Legalizing Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes

¶ … legalizing marijuana for medical use. The writer discusses both sides of the issue and argues that the medicinal used of marijuana should be legalized.

Before one can begin to understand the logic in legalizing marijuana for medicinal use it is important to understand the history of the argument both for and against it as well as the importance that it be legalized for future use. Each year, thousands of people are diagnosed with various medical conditions in which marijuana is believed to make a difference. Cancer patients who are deathly ill with cancer claim that marijuana eases the side effects of chemotherapy. Patients with glaucoma have been shown to benefit from the use of marijuana as have patients with AIDS and other medical conditions. While the medicinal use of marijuana has been proven through studies to be beneficial to certain medical patients, the political, social and moral frowning has kept it from being legalized. The war on drugs needs to continue but the wide brush it uses is keeping patients from gaining seriously needed benefits from the medicinal use of marijuana. The time has come to legalize its use for patients who have a verifiable and valid need for it.

OPPOSITION

While there are many people who believe it is time to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana there are also groups who are against any such action.

One of the most often used reasons for smoking marijuana for medicinal use is that it helps alleviate nausea that is caused from the effects of chemotherapy or other treatments for serious medical conditions. Those who are against the legalization of marijuana believe that the recently approved and manufactured synthetic version called Marinol (Forbes, 1997). The second reason that those who are against its legalization are fighting the passage of law, is because the law asks that the doctor only have to recommend its use. There will be no prescription needed. Those who do not want it legalized believe this will open the door to lax doctors allowing anyone who wants to smoke pot to be able to do so. Detractors of the movement to legalize marijuana for medical use point out its dangers. The plant itself provides chemicals that are not safe for the lungs and have often been compared to smoking cigarettes or cigars (McDonough, 2000).

THE ARGUMENT FOR ITS USE

Medical marijuana dates back almost 5,000 years, according. The first known medical use of the cannabis plant was in 2737 B.C., when the emperor of China prescribed the marijuana for treating gout, rheumatism, malaria and even poor memory loss. The use of marijuana as a medicine spread through Asia, the Middle East, Africa and India, where some Hindus used marijuana for religious purposes and stress relief (Roche, 2002)." It wasn't until the late 18th century that American doctors began to discover the benefits of prescribing medicinal marijuana use (Roche, 2002).

It became regulated and outlawed early in the 20th century. The use of it for medicinal purposes came up again during the 1970's (Roche, 2002). "Cancer patient Lynne Pearson became the spokesperson for medical marijuana in 1977, when he began to openly discuss the medical benefits of his marijuana use, according to the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics. The legislature in his home state of New Mexico took notice of Pearson and passed legislation legalizing marijuana for seriously ill patients. Shortly after, other states, including Louisiana, followed (Roche, 2002)."

Since then many states have toyed with the idea of legalizing its use for medicinal purposes, but the political and social pressures have always reversed the efforts.

Those who would use marijuana medically have such serious medical conditions that the risks would not outweigh the benefits. The serious problems of nausea in chemo patients, and the wasting and loss of appetite in AIDS patients can cause the patient to die. The use of marijuana for these and other serious medical conditions may save the lives that would otherwise be lost.