Marijuana for the Medicinal Purposes, Essay Example

Statistics from research have revealed that, marijuana is the most commonly widely consumed illegal drug in the U S. some people have proposed that marijuana has medical benefits and therefore should be legalized for medicinal purposes. Medicinal marijuana implies that the cannabis plant has some components that have the potentials for pain alleviation and treatment of disease symptoms. Experts have cited tetrahydrocannabinol,THC along with cannabidiol, CBD as being vital constituents of the plant that have medicinal implications (Joffe & Yancy, 2004). People who hold to this believe argue that, legal access of cannabis will facilitate availability of the medicine that they value as the only option of relieving their pain and treatment of their medical conditions with disregard to the side effects that are associated with the drug.

The implication of medical marijuana is the use of entire cannabis plant in its unprocessed form or some extracts from the plant for the treatment of ailments and suffering and pain relief. However, the Food and Drug Administration, FDA in the United States has never authenticated the use of Cannabis as a medicine. Scientific studies so far conducted point out at the contribution of chemicals identified as ‘cannabinoids’ in medications which have been approved by FDA. Further revelations indicate that more medications may be discovered after continued research. As a result of this revelation, majority of people have advocated for legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Several states have therefore embraced the initiative and cannabis is legal in such states to serve medicinal purposes.

Medicinal marijuana is conventionally administered through various approaches that entail smoking, vaporization, ingestion of extracts, dried buds, oral sprays and capsules. Synthetic forms of this drug are also administered in form of prescription drugs in a number of countries. For example, ‘dronobiol’ in the US and Canada and ‘nabilone’ in US, UK, Mexico and Canada. Many other countries have also legalized marijuana for medicinal implications such as in Germany, in Austria,  in Czech Republic, in Finland,  in Israel, Italy, in Netherlands, Portugal as well as Spain However, in these countries, the use of marijuana for recreational purposes is prohibited. The federal law prohibits the use of marijuana while twenty other states such as Columbia never prosecute people caught with cannabis so long as they comply with the sale regulations based on the law of the land.

Nevertheless, there are different legally and social perspective in as far as marijuana is concerned. The government of the United States has been persistently opposing marijuana legalization just as any other illegal drug on the premise that, marijuana legalization is against the drug policy as stipulated in the public health policy. Available evidence indicates that marijuana is a significant contributor to most of the public health as well as safety threats. Continued use of marijuana leads to addition which has been termed as a treatable and preventable disease. Marijuana legalization would translate to enhanced availability and use normalization that would consequently yield augmented unconstructive health implications especially among adolescents. Legalization of marijuana is also seen as a means of undermining the strategies of preventive health care initiatives which plays a crucial role in the United States public health (Gordon, Conley & Gordon, 2013).

Marijuana has been linked to high echelons of risk to the country’s public health. It has been pronounced as a stressor to the health care system leading to substantial danger to the safety as well as health of the consumer, their families as well as the entire community. Long term and chronic consumption of marijuana starting from early ages is a trigger of dependence as well as addoiction (White House, 2011). Further revelations have pointed out that, a substantial number of marijuana users who have become addicted have constantly been visiting to health care facilities to receive treatment for marijuana-related health complications.

Legalization of marijuana is likely to enhance its availability which can translate escalating costs of health and safety. Everything has some consequences. Accessibility and availability of marijuana is a pace setter to increased consumption. The higher levels of consumption on the other hand increase the financial costs associated with treatment as well as being a burden to the society. Alcohol and tobacco which have been legalized for example have been associated with high levels of social costs that surpass the revenues that they inject to the economy. The cost of alcohol to the society has been projected to surpass the revenue it generates as taxation by fifteen times (White House, 2011).

Marijuana legalization for medicinal purposes is also unconstructive in solving the challenges that are associated with health and safety. Legalization is not a direct implication that the black market of the drug will be eliminated and the public health and safety will be improved. Studies that propose economic benefits arising from marijuana legalization are merely based on overstatement of facts and data (White House, 2011). Lowering the prices of the drug after legalization will only translate to low tax revenue to the government. The justifiable approach is persistent opposition to legalization aiming at drug prevention, supporting recovery initiatives, treatment as well as innovative strategies for criminal justice.

References

Gordon, A., Conley, W. & Gordon, J. M., (2013). “Medical consequences of marijuana use: a review of current literature”. Curr Psychiatry Rep (Review) 15 (12): 419.

Joffe, A & Yancy, S. (2004). Legalization of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth. Pediatrics Vol. 113 No. 6 June 1, 2004 pp. e632 -e638

White House. (2011). The Public Health Consequences of Marijuana Legalization. Retrieved from < http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/issues-content/marijuana_and_public_health_one_pager_-_final.pdf>