Paper

Medical Marijuana

Aly Besing

TR 3:30

1 December 2015

Medicine and the study of medicine has been bettering and helping the human race for thousands of years. From all countries and all peoples, medicine has impacted the life and death of millions of people. Some of these medicines are natural from our Earth and others are synthetic. One natural medicine is Marijuana. This plant is a green / grey color that appears to be dried out leaves. These leaves originate from the Cannabis Sativa plant; also referred to as the hemp plant (What is Marijuana?, 2015). There have been many debates surrounding the use of this forbidden plant and no one has found a black and white answer. Aside from recreational use, should cannabis be legalized for medicinal purposes? This is a question that has raddled the foundations of many politicians and prompted many heated debates. Does this positively or negatively affect our society? Does it fuel the economy? Does it better or harm the public? These are all questions that must be answered before the ultimate decision is made.

As a people, we must first understand the ingredients of Marijuana before we can accept or discard its healing abilities. Marijuana contains many different chemical compounds with five-hundred known components (The Active Ingredients of Cannabis, 2011). Though cannabis is one of the most well known and studied plants, scientists are still discovering new elements of it (The Active Ingredients of Cannabis, 2011). Perhaps the most interesting component of the cannabis plant is the secretion of its resin glands which are called trichomes all over the surface of the Cannabis plant (The Active Ingredients of Cannabis, 2011). Though this resin can be found in the male and female plants, it is more commonly found in the female portion where the flowers bud (The Active Ingredients of Cannibus, 2011).

The most important chemical in all the components of the plant is...