Why Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized in the United States, Research Paper Example

Executive Summary

Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes in the United States. A growing number of states are open to this idea. Legalizing marijuana will not lead to rampant abuse of it. States can regulate marijuana in the same ways that they regulate alcohol and tobacco. Decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal reasons would free some of the strain on law enforcement authorities and taxpayer costs to police the drug. Derivatives of marijuana already exist on the market, so including it is not a radical change from current policies and laws. There is little evidence to suggest that marijuana leads to physical addiction. Marijuana will not cause patients to reach out for harder, more potent drugs. State enactments of marijuana legislation have not caused an increase in teen use.

Introduction

Almost 15 million Americans admit, through confidential surveys, that they have taken used marijuana over the last month (Houston, 2009), and yet, self respecting pot users are mocked by hard drinking, prescription drug abusing, conservative talk radio hosts, who fail to see their double standards (Klein, 2009). We are kidding ourselves if we act as if marijuana is not already a part of American culture. In the United States, 14 states and several municipalities have already legalized medical marijuana (Seamon, Fass, Maniscalco-Feichtl, & Abu-Shraie, 2007). This paper begins with an introduction for those uninitiated with topics surrounding marijuana, and it will elaborate on the pronounced need for legalized medicinal marijuana throughout our entire country. As the discussion unfolds, steps and solutions to legalize it are offered and the benefits of legalizing it are enumerated.

The Drug

First, marijuana is a drug, but it is not “some ersatz substance put together by geek pharmacologists in a crack loft. It hasn’t been distilled and set out to age. It grows just about everywhere in nature –it is organic to the planet Earth” (Mano, 1990). Whether it is called pot, weed, herb, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, chronic, or any other of its many aliases, marijuana is a “green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant” (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010). Legalized marijuana use is not something new. It has been around for years. According to the World Health Organization, The Netherlands has had legalized pot for more than a quarter of a century, and the use of it there is less than half of that in the United States (Houston, 2009).

Some have touted the wonders of the drug on strengthening the immune system (Zeese & Ruzzamenti, 1993). Those who know this have been –in previous years –forced to go into seedy neighborhoods to purchase it for the consumption of their loved ones who desperately need its benefits. The following quotation, from a loving son, shows the power of marijuana in assisting a weak mother to regain her strength. It also demonstrates an acknowledgment from the medical community of its worth despite its lingering shame:

Three hours after I had begun feeding pot to her, my mother  signaled me near with her hand. I bent to listen. ‘Maybe I could try just a taste of cheeseburger,’ she said. While in the hospital my mother ate pot every day. The nausea was mitigated. In time nourishment lit her metabolism again. After 15 days she was sent home to begin the tiresome process of regaining mobility. I confided in her medical team. One doctor said, ‘Keep feeding her the dope. Just don’t tell anyone I recommended it’…Marijuana, I am certain, gave her almost three years of life (Mano, 1990).

Benefits to the Government

Patients are not the only beneficiaries of pot. The state can realize a huge windfall from legalized marijuana sales. It is ironic that this recessionary environment has brought more conversation about marijuana than ever before because of its revenue potential. Marijuana could be a cash crop, “with a value exceeding corn and wheat combined” (Houston, 2009). Tax officials estimate that a tax on medical marijuana could bring the struggling state of California about $1.4 billion a year (McKinley, 2009). The numbers, expressed over the entire country, are staggering. Officials in Oregon seized four hundred fifty million dollars worth of marijuana last year (Funk, 2009). Marijuana is everywhere, so it is ridiculous to pretend that it is not present or that it is somehow going to go away.

The Federal Government has spoken about its authority to regulate marijuana’s medical, intrastate usages. The backgrounds that provided two important cases, United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison (Newbern, 2000), shed additional insight into the complicated problems surrounding medicinal marijuana as the Supreme Court, in 5-4 decisions, reversed laws that fell under the Commerce Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. These cases were about concealed firearms and violence against women, respectively, but their holdings relate to marijuana in this way: Possessing it might be against the law, but the mere possession of it does not constitute economic activity.

President Obama, usually bold in tackling difficult issues squarely, lacked the courage during the 2008 campaign to expose creative possibilities for marijuana’s acceptance into the American debate. He said during a televised Town Hall Meeting, “There was one question.. that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation…The answer is no, I don’t think that’s a good strategy to grow our economy” (Stein, 2008). This, spoken by the liberal Democratic leader of the free world, there appears to be no political courage in this country at this time to grasp this issue and to find creative approaches to working it through (Houston, 2009).

The Effect on Crime

Where there are drugs, there will be crime, but “the only violence associated with marijuana is the extreme violence used by Mexican drug traffickers to get it into this country. Pot itself doesn’t cause users to beat their wives or stab someone in a bar” (Jones, 2009). Legalizing marijuana in general and medicinally in particular, would surely put many criminals out of business.

“The only way to stop gangs is by stopping their monopoly on production” (Houston, 2009). If we legalize medicinal marijuana, we rob criminal cartels of their raison d’etre. In the United States, our policy toward pot is making scores of bad people rich. (Moffatt, 2010). Additionally, law enforcement officials could save countless people hours and service dollars if they did not have to contend with marijuana as a crime. About half of the drug arrests in the United States are for simple possession of marijuana (NPR, 2007). Gore Vidal’s observation about this, between his unsuccessful bids for Congress and Senate, now four decades ago, was most prescient: “In the long run it (making weed legal) would save lives and end hypocrisy” (Vidal, 1970).

The Comparisons

More people than ever before are calling for marijuana to be regulated in the same ways that alcohol and tobacco are regulated (Houston, 2009). Alcohol, a substance that is legal in this country, has proven that it can ruin people’s lives when they become addicted to it, yet pot is illegal (Mano, 1990). “We legalized alcohol regardless of the dangers it poses, because it was impossible to stop it” (Jones, 2009). Tobacco, another “weed,” has proven its deadly link to various cancers, and it is legal while marijuana is not. Contrary to what most people think, marijuana is not a narcotic. Legalizing marijuana will not lead to an increase in its recreational use (Barnes, 2009).

Marijuana derivatives already exist in the pharmaceutical marketplace. For example, the drug, Sativex, approved for use in Canada and Spain, licensed to Bayer in the U.K, and licensed to Almirall in Europe, contains chemicals taken directly from marijuana plants (ProCon.org, 2010).

Reasons for Medical Marijuana

ProCon.org, a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate and assist with critical thinking, includes 10 reasons for the medicinal use of marijuana. This list provides the structural frame for the argument that follows (ProCon.org, 2010).

Individual Researchers Say It Will Help

A former Surgeon General represents the feeling of some researchers: “The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS — or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them (Elders, 2004).

Medical Organizations Support It 

The American College of Physicians wants marijuana to be reclassified from a classified, controlled substance because of the scientific evidence that permeates it as safe and efficacious under clinical conditions. Further, the College wants marijuana prescribing professionals to be exempt from any criminal prosecution or problem of licensure that might arise from such practices as long as they are working within the confines of existing state law (American College of Physicians, 2008). This kind of endorsement should not be dismissed out of hand.

The U.S. Government Has Reviewed It Favorably    

On behalf of the government in the 1980s, Young found the evidence that marijuana’s therapeutic powers were not only exceptional but also safe. “It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the Drug Enforcement Administration to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record” (Young, 1988).

Little Health Risk 

Smoking marijuana represents little danger to personal or public health.

Although cannabis has been smoked widely in Western countries for more than four decades, there have been no reported cases of lung cancer or emphysema attributed to marijuana. I suspect that a day’s breathing in any city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a day’s dose — which for many ailments is just a portion of a joint — of marijuana” (Grinspoon, 2006).

Marijuana and AIDS      

AIDS is an epidemic of global scale, and marijuana has been effective in assisting AIDS patients maintaining their strength. Abrams (2003) reports that those AIDS patients who either smoke marijuana for medical purposes or ingest pills made from it show improved immune functions over those who receive placebos. The drug also allowed the marijuana using AIDS patients to gain weight, whereas the placebo group lagged behind.

The Terminally Ill 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rushes to approve cancer fighting drugs with a persistent feeling that their potential benefits far surpass any danger that they might present to those who are in the final stages of cancer. In that same spirit, the FDA should promote that federal laws be relaxed in giving states the rights to free doctors to administer marijuana “on a caring and compassionate basis” (Consumer Reports, 1997).

Marinol  

Dronabinol, also known as Marinol, is an approved drug on the market that contains one of the cannabiniods of the natural hemp plant. Marinol, available by prescription, comes in capsule form but is not as potent as marijuana, given its synthetic properties (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) (THC) (Carter, 2003). Marinol mimics marijuana but fails to provide the same chemical actions.

Addictiveness 

Blake and Iverson’s (2001) research concluded that a mere 10 percent of marijuana users become psychologically dependent on the drug. They also drew comparisons between tobacco use and cannabis use. Cigarette smokers generally smoke daily while pot smokers do not. Cigarette smokers generally smoke for an entire lifetime while pot smokers predictably stop before they reach middle age. Marijuana users seldom have withdrawal symptoms. This is not the case for those who are addicted to nicotine or alcohol or hard drugs.

Gateway Effect

The most compelling explanation between marijuana use and a progression toward hard drugs is that those predisposed to addiction are those that move from marijuana to other drugs. “While the gateway theory has enjoyed popular acceptance, scientists have always had their doubts. Our study shows that these doubts are justified.[…] Marijuana typically comes first because it is more available” (Morral, 2002).

Youth Drug Use

Through recent studies, Earleywine and O’Keefe (2005) have concluded that in states where medicinal marijuana is allowed, there has been no increase in its use among teens. In fact, they saw a downward trend and a decline in overall adolescent marijuana use. Youthful experimentations of the drug will go on, but critics of marijuana cannot say with accuracy that teens flock to the drug in states where it is more available.

Conclusions

A substance like marijuana that has been proven to help patients with cancer –it eases nausea, multiple sclerosis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome –it helps stimulate their appetites, migraines, glaucoma –it keeps them from going blind, terminally ill –it lessens their pain, and epilepsy should be readily available to those who would benefit from its use. Given these facts, it is inconceivable that it has not already found acceptance in our society –at least for the purposes of medical treatment. The lingering arguments that marijuana use leads to other drug misuse are not true. Neither are the opinions that marijuana causes brain damage and infertility.

Drugs far more dangerous than marijuana, like cocaine and morphine, are legal for certain treatments. Marijuana provides far less risk because it is not as potent as numerous drugs available for the seriously ill. Marijuana, in the hands of trained medical and pharmaceutical authorities, and distributed to those whose pain and sufferings bring unspeakable sorrow, would be an important step toward giving this country the healthcare that our citizens so richly deserve.

Recommendations

The problem of legalizing medical marijuana in the United States requires specific steps and solutions to barriers. Since 1996, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have negotiated through their state houses, held referendums, and passed laws that allow patients to receive marijuana legally. It is time for all other states to do the same. These laws appear to be functioning, without abuse, in the manner in which voters have intended.

The benefits created by legalizing it far outweigh any criticism levied against it. When lawmakers listen to their constituents they discover that the vast majority of people in this country are in favor of helping sick people get better and terminally ill people feel better. Marijuana can make a positive difference.

Concerned people should get involved in the struggle by joining activist groups that lobby for change. This issue rests in the public discourse of this great country.

References

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American College of Physicians (2008). Supporting research into the   therapeutic role of marijuana. acponline, February 15.

Barnes. R. (2001). Reefer madness: Medical and Moral Issues    Surrounding the Medical Prescription of Marijuana. Editorial,    The Times (U. K.), August 6.

Blakemore, C., & Iverson, L. (2001). Editorial, The Times (U. K.), August 6.

Carter, G. (2003). Website article from the University of Washington Medical Center, MDA/ALS Center, October.

Consumer Reports (1997). Editorial, May.

Earleywine, M., & O’Keefe, K.(2005). Marijuana use by young people: The impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws. Marijuana Policy Project Report, September.

Elders, J. (2004). Editorial, Providence Journal, March 26.

Funk (2009). The Case for Legalizing Marijuana. Retrieved February 19, 2010 from http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/11/the_case_for     legalizing_mariju.html

Grinspoon, L. (2006). Puffing is the best medicine. Los Angeles Times, May 5.

Houston, A. (2009). A Case for a Domestic Marijuana Industry.

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McKinley, (2009). Push to Legalize Marijuana Gains Ground in California. New York Times, 10/28/2009, p. 18.

Moffatt. M.   Should Governments Legalize and Tax Marijuana? Examining a Recent Study on Legalization.

Morral, A. (2002). Press release discussing his study published in the U.K. journal Addiction, December 2.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (2010). Retrieved February 19, 2010 from http://www.drugabuse.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteenstxt.html#what

Newbern, A. (2000). Good Cop, Bad Cop: Federal Prosecution of State Legalized Medical Marijuana Use After United States v. Lopez. California Law Review, 88(5), 1575-1634.

ProCon.org (2010). Should marijuana be a medical option? Retrieved February 19, 2010 from http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/viewresource.asp?resourceID=000141

Seamon, M., Fass, J., Maniscalco-Feichtl, M., & Abu-Shraie, N. (2007). American Journal of Health System Pharmacy, 64(10),  1037-1044.

Stein, S. (2009). Obama Takes Pot Legalization Question During Town Hall Meeting. The Huffington Post, March, 26.

Vidal, G. (1970). Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana. Retrieved February 19, 2010 from  http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/vidal-drugs.html

Young, F.(1988). Administrative ruling on petition to reschedule marijuana. DEA Administrative Law Judge, September.

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