MEDICAL MARIJUANA

In recent years there has been a tremendous amount of attention from the media concerning the issue of using marijuana for medical purposes.  This issue often evokes passionate responses from both sides of the argument.  Unfortunately, the ongoing debate has left many people confused about the issue.  In order to better understand this issue, it helps to understand the key points on each side of the debate.

In favor of using marijuana for medical purposes:

1) Marijuana has been shown to be effective in treating the symptoms of some illnesses.  Some examples of this are:

-         Glaucoma, which is a disease that increases pressure inside the eyeball.  Marijuana helps to reduce this pressure.

-         People undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment for cancer and people being treated with multiple drugs for AIDS often experience extreme nausea from these treatments.  This in turn means that they often are unable to keep down food or medicine and since they are not getting nourishment from food or the benefits of their medication, the ability of their immune system to fight their illness is reduced.  Marijuana reduces nausea and as a result allows these people to keep down food and/or medicine.  As an added benefit marijuana use may also increase their appetite.

2) While other drugs exist to treat the same symptoms, they do not work equally well for everyone.  Marijuana should be available as an option in treating patients who do not respond well to other drugs.

3) Medical marijuana is not the same as recreational marijuana.  Medical marijuana is grown under strict guidelines that control potency and purity of the drug.

4) Marijuana’s status as an illegal drug prohibits research into other possible beneficial uses of the drug.

Against using marijuana for medical purposes:

1) Marijuana may help reduce some symptoms of various diseases and/or their treatments, but it may cause other problems.  For example, smoking marijuana may help reduce eyeball pressure in glaucoma patients, but it may cause lung cancer in the process.

2) There is no need to turn to an illegal drug to treat any illness when there are legal drugs that can produce the same results.

3) Smoking marijuana for medical reasons, such as reducing nausea and increasing appetite, does not eliminate the other effects of the drug.  For example, some people become paranoid under the influence of marijuana.

4) Legalizing marijuana for medical uses is an attempt by some groups to take a first step toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of the pros and cons of the medical uses for marijuana, it does highlight the major points.  Some attempts at a compromise between these points have been made, such as efforts to extract THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocanabinol, the chemical in marijuana primarily responsible for its effects on the human body and mind) and put it into pill or liquid form.  To date these attempts have had some success, especially a pill called Marinol, but many people feel that it is not as effective as marijuana.

While some states have passed laws that allow the medical use of marijuana, the Federal Government has taken steps to block these laws based of the fact that Federal Law supercedes or overrules any and all State Laws.  Due to the legal and moral issues involved in this debate, it appears that the debate will continue for quite some time.

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