Medical Marijuana: Research, Relief, Rewards

Medical Marijuana: Research, Relief, Rewards

Tracy King

English Composition 123

26 September 2014

Marijuana has become a very important key component for many people who are combating devastating illnesses like cancer and AIDS. Marijuana lessens the side effects of chemotherapy and nausea. It reduces the frequency of epilepsy seizures and the pressure of glaucoma. Medical marijuana reduces pain for patients with neuropathic pain (pain from nerve damage) which is associated with cancer, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries. It also reduces nausea, spasticity, and pain from glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Marijuana can also stimulate the appetite in patients suffering from HIV and the after-effects of chemotherapy. It also reduces stress and anxiety as well as treating symptoms from Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. So why should medical marijuana be legalized by the federal government? The federal government should legalize medical marijuana because marijuana helps patients with serious medical issues with their pain management, reduces accidental overdoses caused by opiates, and generates new revenue streams on local, state, and federal levels.

The Cannabis sativa plant has been used “to treat a wide range of aliments that goes back more than 2,000 years” (Johnson, 2009). In 1970, it was added to the controlled substance list as a Schedule I drug alongside heroine and LSD because according to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Office of Diversity website, Schedule I drugs “have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse” (United States Department of Justice, n.d.). Marijuana should be moved to a Schedule III controlled substance which would put it with narcotics like Vicodin. The DEA states that Schedule III drugs have less potential for abuse than a Schedule I drug (i.e.: heroine) or a Schedule II drug (oxycodone, morphine) and “may lead...