Marijuana 6 Essay, Research Paper

Medical Marijuana?

Marijuana, a drug that has been studied for many decades, provides for a very heated argument. No longer is it seen solely as a hallucinogen, but some claim that it is miracle drug for chemotherapy and glaucoma patients. However, no legitiment medical organizations, see marijuana as a safe and effective medicine. Society is also aware of the harmful and long-term effects of the drug, and therefore are strongly opposed to it s legalization. Marijuana should not be considered for legalization because its few benefits are greatly outweighed by its downfalls.

Marijuana is now being recognized for possessing a few medical benefits. For both chemotherapy and anorexic patients, it can serve as an appetite stimulant and as a mild pain killer. Glaucoma patients have also claimed that it saves what eye sight they have left and eases headache pains. However, these foe benefits are not enough for legislators to

even consider marijuana s legalization.

The movement to legitimize smoking marijuana as a medicine is not encouraged by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), health and medical associations, or medical experts. Supporters of marijuana s legalization have completely thrown out all the accepted rules of medical research and FDA approval. The FDA clearly states, for a drug to be approved, it must demonstrate that it causes no harm when taken properly, and it has to show a demonstrable and consistently positive effect on the medical condition in question. Supporters of the drug have failed to show that marijuana does either. Medical experts dictate that it is not good medical practice to allow a substance to be used as a medicine if

that product is not FDA-approved, is ingested by smoking and is exempt from quality control standards. Smoked marijuana has been extensively researched, and has not yet been documented to be a safe and effective medical treatment. Instead, it has been shown to be a cause of many negative health effects.

Extensive research has proven marijuana t cause damages to major organs such as the brain, heart, lungs and immune system. Along with the harmful bodily effects of marijuana use, there are many other long-term effects that prove that is should not be legalized. For example, long-term users have been known to develop psychological dependencies, or the user feel that they have a need to get high so they use some sort of drug to achieve the satisfaction, in this scenario it s marijuana.

When considering the legalization this drug, we cannot only think of the long-term effects, but we must also think of the immediate effects it will impose upon America s youth. If it were to become legalized, it would present a greater incentive for children to become more involved in the use of marijuana, due to it being easily accessible. Society should present a positive guide for the younger generation and decline the legalization of marijuana.

Society is trying to promote a drug-free nation. We can not do this by legalizing marijuana. It may serve a mild pain killer and a appetite stimulator, but a drug that is not approved by the FDA, and one that has many physical and long-term effects should not be legalized.