...The legalization of medical marijuana has increased significantly, reaching 29 states in U.S, 8 of these also have legalized for recreational use. It shows that a new industry is rising for the governments to benefit. Taxation of this industry will generate significant revenues for state governments. In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes ($996 million in sales) and fee on medical and recreational marijuana. The next year, sales went over $1.3 billion resulting in nearly $200 million in tax revenue for the state. Medical marijuana accounted for $438 million and $875 million from recreational use. A quarter of this generated revenue on sales is invested to school constructions. Also, another portion goes to drug prevention...
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...Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act. Basically, the government believes marijuana has “no medical use in treatment in the United States.” It was in 1996 when Proposition 215 passed in California that states began to allow the use of medical marijuana. However, some people seem to hold on to the idea that marijuana is bad. “Ethics is defined as the system of human mental activities that allows us to assign a degree of ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’ to a situation, action, or idea based on the societal perceptions of the time.” Marijuana has been scientifically proven to be effective at treating several diseases and conditions. When used for medical applications, marijuana does not cause a high. It can provide treatment for patients who have Tried other options and they have failed. There is the potential that some people will abuse marijuana….does that mean people that would benefit from...
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...Should medical marijuana be legalized nationwide? Team A BCOM/275 October 9, 2011 UoP Instructor Should medical marijuana be legalized nationwide? The use of marijuana for the treatment of patients with serious health conditions is currently one of the top contentious debate topics in the United States. Until its prohibition in 1937, marijuana was one the top three most prescribed medicines in the United States. To date, 13 states have statutory laws legalizing medical marijuana; however, it is not legal at the federal level. Several pros and cons exist to support whether medical marijuana should be or not be legalized nationwide. The primary arguments in debating the pros and cons of legalizing medical marijuana nationwide focus primarily on medical benefits, disease prevention, medical risk, substance abuse, and legal issues. Many scientific professionals and patients claim medical marijuana provides some sort of medical benefits. Although it has been a contentious battle between the states and federal governments to legalize or not medical marijuana nationwide, there are three important points to take under consideration; first, marijuana is a potent analgesic in patients with chronic pain. Second, it is a strong anti-emetic for patients receiving cancer chemotherapy treatment. Third and most important, medical marijuana should be legal, so patients do not have to break the law to receive treatment. Across the nation state organizations...
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...Ryan Kidwell English 101 March 26, 2014 Should Medical Marijuana Be Legalized? A major debate currently being discussed within the Senate and House of Representatives is a topic that has caused a great amount of controversy throughout the United States. This topic only really has two sides to it. One side is completely against it and the other is completely for it, there is no middle ground. The topic that has caused such a great amount of controversy is the discussion as to whether or not medical marijuana should be legalized within the U.S. Those who support the legalization of marijuana usually have three supporting arguments: Medical marijuana has various medical benefits, it is less expensive in comparison to other drugs, and other drugs are addictive whereas medical cannabis is not. But others who are against the legalization of marijuana have their own arguments. These people who are against legalizing medical cannabis typically have three main reasons as to why they disagree with legalizing it. These three main reasons are that marijuana is has no true medical benefits, that medical marijuana is already being abused by cardholders, and that marijuana is a gateway drug. Both sides have various supporting arguments, but with the evidence I have gathered, I believe that the legalization of medical marijuana is beneficial to those in need of it’s benefits. Ever since Congress placed medical marijuana in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, 20 out of...
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...which enabled patients and their caregivers to obtain a restricted amount of marijuana from medical dispensaries. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment created and informal rule prohibiting caregivers from providing medical marijuana to more than 5 patients at a time and were subsequently sued for the policy by Sensible Colorado, Colorado’s medical marijuana distribution system. In 2007, Sensible won the lengthy hearing, and its victory made way for store-front dispensaries throughout Colorado. Fast forward November 2012, 55% of Colorado’s voters were pro-Amendment 64. Amendment 64 made recreational marijuana use legal to anyone age 21 or older. This law was made...
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...which enabled patients and their caregivers to obtain a restricted amount of marijuana from medical dispensaries. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment created and informal rule prohibiting caregivers from providing medical marijuana to more than 5 patients at a time and were subsequently sued for the policy by Sensible Colorado, Colorado’s medical marijuana distribution system. In 2007, Sensible won the lengthy hearing, and its victory made way for store-front dispensaries throughout Colorado. Fast forward November 2012, 55% of Colorado’s voters were pro-Amendment 64. Amendment 64 made recreational marijuana use legal to anyone age 21 or older. This law was made...
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... Abstract Dr. Jeremy Spiegel talks about using medical marijuana as a treatment for psychiatric disorders on the podcast Optimal Living. Dr. Spiegel begins with a general defense of medical marijuana. According to Dr. Spiegel marijuana has not been studied as a treatment due to political factors and beliefs that modern doctors have today; and adds with his own opinion: “ridiculous as it sounds, is like a scientist shunning a particular chemical system in the body for reasons that have nothing to do with science.”(@). Marijuana in this society has been seen and used recreationally, and because of this it keeps it out of place for medical treatment. What many do not know it that our body has its own natural cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors which form the endocannabinoid system; this system regulates or mood, memory, appetite and pain sensation and marijuana enhances these present processes in our body. Dr. Spiegel then mentions two patient cases of his that he encountered over the past year and both patients have used medical marijuana to treat their disorders. The first case is about a young man living in Boston who suffered from a cancerous tumor in a place where there was no hope of removing surgically. His physicians dismissed the idea of using marijuana as medicine and were blind to the idea of using marijuana to improve his diminished appetite, chronic nausea, unbearable pain and even the will to live. The second case is about a patient who was diagnosed with depression...
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...In Virginia, a bill for medical marijuana is to be established on Tuesday by the Virginia house committee. However the bill was not passed, but if it had been passed medically prescribed marijuana can be used for medical purposes. However, many people believe marijuana is a gateway drug and can lead you to other harmful drugs. That is not the case because people have control over what they put into their bodies. Medical marijuana is legal in some states but it should also be legal in Virginia. Medical marijuana should be made legal in Virginia because it can help those with medical conditions, medical marijuana is a classified drug that has not caused a single death, and it can help those who are on chemotherapy. Medical marijuana can be used...
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...Medical Marijuana Legalization Alexis Lucca COM/150 10/13/2013 Tameka Winston The debate over whether marijuana should be legalized has long troubled many American citizens. There are many political aspects that have to be taken into account when making a big federal decision such as this. However, long before America was even an idea, many cultures had harnessed the plant, and used it for many primitive medical procedures. Within certain states it is legal to use marijuana for medical treatments, but this is a relatively new idea in the United States. However, marijuana was not always deemed an illegal substance and because of its inherent medical value should be legalized at the federal level. Many ancient civilizations have been unearthed and found to have used marijuana in medical practices dating all the way back to 8000 B.C. Some of the more notable civilizations who used the plant include the Egyptians who used it to treat sore eyes, the Indians who mixed marijuana and milk to create a primitive anesthetic, and the Greeks who found a way to remedy earaches with the plants properties (Webley 1). Even the Chinese emperor Shen-Nung was known to prescribe it as medicine to many people almost 5 millennia ago (Bostwick 173). Therefore, it can be argued that historically, marijuana has been a crucial influence on some modern day medical treatments. It wasn't until 1930 when a man named Harry J. Anslinger was given the position of Director...
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... Klein 1 WRT 102 Naomi Edwards 11/28/12 Medical Marijuana Legalization The debate over whether marijuana should be legalized has long troubled many American citizens. There are many political aspects that have to be taken into account when making a big federal decision such as this. However, long before America was even an idea, many cultures had harnessed the plant, and used it for many primitive medical procedures. Within certain states it is legal to use marijuana for medical treatments, but this is a relatively new idea in the United States. However, marijuana was not always deemed an illegal substance and because of its inherent medical value should be legalized at the federal level. Many ancient civilizations have been unearthed and found to have used marijuana in medical practices dating all the way back to 8000 B.C. Some of the more notable civilizations who used the plant include the Egyptians who used it to treat sore eyes, the Indians who mixed marijuana and milk to create a primitive anesthetic, and the Greeks who found a way to remedy earaches with the plants properties(Webley 1). Even the Chinese emperor Shen-Nung was known to prescribe it as medicine to many people almost 5 millennia ago(Bostwick 173). Therefore, it can be argued that historically, marijuana has been a crucial influence on some modern day medical treatments. It wasn't until 1930 when a man named Harry J. Anslinger was...
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...Marijuana Legalization in the United States Elisha Havraniak Ottawa University LAS 30012 Writing and Critical Thinking in the Liberal Arts October 11, 2013 Marijuana Legalization in the United States Marijuana has had a long history as an illicit drug, but is quickly becoming a mainstream issue. Some people use marijuana to ease their pain and treat their illnesses. Many others use it because of it mood-altering effects. Laws have been passed to regulate both of these uses of the drug. Those who advocate legalization favor easing or overturning laws against the possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, medical use, or both. In general most proposals for legalization fall into one of three categories: decriminalization for recreational use, legalization for recreational use, or legalization for medical use. In opposition to these three choices is the option to keep marijuana illegal for both recreational and medical purposes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the facts, pros and cons, regarding the legalization of marijuana. The information for this paper was obtained from scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles, books, and online sources. The research questions answered are as follows; * Could the legalization of marijuana rescue our struggling economy or could it provide much need relief to the overcrowded prison system? * Will the legalization of marijuana lead to a regulation nightmare…can it even be regulated...
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..."There are no recorded cases of overdose fatalities attributed to cannabis, and the estimated lethal dose for humans extrapolated from animal studies is so high that it cannot be achieved," stated in a 1995 report prepared by the World Health Organization. (Medical Marijuana Mall USA, 2013). Medical marijuana is safer than prescription drugs, alcohol, and spice. Marijuana is more beneficial to use than prescription drugs because of the lack of serious side effects. The most common side effects of marijuana are coughing, wheezing, and bronchitis. These side effects are easily taken care of by using a vaporizer or preparing foods with marijuana. Marijuana is less dependable than prescription medication such as pain killers. Prescription medications are now killing more people in the United States than illegal street drugs. Even more importantly the consumption of marijuana cannot result in a fatal overdose. (Medical Marijuana Mall USA, 2013). Someone can’t even take a Tylenol or Aspirin without there being serious side effects to the liver and other organs in the body. Medical marijuana is not lethal, prescription and even non-prescription pills, powders, liquids, and injections are. (Medical Marijuana Project, 2012). A CBS news editorial by Dr. Mitch Earleywine mentions that medical marijuana can be marked cheaper to use than certain prescription drugs. This is especially relevant to patients in chronic pain who do not have medical insurance and need to pay out of...
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...Legalization vs. Illegalization of Medical Marijuana Since as early as 2900 BC, marijuana has been previously known as a medicine. It was not until the 1900s when the illegalization of the hemp plant began. Starting in 1911, when Massachusetts became the first state to illegalize marijuana, other states followed between 1915 and 1927. Eventually, a campaign against marijuana ran by Harry J. Anslinger lead to the federal government outlawing marijuana completely. However, the 1990s began a new outlook on medical marijuana when cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids were discovered. These discoveries lead to the first state in the United States, California, to legalize medical marijuana for patients with serious illness in 1996. Since then, eighteen other states in the U.S have legalized medical marijuana as well. Individuals all across the U.S. remain skeptical of this drug, and the question remains, do the factors give a reason to legalize it or not? Medical marijuana, a growing controversial topic in the United States, has both advantages and disadvantages concerning its medical use, medical effects, and legalities. Medical marijuana contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which reacts with cannabinoid receptors activating protection of over-activations or over-inhibitions of neurotransmitters. A study in 1999 by The Institute of Medicine found that THC produces dose-related analgesia that out-lasts codeine. In result, medical marijuana has shown to be effective for patients...
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...The Use of Marijuana in Terminally Ill Patients In recent years, the medical field has witnessed major changes in methods of treatment with the most common being complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM refers to treatment methods that do not use conventional medicine. With time, the medical field is increasing research to establish the safety and efficiency of alternative medicine even though knowledge of CAM is still limited. Nonetheless, there is a difference between complementary medicine and alternative medicine. While complementary medicine refers to the conventional use of curative practices and products together with traditional medicine for instance a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy using marijuana to alleviate the effects of chemotherapy. On the other hand alternative medicine acts as a substitute of conventional therapy for example a cancer patient foregoing therapy and opts for dietary changes. CAM is on the verge of increase with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) reporting that up to 40% of adults 12% uses some form of CAM (Barnes, Bloom, Nahin, (US) & others, 2008). As opposed to traditional medical treatments that are comprehensively tested and vigilantly regulated professional bodies such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the majority CAM therapies have undergone exceptionally modest scientific study if any to assess their safety and effectiveness. One of the most common forms of CAM being used today is...
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...Medical Marijuana If a substance can make someone who is ill feel better, why keep it from him or her? On the surface this sounds right. People who advocate making marijuana legal for medical purposes take this approach. What could it hurt? A closer look reveals that marijuana should not be legalized for medical use, because young people are given mixed signals about drugs, other drugs can be used that are easier to regulate, and there are more harmful side effects. Marijuana is one of the most abused drugs in America today. It is estimated that close to four million Americans regularly use marijuana. It is often one of the first illegal drugs that young people experiment with (Gassett2). Legalization for medical purposes would send a mixed signal to our youth. Young people are taught at a very early age about the harmful effects and the abusive potential of marijuana. If at the same time, they are told that marijuana is medically benevolent, the result could be confusion. Andrea Barthwell, former deputy Director of the office of National Drug Policy said this in 2004, “Children entering drug abuse treatment routinely report that they heard ‘pot is medicine’ and, therefore, believed to be good for them.” (19). At a time when recreational drug use is at an all time high, it would not be wise to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. The war on drugs begins with young people. If they are confused about whether or not a drug like marijuana is harmful, the battle...
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