In Germany it is still an offence under the drug laws to posses the drug but the laws are some what more liberal. For example the prosecution may not press charges where the drug was found to be in 'low quantity 'and was for personal use. Thus patients have received lower penalties. The progress in Germany is such that in April 2000, the German company THC Pharm received the approval to make "THC (dronabinol) available to pharmacies." (Grotenhermen, 2002) the future developments in that country depends on how the patients, physicians, politicians, lawyers and others involved in the debate bring it to a conclusion. In the U.S. The debate has taken another turn with economists showing that it is better to legalize the use of marijuana in the open market. For example a research on the relevance of the ban on drugs and crime and economic impacts of legalizing….

medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/bin/procon/procon.cgi?database=5-B-Subs-1.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=1&rnd=414.848519162785)." March 1, 2007 Lester Grinspoon
One of the more controversial uses of marijuana is the fact that it is believed to alleviate inflammation which opens the doors for arguments with regard to disorders including fibromyalgia which doctors still debate the existence of. However, as long as the patient is suffering and can match the set criteria for the disorder, who is society to argue that it does not exist and it should not be treated?

Medical marijuana has far less abuse and damaging potential than some of the current drugs being prescribed to combat such illnesses and disorders. The legalization and use of medical marijuana will provide the ability for doctors and patients to choose which treatment option will reduce symptoms with the least amount of damaging side affects that can be caused by such treatments.

The majority of physicians surveyed support the used of medical marijuana with the following conditions and….

Gilman asserts that the debate should not be about the medical value of marijuana, but how the drug should be delivered. The Genetic Science Learning Center outlines several delivery methods of medical marijuana. First of all is smoking. The benefits of this method include that it delivers all of the plant's active compounds, and that it is easy to regulate the dose. Disadvantages of this method are that there is no standardization of ingredients and that the toxins from the burning marijuana may cause emphysema and lung cancer. Gilman adds that in addition to the risk of lung disease, the potency of the drug is difficult to measure because THC levels vary between plants. According to the Genetic Science Learning Center, marijuana is also available in a synthetic pill form of THC called Marinol. hile this method delivers some of the benefits of marijuana, it is difficult to control the….

Legislators and drug enforcers are not physicians and should not substitute their belief system for demonstrable scientific studies showing that medical marijuana does benefit patients. The federal argument often begins with a denial of this, as if any study that suggests there is no benefit is automatically preferred to the hundreds that show there is. The next claim made is that the harm is greater than the curative power, which is patently false given that studies have trouble even showing harm from any use of marijuana. The long-standing argument that marijuana is a gateway drug and leads to the use of harder drugs is irrelevant when dealing with medical marijuana, for medical users are not likely users of harder drugs and are only trying to alleviate their suffering in the only way they can. The concern that allowing the medical use of marijuana is only the beginning might or might….

"
By characterizing the use of illegal drugs as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday afternoon fun, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that drug use is dangerous." Allowing medical use of marijuana sends the wrong message to children. Children entering drug abuse treatment have routinely reported that they heard that marijuana is medicine'and, therefore, believed it to be good for them.

hose in favor of medical marijuana believe that studies such as the 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine are political motivated and outdated. here are numerous other studies proving the marijuana does have therapeutic use. hese studies show that marijuana provides relief for medical conditions, including nausea and vomiting, stimulating appetite, promoting weight gain, and diminishing intraocular pressure from glaucoma. Further, there is evidence that smoked marijuana reduces muscle spasticity from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, and diminishes tremors in multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana also provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, insomnia and….

Medical Marijuana and Social Control: Escaping Criminalization and Embracing Medicalization
Marijuana, also known as cannabis is derived from the cannabis plant (cannabis sativa). The ingredients of the plant, trahydro-cannabinol, widely known as HTC are part of the plant that gives the 'high' effect. The use of marijuana as a drug has been illegal in many states of America and the nations of the world. In the article 'medical marijuana and social control', assistant professor Patrick K. O'rien explores the current trend in the medicalization of marijuana across the United States of America.

O'rien starts by giving an overview of past researches about marijuana, its social effect and the various means used by the federal government to curb it. Many research and perceptions of people link to the effects of the drug on individual users and the society. The government and state agencies researching on the topic associate the use of marijuana as….

Medical Marijuana
To Governor Rick Perry:

In the state of Texas, the use of marijuana for medical reasons is illegal, but I would like you to reconsider this issue. I have a personal interest in this issue as I am terminally ill with colon cancer. By the time this issue is resolved in Texas, it will likely be too late for me, but being ill has made me wish to be proactive so that I can help others to alleviate their pain and suffering. Medical marijuana has proven to help cancer sufferers and other chronically or terminally ill people in a myriad of ways. I hope you will consider this information and, after reading this letter, promote the use of medical marijuana in the state of Texas so that people in my position will be happier and healthier in the future.

Medical marijuana has been proven to alleviate the symptoms of chemotherapy, including….

Medical Marijuana and Civil Liberties Research Project Part II Literature Review
As the specter of Reagan's poorly planned and disastrously waged War on Drugs continues to haunt the American social landscape, an increasing number of ordinary citizens are indulging in an activity which has been demonized by prior generations and criminalized by the federal government. Casual ingestion of marijuana and other cannabis-based products has become legitimized in the eyes of many Americans, as California, Colorado, Washington and a growing number of states have elected to sanction the legal use of marijuana for medicinal purposes through legislative acts and voter propositions placed on public ballots. Whether smoked and inhaled through the traditional methods of rolling marijuana cigarettes or loading a pipe, or consumed via edible products and absorbed through the digestive process, the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), exerts a potent psychoactive effect on both body and mind.

While seeking the "high"….

Although the decision does not invalidate laws in the 11 states that have approved medical marijuana, it does prevent protection from prosecution of users and doctors who prescribe the drug (Henderson).
The 11 states that have legalized medical marijuana use include Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and ashington (Medical). Eight states did so through the initiative process, while Hawaii's law was enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor in 2000. Vermont's law was enacted by the legislature and passed without signature in 2004, while Rhode Island's law was enacted by overriding the governor's veto in January 2006 (Medical). From 1978 to 1997, 35 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation recognizing the medicinal value of marijuana. These states include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New….

The most noticeable change is JJ's ability to use words: now, when he becomes frustrated in class, he explains what the problem is and he is no longer afraid to get help from the staff. He has also become more willing to help others who function at a lower academic level" ("Mother and Son: The Case of Medical Marijuana").
A main reason for which the government is unable to successfully control medical marijuana is the fact that it is not actively involved in the enterprise and that it would rather take on the mission of penalizing those who commit criminal acts and use the medical marijuana legislation as a cover-up (Kreit).

Although critics might think otherwise, traditional medicine has no beneficial effect in the case of some patients and this makes it absolutely necessary for these patients to be presented with alternatives in trying to gain relief from their pains. Even….

1). Of course, anyone who recalls the popularity of cocaine and opium during the late nineteenth-century knows that the historical use of a drug is not, in itself, a testament to that drug's safety or efficacy, but this long legacy of marijuana use for medicinal purposes is important due to the relative absence of clinical studies.
The three important treatments that marijuana can offer cancer patients is pain relief, appetite stimulation, and mood elevation. The first treatment is perhaps the most obvious, because cancer and the radiation treatments that frequently accompany it are extremely painful and force patients to live in near-constant pain. Marijuana offers an important response to this pain because it has the ability to relieve pain without the serious side-effects that accompany other pain relievers, and particularly those based in barbiturates. Furthermore, marijuana has a much lower potential for addiction compared to painkillers like codeine or morphine,….

The Concerns of Medical Marijuana:

There are a variety of concerns with the legalization of medical marijuana. At first glance, the safety of marijuana for medicinal use appears to not be in question; however, most testing has been conducted on those casual users who are young and healthy. This does not necessarily mean these same findings will translate to ill patients or those who use marijuana on a continual basis. As Martin noted, adverse consequence on the lungs have been noted on long-term inhalation of marijuana smoke. There is also a potential for the suppression of the immune system, and although not commonly extreme, withdrawal symptoms upon cessation. Martin also cited Solowji et al. And their findings in their observational studies that demonstrated impairment of cognitive functions, for marijuana users who had a long-term and heavy usage history.

Degenhardt and Hall agree that short-term use of marijuana for medicinal purposes has an….

An analogy can easily be made to the difference between purchasing a basil plant for $6 versus buying individual sprigs of basil at the grocery store for $2 each.
Medical marijuana aside, serious social, philosophical, and political problems are associated with keeping the drug illegal. First, there is a significant logical contradiction inherent in the legal status of marijuana vs. that of either alcohol or tobacco. Both alcohol and tobacco are widely known to be physically addictive and directly harmful and yet both alcohol and tobacco remain legal. Marijuana, on the other hand, has potential health benefits and is associated only with mild addictive symptoms but marijuana is illegal. The status of marijuana as an illegal substance makes no sense when it is compared with tobacco and/or alcohol.]

Second, the legal prohibition on alcohol in the early twentieth century, which culminated in a United States constitutional amendment, proved to be a….

Medical marijuana is slowly gaining steam in becoming a legal drug to treat disease and chronic illness. Its main beneficial component, THC, delivers a number of benefits such as increase in appetite, help with nausea, and even pain management. People with chronic incurable diseases like multiple sclerosis and AIDS have found relief through consistent use of medical marijuana. Marijuana has shown in multiple studies not only its effectiveness but its safeness compared to other typical treatments like opioids and steroids. Therefore it is my belief that medical marijuana should be legal nationwide for use in treatment of chronic illness and disease management.
What are the major "POs" of medical marijuana?

Some pros are the growing number of people using and growing marijuana. Not only does this help in making it more easily available, but it also increases its qualities and sellers have to compete and deliver better product, especially in places….

"You could say that anything that makes you feel better," Bock says, "whether chocolate or sex or invigorating exercise or a relaxing evening (depending on one's condition or circumstances), is good for you and could be viewed as medicine. Indeed, most Americans use the term 'good medicine' metaphorically and sometimes almost literally to describe some function or activity that promotes a sense of well-being" (131).
Certainly, crack addicts would maintain that they "feel better" when they have plenty of their drug of choice, just as alcoholics or any other substance abuser; with marijuana though, it remains unclear just how long the federal government can hold out against this growing social shift in how this seemingly benign drug is viewed by most Americans today, many of whom may have experimented with it when they were younger, or indeed, who continue to use it on a regular basis in their adult lives.….

With so many states legalizing marijuana, whether recreational marijuana, medical marijuana, or both, the idea that medical marijuana is still being withheld from many patients, including nursing home residents, who are experiencing pain and could get relief from the treatment is ridiculous.  Marijuana remains illegal on a federal level, however, and this complicates it usage for pain in nursing homes. That is because many people in nursing homes are dependent upon both state and federal aid for their medical care and there could be issues with funding if they were treated with....

1. The impact of marijuana legalization on crime rates
2. The economic benefits of legalizing marijuana
3. The effects of marijuana legalization on public health and healthcare costs
4. The role of racial and social justice in marijuana legalization efforts
5. The impact of marijuana legalization on drug trafficking and illicit drug markets
6. The potential risks and drawbacks of legalizing marijuana
7. The relationship between marijuana legalization and teen drug use
8. The differences in state-level marijuana legalization policies and their effects
9. The potential implications of federal marijuana legalization in the United States
10. The role of regulation and taxation in marijuana legalization and control efforts.
11. The....