Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized

By

Antoina Wynn

English 101
Ms.McCormick
21 April 2012

Medicine is the art or science of restoring or preserving physical condition as by means of drugs, surgery or obstetrics or any substances used in the treatment of illness (dictionary.com). From there one must ask what a drug is. The dictionary definition of drug is any substance recognized in the official pharmacopeia, any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease in humans and other animals, or a habit forming medicinal or illicit substance, especially a narcotic. A cancer patient goes through chemotherapy in an attempt to cure their cancer and preserve their life, but this form of medicine causes nausea, vomiting, infections, hair loss, mouth sores, diarrhea, constipation and fatigue. These symptoms make the already sick patient feel much worse than they already were but medical marijuana can relieve many of the symptoms that chemotherapy causes. Marijuana or cannabis was once recognized in the US Pharmacopeia, so its medical uses are known and recognized. Medical Marijuana should be legalized because it still provides a safe alternative for healing and relief for a various range of illnesses Cannabis or Marijuana was classified as a Schedule 1 drug in the controlled substance act of 1972. Schedule 1 drugs are considered to have high potential for abuse, no medical use and not be safe for use even under medical supervision. Since the scheduling of marijuana there have been many efforts to reschedule this drug, so that the federal government will recognize its medical uses. As of now sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and twelve states are pending legalization. The chemical in marijuana that most doctors attribute the healings powers to is THC and in other countries doctors have been able to take the chemical and manipulate it into various forms of medicine, such as creams, pills and even forms that can be injected. Due to the scheduling of marijuana it is difficult for doctors in the United States to obtain the substance and therefore the proper research has not been done to truly understand marijuana and all of its possible medical uses. Most medical marijuana patients smoke the marijuana, but the other way to ingest the marijuana is through edibles which are baked goods such as cookies, cakes and brownies baked with marijuana infused butter. Despite the scheduling marijuana is still the most used drug in the United States and is about a $113 billion dollar business that is tax free and costs tax payers around $11 billion per year (Seltzer). Marijuana is most used drug in the United States and because of this those that oppose the legalization of medical marijuana consider it a gateway drug. A gateway drug is considered to be any substance that leads to the use and abuse of another, most times harder drug. Many users of hard drugs have smoked marijuana in their life and it may have been the first drug they ever tried but that does not mean that marijuana is the reason they went on to harder drugs. The opposition also considers marijuana a gateway drug because drug dependencies can be learned from marijuana use. A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh, although very limited, disproves this myth. The University of Pittsburgh researchers followed 214 boys from ages 10 to 12 years of age for twelve years, this study showed two patterns; the gateway sequence and the reverse sequence. The gateway sequence is the use of tobacco and alcohol before the use of marijuana, while the reverse sequence is the use of marijuana before alcohol or tobacco. Although failing to study females and conducting the study for harder drugs, the researchers were able to conclude that neither the boys grouped in the gateway sequence nor the reverse sequence would be more likely to develop a drug dependency (UP). A study conducted by the Institute of Medicine took the gateway theory in to mind and concluded that the present data on drug use progression neither support nor refute the suggestion that having marijuana available for medical purposes would increase drug abuse, they go on to say “However, this question is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids” (National Academy Press). It is simply preposterous that marijuana for medical purposes is not legal because of a theory that has been proven to be neither supported nor refuted in two separate studies. The opposition also argues that marijuana for medical purposes should not be legalized because of its addictiveness. Because marijuana is the most used drug in the United States they feel that it is highly addictive. The same notion is applied to adults that have been smoking since their teen years. This reasoning holds very little validity because smoking from adolescents through adult hood could be a learned habit rather than an addition, as far as being the most used drug, that could be attributed to the ease of access and having less harmful side effects as most other illicit drugs. “Compared to other substances, marijuana is not very addicting” , only about 9% of marijuana smokers will become addicted while about 32% of tobacco user, 23% of heroin users, 17% of cocaine users and 15% alcohol user will become addicted (Gumbiner). The slight chance that marijuana will be addicting should not be a factor when debating whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes because FDA approved pain killer addiction grows 3.24% every year (StopOxy). As with most decision that the government makes, they always try to figure out how it will impact the youth. Many of the people against legalizing medical marijuana, feel like once it is legal many more young people will have access to the drug. The other concern is that legalization will promote drug use. In a survey conducted by World Health Organization, involving 17 countries all of whom have less stringent drug laws than the U.S., the U.S. had the highest rate of marijuana use at 42.4%, while New Zealand had 41.9% and the Netherlands had 19.8% (Warner). Every state that has legalized medical marijuana has set strict rules to regulate the possession and use of medical marijuana. Dispensaries do not sell medical marijuana in large enough quantities to sell. Also in order to purchase medical marijuana the patient must possess a medical marijuana card, which can only be obtained with the signature of a practicing physician. In good faith we should be able to believe that doctors will not pass out prescriptions to anyone, especially the youth. Marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes is a part of the teenage experience for most teens and by legalizing medical marijuana that fact will not change. Records show that marijuana has never been the primary cause of death in the United States. The use of medical marijuana or marijuana for recreational purposes causes or is the secondary cause of significantly less deaths than an extensive list of federally approved drugs. Marijuana has also been found to combat the side effects of various prescribed drugs and helps with severe conditions and diseases. Because it is seen as a pain reliever, legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes may help combat the amount of people that become addicted to prescription pain killers. Amongst the other points that the opposition fails to address is that there are medicines that have the key chemical of marijuana THC in them. Marinol is an FDA approved pill that is prescribed to patients undergoing chemotherapy or those who had AIDS, this medication treats nausea and vomiting. Countries with looser marijuana laws have made great progress in manipulating THC into medication for various illnesses. Patients should not have the opportunity for a less harmful medical alternative be taken away from them because of America’s war on drugs. The medical potential of marijuana was recognized once before in America and in a time of technology where this potential can be fully exploited there is a standstill on what could be a remarkable finding. Medical Marijuana should be legalized because it can help so many people, fuel our economy as well as open the world of plants as medicine and the standing reasons for not legalizing medical marijuana have little validity or should have no merit on the decision. Cannabis has an outstanding history that includes wonderful medical uses, so why not add America to that history.

Works Cited
Gumbiner, Jann. "Is Marijuana Addictive? | Psychology Today." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. N.p., 5 Dec. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana-addictive>.
National Academy Press. "Marijuana as Medicine - Assessing the Science Base - Institute of Medicine Report." DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy. National Academy Press, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/library/studies/iom/IOMReport.htm>.
Seltzer, Sarah . "The War on Pot: America's $42 Billion Annual Boondoggle | Drugs | AlterNet." Home | AlterNet. N.p., 7 Oct. 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.alternet.org/drugs/64465/>.
StopOxy. "Do The Math About Addiction Rates :: Stop Oxy." StopOxy | OxyContin Information :: Stop Oxy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://www.stopoxy.com/176analyzing-statisitcs-addiction-to-painkillers>.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UP). "Study says marijuana no gateway drug | ScienceBlog.com." ScienceBlog.com - Science news straight from the source. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://scienceblog.com/12116/study-says-marijuana-no-gateway-drug/>.
Warner, Jennifer. "U.S. Leads The World In Illegal Drug Use - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines: Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. WebMd, 1 July 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500368_162-4222322.html>.