Lauren Smith
Ms. Franks
AP Language-3
23 February 2018
Medical Marijuana is a Must
Medical marijuana has prosperous benefits for people suffering from ceaseless illnesses, often leaving patients with minimal pain and without side effects. The use of marijuana as a medicine dates back to ancient times, but is firmly documented throughout the 1600s and 1700s during expansion in Europe and North America (Haleigh's Hope, Ylu). There are also records around 1840 in Great Britain as a medication for spasms, rheumatism, and epilepsy (Haleigh's Hope). The 1850 United States Pharmacopeia even commended marijuana for its positive medical qualities (Ylu). The controversy had an abrupt commencement when the propaganda film Reefer Madness, initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, was released. The film, which depicted an exaggerated take on the drug as well as other drugs of the time, portrayed the idea that marijuana was, "the real public enemy," (Reefer Madness). The movie directly implied that marijuana often led to, "incurable insanity." To support this claim and the negative impact marijuana has on people, the movie used fictionalized stories which included elaborate tales of suicide, hallucinations, a hit and run car accident, and an extreme case of a teenage boy murdering his entire family with an axe due to being under the influence of marijuana. The movie even went to say that when high on, “the soul descending drug,” young adults acted rambunctious (Reefer Madness). Overall, Reefer Madness conveyed marijuana as, "destroying the youth of America." By the passage of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Bill, which followed the major propaganda film, the United States had made the possession and production
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of Cannabis sativa illegal. The criminalization of medical marijuana was not in existence until 1970 when the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act was enacted, classifying all marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance, which, "has no medical benefit and a high potential for abuse" (Ylu). Medical marijuana laws of acknowledgement were initially approved in California in 1994 and 1995, with a 56% approval by voters (Ylu). As of the end of December 2017, twenty-nine states have legalized the use of medical marijuana (12-year-old girl). Even though twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana, each state chooses what conditions qualify as being treated by medical marijuana. For example, California allows, "cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief," to be treated by medical marijuana, embracing a quite large field of medicine when identifying the, "other illness" (Ylu). New Mexico, on the other hand, only allows cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord damage, and terminal illness to be treated by the drug (Ylu). Medical marijuana, which has never caused an overdose death, will be controversial until a common ground has been established (Haleigh's Hope). A very recent move for marijuana was in Berkeley, California on February 13, 2018 when Berkeley became a sanctuary city for the drug. This move prevented any city employees from enforcing federal laws on cannabis (Park). Medical marijuana should be federally legalized because it reduces chronic pain and suffering.
Many studies on the treatment of anxiety, Alzheimer's, arthritis, cancer, Chron's disease, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis have been conducted with the use of cannabis and have proven to show significant results (Haleigh's Hope). Sanjay Gupta, MD., Chief Medical Correspondent for Cable News Network, reversed his negative opinion on medical marijuana after reviewing many
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of the recent studies done when he released his newest article “Why I Changed My Mind On Weed” in 2013, pointing out that, "legitimate patients symptoms improved on cannabis" (Should Marijuana). When a patient with anxiety was given a cannabidiol, the patient underwent anti-anxiety effects; the heart rate was lowered as compared to an average heart rate, even when told stress worthy information. In a four-week study on ten people previously diagnosed with Alzheimer's, in which each patient was given a medical cannabis oil, great results were shown as aggression, delusions, irritation, and sleep apathy were all significantly lowered when compared to the individual's standard levels (Haleigh's Hope). Medical marijuana proved to prevent further progression of the disease as well as removal of the buildup that causes Alzheimer's disease. A double-blind study on arthritis, the painful inflammation of the joints, was conducted with fifty-eight patients, thirty-one of which received the drug and twenty-seven of which received a placebo. The drugs and placebos were received through an oral spray at night and the patients were instructed to record how their bodies reacted and how they felt the following day; morning stiffness, pain, and quality of sleep all improved, and many of the patients said their overall quality of life did as well (Haleigh's Hope). When nineteen parents of epileptic children whom had no results with traditional treatment gave their kids cannabis, sixteen out of nineteen saw an improvement in seizure frequency; out of the sixteen, two were completely seizure free, eight had an 80% decrease in the frequency of their seizures, and the remaining eight had a 25% to 60% decrease in seizures. Overall, the nineteen patients and their parents reported better sleep, an increased alertness, and improved moods (Haleigh's Hope). In a study conducted on twenty-one Chron's Disease patients, eleven were given cannabis cigarettes while ten were given placebo cigarettes; every patient had improvement. Five out of the eleven given the cannabis
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cigarettes experienced complete remission of the disease, while ten of the eleven showed lab test improvements (Haleigh's Hope). Two major Multiple Sclerosis studies have been conducted in relation to medical marijuana, one with twenty patients and the other with three hundred and twenty-two spastic patients. The beginning study included twenty patients, and had ten patients with neuropathic pain, yet all twenty patients used cannabis spray for one month; every patient had symptom improvement and those with neuropathic pain had improvement in their quality of life. In the second study, patients were treated with Sativex and after three months of use, patients had significant improvement in spasticity. A slight 13.1% had mild side effects of only drowsiness and nausea, which many experienced at a heightened level on opioids (Haleigh's Hope). For patients with glaucoma, cannabinoids reduced eye pressure (Haleigh's Hope). According to the Deputy Director of the Duke Cancer Institute, Steven Patierno, PhD., medical marijuana is, "uncontroversial at the bedside of a cancer patient or a child suffering from convulsions who might be helped" (Should Marijuana).
Haleigh's Hope, a medical cannabis distributor, features many testimonies of patients, parents, and caregivers who have witnessed the amazing effects of medical marijuana. Around thirty-five children users of the cannabis oil have given affirmations of the positive side effects to the drug. Many children cannot vouch for themselves, yet patients such as twelve-year-old. Alexis Bortell explains the positive impact cannbidiol can make. She says that as an epileptic child, she was told by her doctor to choose between undergoing brain surgery or to move to Colorado where medical marijuana is legalized. Her family chose to move to Colorado, where her health greatly improved. The Bortell Family decided to sue Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an effort to progress the medical marijuana federalization throughout the United States (12-
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year-old girl). The United States government has a patent on the use of cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. The cannabinoids attach to endocannabinoids, the biological system responsible for sleep, appetite, emotions, body temperature, and movement. Thus heavily controlling the body.
Although smoking marijuana can cause harmful bodily effects, the positives outweigh the negatives. Medical marijuana is typically taken by the form of an oil, which does not require any smoking. When someone medicates with cannabis, they have existing medical issues so cannabis is used to improve the quality of the patient’s life whose health is already depreciating. Former US Surgeon General, Jocelyn Elders, MD., fought the argument that marijuana is more toxic than pharmaceutical drugs by stating that medical marijuana is, "less toxic than many of the drugs physicians prescribe every day" (Should Marijuana).
The federal legalization of medical marijuana is necessary to fight persistent pain and aching. Medical cannabis, a leading pain reliever and treatment for health problems, must be federally legalized in the United States. By legalizing medical marijuana, hope and relief would be offered to many who suffer rehabilitating diseases.