Medicinal Marijuana Essay, Research Paper
A Healthy Dose
The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 federally prohibits marihuana. Dr. William C. Woodward of the American Medical Association testified against this Act ( Thompson, 25 ) , recognizing that prohibition would finally forestall marihuana usage as a medicative drug. His success was minimum, as merely eight Americans with particular permission from the federal authorities are lawfully allowed to utilize marihuana as medical specialty ( Stumpsey, 14 ) . The chief factor that led to the negligible usage of marihuana was The Controlled Substances Act, which placed all illicit and prescription drugs into five & # 8220 ; agendas & # 8221 ; ( classs ) . Marijuana was falsely placed in Schedule I, specifying the substance as holding a high potency for maltreatment, no presently accepted medical usage in intervention in the United States, and a deficiency of recognized safety for usage under medical supervising. Marijuana has been proven to help deceasing patients with such diseases as glaucoma, malignant neoplastic disease, AIDS, and neurological diseases. Besides, it occurs merely minor side effects when compared to the other prima medicines on the market. The legalisation of marihuana for medicative usage is a important policy that American politicians need to see.
Glaucoma affects between two and four million Americans, and causes about 10,000 Americans each twelvemonth to go blind ( McCaffrey, 12 ) . Traditional surgery is frequently uneffective, and all known legal medicines for glaucoma present serious side effects. In the 1970 & # 8217 ; s, research workers discovered a new usage for a pre-known drug, which was extremely effectual and incurred few side effects. This medicine lowers the elevated oculus force per unit areas associated with glaucoma ( McCaffrey, 12 ) . The decrease of this intra-ocular force per unit area alleviates hurting and slows the advancement of glaucoma, protracting sight. Yet, this drug & # 8211 ; Marijuana & # 8211 ; has been withheld from Glaucoma patients by the authorities for grounds that can merely be explained by ignorance.
Marijuana & # 8217 ; s medicative intents are non limited to the bar of Glaucoma ; it besides is associated with the intervention of malignant neoplastic disease. One million Americans are diagnosed with malignant neoplastic disease each twelvemonth. The lone known intervention, chemotherapy, uses extremely toxic drugs. The enfeebling effects of chemotherapy & # 8212 ; purging, sickness, and loss of appetite & # 8212 ; do many patients to stop usage of this potentially life-saving intervention. But if marihuanas were to be used to congratulate chemotherapy, these common side effects could be avoided, and more people would be perceptive to utilize chemotherapy. Medical surveies systematically regard Marijuana as one of the safest, most effectual anti-nausea drugs. The American Medical Association & # 8217 ; s analyze claims that 90 % of all patients smoking marihuana controlled sickness and emesis ( Stumpsey, 15 ) . Besides marihuana is predominately known to arouse the ingestion of nutrient, which would battle the loss of appetency
associated with chemotherapy.
The widespread AIDS epidemic has increasingly claimed lives in our state. 242,000 Americans suffer from AIDS and more than 1 million Americans are now infected by the deathly HIV virus ( Thompson, 76 ) . HIV-positive people could smoke marihuanas to relieve many of the same symptoms as malignant neoplastic disease patients. Marijuana efficaciously reduces the intense sickness, emesis, and rapid weight loss caused by advanced HIV-infection and the extremely toxic drugs used to handle AIDS. While the public & # 8217 ; s attending of Marijuana & # 8217 ; s medicative usage for AIDS is merely recent, many HIV-positive people have been illicitly devouring the drug.
More than a million Americans suffer from neurologic conditions & # 8211 ; multiple induration, muscular dystrophy, and spinal hurt & # 8211 ; which cause terrible musculus cramps and chronic hurting. Conventional medicines hardly treat these conditions. Marijuana limits musculus hurting and spasticity caused by these diseases, alleviating shudder and ricketiness of mundane gestures and helps these enduring people to populate a more normal life ( McCaffrey, 12 ) .
One of marihuana & # 8217 ; s greatest advantages as a medical specialty is its singular safety. It has small consequence on major physiological maps. There is no known instance of a deadly overdose ( Thompson, 23 ) . Marijuana is besides far less habit-forming and far less capable to mistreat than many drugs now used as musculus relaxants, soporifics, and anodynes ( Thompson, 23 ) .
The head legitimate concern is the consequence of smoking on the lungs. Marijuana fume carries even more pitchs and other particulate affair than baccy fume. But the sum smoked is much less, particularly in medical usage. If marihuana is openly recognized as a medical specialty, solutions may be found.
At present, the greatest danger in marijuana & # 8217 ; s medical usage is its illegality, which imposes much anxiousness and disbursal on enduring people, forces them to dicker with illicit drug traders, and exposes them to the menace of condemnable prosecution. If marihuanas were legalized for medicative intents, these enduring people would be able to obtain it in a safe secure mode.
Patients enduring from AIDS, glaucoma, malignant neoplastic disease, and neurological diseases can non have the necessary medicine & # 8211 ; marijuana & # 8211 ; to relieve their hurting because politicians in Washington & # 8220 ; experience & # 8221 ; that it may take to mistreat. What these politicians do non experience is the tormenting hurting that their agony citizens experience. The possibility does be that marijuana maltreatment may increase with the legalisation of it for medicative intents, but the benefit of marihuana for these patients outweigh the negatives of maltreatment. Legalizing marihuana will let enduring patients cope with their diseases. A part of society opposes marijuana & # 8217 ; s legalisation because it is immoral, but they should see it is besides immoral to forbid patients from easing their hurting.
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