medical marijuana-more than a high

7/30/2019 Medical Marijuana-More Than a High

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Medical Marijuana: More than a High1

Medical Marijuana: More Than a High

BERT RYAN T. LIMBSMT 3C

Medical Technology Laws and BioethicsOctober 12, 2012

Atty, Joe Vinson M. Empases

There has been much debate over the years about whether marijuana should be legalized for

medical purposes. There are many arguments both for and against this issue. This paper will

present facts to support the legalization of medicinal marijuana. It will also go over the

arguments against the medical use of marijuana and show why these ideas are invalid. This canbe a very morally based issue. Some people may ask, why is marijuana illegal when there are

other substances frequently used that are so much worse for the human body? Others may say

that the government made marijuana illegal for a reason. Marijuana has been legalized by state

law for 16 U.S. states and DC, so why is it not legal for all 50? (Medical Marijuana ProCon, n.d.)

These are some of the things that will be addressed, along with many other questions that will be

answered. By the end of this paper, it should be apparent that something should change.

Marijuana should be legalized for medical use because of its advantages over other traditionally

used drugs which are currently legal.

The use of marijuana for its medical advantages has been recognized since before recorded

history. There are written references that can be found as far back as the fifteenth century B.C.

(Zeese, 1997). There were over 100 articles published in medical journals on the therapeutic use

of cannabis between 1840 and 1900. Based on historical references, the uses of marijuana for

medical purposes include anorexia, asthma, nausea, pain, peptic ulcers, alcoholism, glaucoma,epilepsy, depression, migraine, anxiety, inflammation, hypertension, insomnia, and cancer

(Zeese, 1997). Based on research done by Wason Louie, MD, at Creighton University and

School of Medicine (Louie, 2005), Because of the man y hazards associated with marijuana use,

the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug,


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meaning that it has the highest potential for abuse and has no accepted medical uses aside from

research. However in recent years, clinical research has shown that marijuana is effective for

treating several medical conditions such as chemotherapy induced nausea, HIV cachexia,

glaucoma, analgesia, and neurological disorders. Despite these findings, the federal government

and the DEA are still resistant in accepting marijuanas roles as a medical therapy .

It can be hard to understand why marijuana is illegal, even though a majority of people in the

United States are supportive toward using it as a medical substance. The view of medical

marijuana has changed over the years, but a majority of people in the United States continually

support its status to be made legal (Vickovic, 2011). Samuel Vickovics (2011) research also

claims, National public opinion polls throughout the past 15 years have consistently

demonstrated that between 60% and 85% of adults support the medicinal use of marijuana uponthe recomme ndation of a physician . It is baffling why marijuana has been made illegal, when a

majority of respected organizations and professionals in the medical field consider it to be a

viable medical substance.

The side effects of other commonly used drugs in the medical field can be much worse than

those of marijuana. In 1936, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics advocated a law prohibiting the use

of marijuana as a medical substance, which Congress then passed in 1937, against the advice of

the American Medical Association (Reinarman , Nunberg, Lanthier, & Heddleston, 2011). This

law led to cannabis being pushed out of the United States Pharmacopoeia and common medical

practices by 1942. This also led to the increase in prescribing of aspirin and barbiturates for relief

of pain. These substances, along with opiate derived medications, may cause a high risk of

physical dependence on them. Physical dependence may lead to physical withdrawal symptoms

when someone stops taking the medicine, which does not happen with marijuana. In patients

using these medications for headaches, the first symptom of withdrawal may be new headaches

("Barbiturates, Aspirin, and Codeine Consumer Information", 2012).

If research could be performed on marijuana as a medical substance, one would clearly see that

its positive effects greatly outweigh the negative. There are many different strains of marijuana

that can cause different effects, some more suitable for certain conditions than others. The


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federal government currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance that does

not have any value as a therapeutic agent. The usual review process under the Controlled

Substance Act when assigning it this status was bypassed by Congress (Cohen, 2010). Since

marijuana has been classified with this label, it also has made research on the subject of

medicinal use much more difficult, because it requires obtaining a special license from the Drug

Enforcement Agency (DEA). An example of this is that in the 1990s, Dr. Donald Abrams, a

professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and physician, conducted

multiple attempts at studying the efficiency of smoking marijuana when it comes to treating

weight loss caused by AIDS-wasting syndrome. He had his research fully funded and approved

by many respected organizations, such as the University of California, the FDA, the Institutional

Review Board, the California Research Advisory Panel, and the scientific advisory committee of

the San Francisco Community Consortium. Even with the endorsement of all theseorganizations, the DEA would not allow Dr. Abrams to bring in marijuana from the Netherlands,

nor would the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) accept his request to use their supply of

marijuana, which was specifically grown for research purposes (Cohen, 2010).

This does not mean that there has been no research done on the subject though. There have been

multiple studies that show the benefits of marijuana for specific medical purposes. There is

scientific evidence showing that cannabis for certain medical conditions is safe and effective.

Recent studies performed on rats have led scientists to believe that marijuana can even help with

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that is all too common with people that have

been involved in military combat and other stressful situations. The experiment showed that the

effects of THC, the main psychoactive product in cannabis, resulted in the rats overcoming

unpleasant situations more quickly. Another study also showed that people who suffer from

PTSD can sleep better and helps to reduce the frequency of nightmares with the use of THC

(Seppa, 2010). Peter J. Cohen goes on to recommend that medical marijuana use should be

federally regulated, like any other controlled substance with a proven medical use.

Some people may believe as the government does and say that marijuana should remain illegal.

They may indicate that there are other alternatives available which display similar medical

properties. One of these substances is Marinol; a synthetic pill version of THC. The U.S.


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National Library of Medicine (2011) classifies marinol (also referred to as Dronabinol) this way:

used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy in people who have already taken

other medications to treat this type of nausea and vomiting without good results. Dronabinol is

also used to treat loss of appetite and weight loss in people who have acquired

immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dronabinol is in a class of medications called

cannabinoids. It works by affecting the area of the brain that controls nausea, vomiting, and

appetite. (para. 1). A person may po int out that this product is better for the body because it is

taken orally, therefor does not have to be smoked. Based on a study, THC was found to relieve

nausea and significantly increase weight gain in 70 percent of patients. However, one-fifth did

not like the psychoactive effects of synthetic THC, making marijuana a preferred alternative to

this substance (Zeese, 1997).

There have also been positions against medical marijuana because of the fact that it needs to be

smoked. It is true that smoking marijuana is the quickest and most effective way of using the

substance, but it is not the only way. Marijuana also can be combined into food substances and

made into an edible format. There are products made containing hemp-based Cannabidol (CBD)

that do not contain THC, yet have similar effects (Dixie Elixirs, 2012). The problem is that these

food-based products can take much longer to take effect when compared to smoking marijuana.

Like marinol, some patients may not prefer how these products affect them as well. An example

of this would be when respected biologist Steven Jay Gould found that only smoking marijuana

could relieve the pain and nausea caused by the treatments he received for the type of cancer that

eventually killed him (Cohen, 2010, p. 657).

Based on all of this information given, it is hard to believe that marijuana is illegal for medical

use. Marijuana should be legalized for medical use because of its advantages over other

traditionally used drugs that are currently legal. There are so many benefits that it seems to be a

waste for it not to be used. There are many various medical conditions where marijuanas

benefits greatly outweigh the side effects of other commonly used drugs. It seems irrational for

the government to classify it as illegal, when a majority of medical professionals think that it

should be otherwise. With marijuanas classification as a schedule I controlled substance, it

makes it hard to even do research on it. If research was more easily permitted, one could see that


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there are many different strains of marijuana which can be used for specific situations, based on

their specific effects. Something needs to change, so that people may take advantage of all that

marijuana has to offer to the medical community. People may be missing out and are in pain

because they are not able to use this drug. They may not experience the negative side effects of

drugs that they are currently being prescribed if they could substitute them with marijuana.

References:

Barbiturates, Aspirin, And Codeine consumer information. (2012). Retrieved fromhttp://www.drugs.com/cons/barbiturates-aspirin-and codeine. html? iframe= true&width=100% &height=100%

Cohen, P. J. (2010). Medical Marijuana 2010: It's Time to Fix the Regulatory Vacuum. Journal Of Law, Medicine &Ethics, 38(3), 654-666. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.2010.00519.x

Dixie Elixirs and, E. (2012, January). Medical Marijuana, Inc.s Dixie Elixir and Ed ibles Brand to Launch First non-THC-Based Line of Health and Wellness Products. Business Wire (English). Retrieved from University of Phoenixonline library http://ehis.ebscohost.com

Louie, W. (2005). Clinical Uses of Marijuana. Retrieved from http://altmed.creighton.edu/medicalmarijuana/ Medical Marijuana ProCon. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/

Reinarman, C., Nunberg, H., Lanthier, F., & Heddleston, T. (2011). Who Are Medical Marijuana Patients?Population Characteristics from Nine California Assessment Clinics. Journal Of Psychoactive Drugs, 43(2), 128-135. doi:10.1080/02791072.2011.587700

Seppa, N. (2010). Not just a high. (cover story). Science News, 177(13), 16. Retrieved fromhttp://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/59872/title/Not_just_a_high Via University of Phoenix online library.

U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2011). Retrieved fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000403/

Vickovic, S. G. (2011). Medical Marijuana in the News. Southwest Journal Of Criminal Justice, 8(1), 67-96.Retrieved from University of Phoenix online library http://ehis.ebscohost.com

Zeese, K. B. (1997). Research Findings on Medical Properties of Marijuana. Retrievedfrom http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/Zeese_Research_0197.html
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