not legalize marijuana or change criminal penalties against the possession or use of marijuana for recreational use. They do provide an excuse from state laws for patients who possess and use marijuana with their doctor's permission. Evidence shows that these laws are working as voters wanted them to, and that marijuana abuse by these patients is very small. These governments are saying that the American public knows between the medical use and the recreational use of marijuana, and a majority of the people supports legalizing medical use for those who are ill. “A March 2001 Pew Research Center poll reported that 73 percent of Americans support making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe.” (Cohen, hwwilsonweb.com) I found similar results that have been posted all over the internet. In every poll that’s done the majority favors legalization for medical use, in all the information I found for the opposing side not one poll was posted on any of their sites. On May 14, 2001 the Supreme Court ruled that federal law makes no exceptions for growing or distributing marijuana, even if the purpose is to help patients use marijuana as a medicine. The Supreme Court never talked about a patient’s use with the permission of their doctor under state law though, this is why each individual state can make their own law on the use of medical marijuana. This fact was upheld when California passed Proposition 215 which says that no criminal penalties will be given to those who posses and use marijuana with a doctor’s permission. Another positive in using marijuana instead prescription drugs like codeine, vicadin, etc., is that it is much cheaper than buying all those prescription drugs from your local pharmacy. Imagine all the money the government could save buy paying less for Medicare and buy putting a special tax on the Medical marijuana. They could then use this extra money to help eliminate our national debt. Now I will go through some of the opposing viewpoints on why marijuana shouldn’t be legalized for medical use. Since the crackdown on drugs from the 60’s and 70’s, drug use has dropped by almost 50% and drug abuse has gone down 25%. The debate over marijuana legalization is very risky. Studies show that the more a product is available and accepted, the more it will be used. If marijuana were legalized, the effects on individuals and society would be huge. The opponents mainly focus on the young generation of 16-24 year olds. They say, “A big increase in use and abuse would take place.” In many of the opposing viewpoints they make it sounds as if the governments would remove the laws they have for those people who don’t have a doctor’s permission. One doctor said that using marijuana as medicine is like eating moldy bread in an attempt to get penicillin. Another doctor said he could manage pain with legal drugs in 99 percent of his patients. Marijuana has more than 400 chemicals and when it is smoked it turns into thousands. On the other hand drugs from a pharmacy have a single ingredient and doctors know how much is necessary unlike marijuana. Marijuana supporters point to the fact that morphine, which is from heroin, is legal for doctors to prescribe. The non-supporters then point out the fact that morphine went through years and hundreds of test by the FDA before they approved it. Marijuana is also addictive and can lead to the use of other drugs like cocaine and heroin, and is a major cause of accidents and injuries. It can cause respiratory disease and mental disorders like depression, paranoia, decreased mental performance and impaired memory. Women who smoked m...