Marijuana Essay Research Paper The question of

Marijuana Essay, Research Paper

The question of marijuana being legalized for medical purposes has been a very controversial issue for a long time. It’s been controversial for the reason of the bad track record that it has sustained over the years. Marijuana is considered to be a schedule one drug. This means that it has a high potential for abuse, lacks an acceptance for legal medical use, and is unsafe for use under medical supervision, as is clearly stated under the controlled substance act. Many individuals who are highly respected in our society are trying to change marijuana to a schedule two drug. By doing this, it would alter the law so that it may be prescribed legally. A schedule two drug is medication that has a high abuse potential but has also a legal acceptance for medical use. The most important question is “ Is marijuana just a gateway drug and just an excuse to get high, or does it actually ease suffering in the ill”.

From as far back as the 1930’s, marijuana was legal. Beginning in 1619, the Virginia Assembly passed legislation making it a requirement for every farmer to grow cannabis, or otherwise known as hemp. It was used as currency in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. During the civil war, it started to become a main ingredient in many medications (marijuana timeline 1). In 1906, the drug act and pure food required that labeling be on all containers that include any type of marijuana. Continuing on into the early years of the 1900’s, Mexicans began to arrive in the United States to introduce the recreational aspect of smoking marijuana. In 1932, federal government created the uniform state narcotic act. They provided the act because marijuana was becoming overly popular in the crime scene by selling and abusing the illegal drugs. The Uniform State Narcotic Act encouraged state governments to control the drug problems (marijuana

Timeline 3). This started a long extensive research with marijuana and the contents that marijuana contained which took place in 1944. The New York Academy of Medicine was conducting the research and found that marijuana did not induce violence, insanity, sex crimes, or lead to addiction or other drug use (marijuana timeline 3). During World War two, hemp seeds were given to farmers to grow so they could make parachutes, marine cordage, and various military equipment. Some of these policies that were passed by legislation are the Boggs Act, Narcotics Control Act, which gave mandatory sentences with a hefty fine (marijuana timeline 4). The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs created a merger in 1973 with the office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement into the well-known Drug Enforcement Agency or DEA. In 1996, A proposition was passed by California called Proposition 215, which allows the use of marijuana to be used for medical purposes under a doctor’s supervision. Besides California, other states have passed laws, which permit the use of marijuana as a medical product. These laws legalize…”possession use, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana if recommended by a physician for a serious illness” (HSU COL). The states included in passing this law include Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Many people know marijuana as many different names like pot, weed, hemp, or bud. The fancy name or official name of marijuana is cannabis sativa. This is what marijuana is composed of and then contained within the cannabis sativa or marijuana is an adverse drug that effects the central nervous system of the body. This adverse drug is known as delta 9-tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC. The THC is very sticky resin oil that can be excreted from the leaves of the marijuana plant. “ Whether marijuana is smoked, eaten, brewed in tea, or swallowed in pill form, THC is the major ingredient affecting the central nervous system” ( Talarico 41 ).

From a study done by the Institute of Medicine, cannabis sativa is effective for the symptoms of nausea and vomiting; however, it greatly increases the amount food consumption taken into the body ( Kalb ). “…. Cannabis (cannabis sativa) is thought to be effective in a wide range of conditions, including appetite enhancement for the wasting syndrome of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), control of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, relief of spasticity and pain associated with MS (multiple sclerosis), a decrease in intraocular pressure in glaucoma, and control of migraine headaches and epileptic seizures” ( Talarico 44 ). This positive side to the medical aspect has kept many people and doctors questioning especially when the cannabis is said to also help in people with spastic disorders where it helps relax the muscles, it relieves phantom limb pain, and menstrual cramps. Looking at these great advantages, it’s hard not to give this a try. It’s found to have no major physiological dysfunction. There are also no known cases of overdose (Grinspoon, Bakalar 1875). Compared to the average cigarette, marijuana is smoked less as a stimulant. The medical marijuana would only be handled in cases of extreme seriousness. When other medical efforts seem to decline.

Discussing the concerns of marijuana use as medical treatment, the down falls consist of toxicity which it produces over the body when smoking it. The scientists from the Institute of Medicine suggest it is harmful. The Journal of American Medical Association writes