The Usage of Medical Marijuana - Essay Example

Medical Marijuana The struggle for legalization of cannabis has been led for decades now. The opponents of this decision argue that marijuana is a toxic substance that changes the mode of human's psychic and influences the person's physical condition negatively, thus it has to stay prohibited, while those, who support marijuana legalization believe that cannabis can be used for recreational and medical purposes without considerable harm to the humans' psychological and physical health. Cannabis has been used in therapeutic purposes for several centuries already, but during the previous century its use have been strictly limited, as this substance became a subject of misuse and abuse. Since the use of cannabis as a medication was forbidden in the U.S in 1937 the continuous struggle has been led between the supporters and the opponents of using this substance for treatment of certain conditions. The medical use of marijuana by human beings was first time registered in the Chinese pharmacopoeia in 2727 BC. It was allowed to usage in the U.S until the federal government prohibited it by the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In the 1970th The Controlled Substance Act established five categories of schedules depending on the danger of the drug. Marijuana was put in the 1st Schedule, to the drugs with the high potential for abuse. It was said to be a drug with "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." (Mathre, 1997) Humans have been using marijuana for thousands of years already as an antidepressant, a pain killer, a medicine against the nausea, and just for fun. Despite of the fact that cannabis was forbidden in the U.S in thirtieth, people have been smoking till the present moment. Of course, all of that enormous market is illegal now; the government doesn't get a cent from this business. Those, who use cannabis are under the threat of being caught and accused of drug abuse by the police, but it doesn't stop them from smoking. Doctors now say that cannabis makes less harm than nicotine does. Thus, it's obvious that marijuana should be legalized, just to let the government control its use, prevent abuse, and get taxes from those who run this business. Cannabis is considered to occupy the fourth place in the list of drugs most often used in the U.S and Europe, outrun only by alcohol, caffeine and nicotine. Thus, cannabis is mostly seen as a recreational drug, despite of the proved medical efficiency it has. Scientists prove that in discussions of the use of cannabis one of the biggest problems over the past few years has been the difficulty in separating the debate on the recreational use from that on the therapeutic use. (Groman, 1997). This is one of the main reasons for which the debates led on the medical use of cannabis in the U.S are so severe. Numerous opinions exist about the effect of cannabis on human's health, and about the consequences of its legalization. The supporters of marijuana legalization for medical purposes prove that it helps to reduce unwanted symptoms of migraines, glaucoma, AIDS, depression and many other conditions. In the same time, the opponents point that marijuana is suspected to cause mental illnesses and induce addiction. Nevertheless, numerous researches exist that prove the effectiveness of using cannabis for treating the illnesses listed. Smoking marijuana really relives the symptoms of various conditions, including even the nausea in pregnant woman. (Mathre, 1997). It's obvious that lots of people still buy marijuana to relieve the symptoms of their diseases despite of the existing laws. So, it would be logical to legalize cannabis for medical purposes, as it's helpful and people still use it regardless of the fact it's forbidden. Let's also recall that cannabis is one of the leaders of the list of drugs used by Americans. The current research displayed, that 70 millions of Americans have tried marijuana (Dale, 2004). So it would be unfair to refuse the sick people the thing that healthy ones use frequently. The supporters of legalization of marijuana for medical purposes give numerous reasons in favor of the subject. One of their main theses is that cannabis is a drug that doesn't induce addiction unlike lots of the painkillers and anti-depressants the doctors prescribe their patients for the illnesses that could be treated by marijuana do. . Smoking marijuana really relives the symptoms of various conditions, including even the nausea in pregnant woman. (Mathre, 1997). It is a widespread persuasion built on the research that was carried out in 1968 that smoking marijuana can harm the fetus, but later researches disprove this statement. Mary Lynn Mathre and her colleagues, who research the medical use of cannabis, say that it doesn't cause harm when used by a pregnant woman (2002). Cannabis can also be used for treating some psychiatric problems, like the anxiety and depression. The supporters of this position understand that the medical use of cannabis should be limited, as there are people with the pre-existing risk of developing psychiatric problems who shouldn't be treated with it. It's normal, as all the medications have their contraindications (Mathre, 2002). Lots of the opponents of cannabis legalization for therapeutic purposes are still sure that marijuana indices addiction. They also claim that the effects of marijuana are similar to the effect of the hard drugs as are the processes that take place in the human's body after using it. Those, who are against the cannabis legalization, also prove that smoking marijuana is very bad for health, especially for the condition of the pregnant woman and the fetus. Thus lots of women who suffer from severe nausea have to take much harder medications than the cannabis is, for to make themselves eat for their future child not to be malnutritioned. This viewpoint is based on the outdated research (Dale, 2004). Some of the opponents of the usage of cannabis also prove that it induces psychiatric problems, especially when taken at an early age. " A study of 2,437 young people aged 14 to 24 found that of those who smoked cannabis regularly and had a pre-existing risk of psychosis, 50 per cent developed psychotic symptoms over the four- year period. This was twice the rate among those who did not use cannabis and more than three times higher than among those who were neither vulnerable nor took the drug. "( Laurance, 2004). The debate is let on the affect of cannabis on the psychological condition of the patients, and the effect of this substance on the fetus. Also it is questioned whether the marijuana induces addiction, or no. Most of those questions are answered in favor of the position of the cannabis-legalization supporters. The adult responsible person should be given the right to choose for himself or herself whether to use cannabis, or not. Marijuana is not so harmful for health to deprive people of the freedom of their choice towards it. It's obvious that lots of those who stand against the legalization of this substance are just misinformed about the effects marijuana has and the consequences of its use. The stereotype has been built during the last two thirds of the past century that cannabis is something very dangerous and harmful for heath, the same as cocaine or heroine is. If we'll recall the characteristic features of stereotyping, we'll find out that the information that supports the existing stereotype is believed willingly by its holders, but the information that overturns it is usually perceived worse and believed much less than the first type of info. The quantity of articles, TV shows and magazine publications that persuade people in the harmfulness of this substance is enormous, thus this stereotype is strongly supported. In the same time, when some info about the positive aspects of cannabis use appears, it is perceived with mistrust. People don't have the full and veracious information about the behavioral and physiological effects of marijuana use; they are often misinformed or just can't get the needed data. Thus we can conclude that nowadays in the U.S the Americans are deprived of their right to choose whether to use cannabis or no. Moreover, there is no valid reason for which it is done, and people do not have enough information to do something with the situation that exists. Freedom of will is one of the main virtues declared in our Constitution. The fact, that marijuana is prohibited, is the breach of our Constitutional rights and liberties. The Americans have to be given full information about marijuana and its effect on humans' body to make the decision by themselves. Cannabis is a substance that can relief the symptoms of the numerous illnesses, and it can even cure some of them. So it's obvious, it is foolish to reject it just because of the old persuasion that is not confirmed by the scientific facts. Cannabis should be legalized to allow people suffering from pain, nausea, glaucoma and many other illnesses get the effective and relatively safe drug. As you can see, marijuana is widely used in the U.S both for recreation and treatment. Forbidding it doesn't have any effect, as it is still one of the most widespread drug substances on the U.S territory. For decades already marijuana users have been living under the threat of being caught by the officials. In most of the American states, even those people, who really need marijuana for to relieve the symptoms of their illness, cannot get this drug. In some states the situation exists when marijuana is officially considered to be a legal drug, but its growing and importing are punished by law, the same as prescribing marijuana to the patients. Considering all of the facts listed we can conclude that legalization of cannabis is a step towards making our country more liberal, and a very effective way to increase the profits of the national budget. References 1. Laurance, J. Cannabis Link to Psychosis Depends on Age of First Use. The Independent (London), 2004 An article that explores the results of the research of the relationship between the psychosis and cannabis use that analyzes and summarizes the research done and gives recommendations based on the results of the analysis. It also explores the dependence between the age of first use of cannabis, and its influence on the patterns of cannabis use in future. Another aspect this article analyses is the link between the age of first use of marijuana, and the level of psychological dependence on this substance, and the probability of developing psychosis. 2. Gorman, M.(1997). Medicinal Use of Marijuana. Substance Abuse. AJN, American Journal of Nursing. 97(11):23. This article contains advice for the therapists who work with patients who desire to use marijuana to ease their symptoms. It contains some basic ethical issues about the medical use of cannabis, and it also provides guidelines for determining whether the patient uses cannabis for medical or other effect. The author also describes the results of medical research concerning the effectiveness of cannabis as a drug for relieving the symptoms for cancer and AIDS patients. 3. Dale, A. (2004). A Review of Marijuana Assessment Dilemmas: Time for Marijuana Specific Screening Methods Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. 4 (3). pp. 5-28 This article explores how multiple cultural and clinical factors regarding marijuana complicate accurate clinical recognition, assessment and diagnosis of cannabis use disorders. These factors include: Widespread use of marijuana; culturally confusing messages about marijuana's acceptability or harmfulness; social debates over legalization; scientific debates about marijuana's pros and cons; and the inadequacy of current screening methods related to marijuana. Also this article describes the development of special screening methods for marijuana. 4. Mathre, M.L. et al. (2002). Chronic Cannabis Use in the Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program: An Examination of Benefits and Adverse Effects of Legal Clinical Cannabis. Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics. 2(1). pp.4-57 The Missoula Chronic Clinical Cannabis Use Study investigated the therapeutic benefits and adverse effects of prolonged use of "medical marijuana" among seriously ill patients. Use of cannabis was approved through the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This project provided the first opportunity to observe the long-term effects of cannabis on patients who have used a known dosage of a standardized, heat-sterilized quality-controlled supply of low-grade marijuana for years. 5. Mathre, M.L. (1997). Therapeutic Cannabis. A patient advocacy issue. American Journal of Nursing. 101(4). pp. 61-69. This is a valuable study about the history of cannabis use, its effect on the patients' health, clinical prescriptions, health risks, and the effects of marijuana smoking. The author provide the list of health problems, for which cannabis is a solution. It also provides information on the access to cannabis, on nursing ethics concerning medical use of marijuana, and nursing responsibility for it. Read More