Medical Marijuana the Debate Over

Medical Marijuana

The debate over medical marijuana laws has fueled the debate over its true benefits, its risks and its impact on children. This essay discusses the pros and cons of these arguments, finding that medical marijuana does have legitimate medical purposes. It may have risks, but this is a relative term that needs to be weighed under individual circumstances. And, data does not support the contention that medical marijuana use is increasing use by children.

Opponents of medical marijuana contend that it doesn't even have any medical value. A 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine study to asses the potential health benefits of marijuana concluded that smoking marijuana is not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition. The study indicated that there are currently more effective medications available. And, marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which means it, has a "high potential for abuse, inducing dangerous side effects, and having no currently accepted medicinal use in treatment in the U.S."

Even if marijuana does have medical value, the risk of use exceeds its benefits. Smoking three to five joints is equal to about smoking approximately twenty cigarettes, and the marijuana smoke leaves three times more tar on a person's lungs. Therefore, daily marijuana-only smokers have a nineteen percent higher rate of respiratory complaints than non-smokers. Because marijuana degrades short-term memory, concentration, judgment, and coordination at complex tasks including driving, daily pot users have a 30% higher risk of injuries from accidents.

Further, medical studies of marijuana have found "that marijuana contains much more tar, carbon monoxide and other dangerous chemicals than tobacco; that marijuana smoking affects fertility in both men and women; that it has led to increases in cancers of the head, mouth and neck; that it affects school and work performance more than any other drug."

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.

Those in favor of medical marijuana believe that studies such as the 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine are political motivated and outdated. There are numerous other studies proving the marijuana does have therapeutic use. These 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 chronic pain, among other conditions.