Why medical marijuana should be legalized

This essay is going to address the case for the legalization of medical marijuana by dispelling the reasons given by those in the
case against the legalization of marijuana. This will be done by sifting through and evaluating the arguments for and against
medical marijuana and drawing logical conclusions. This paper is cited in MLA format.

In 1972, marijuana was placed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 made
completely illegal by the United States Congress. This made growing, distribution and use illegal as
congress considered marijuana to have no acceptable or legitimate medical use. Twenty of fifty states
and DC in the United States of America have since legalized the use of medical marijuana but medical
marijuana is still illegal in the rest of the United States. As someone from a conservative upbringing, I
was led to believe that marijuana had no positive effects and congress was right to enforce a ban but
have since reviewed my thoughts on the matter as new evidence has come to light. Although congress’
efforts to curb substance abuse are admirable and necessary, recent studies of marijuana shown the
advantages of medical marijuana far outweighing the potential side effects. This shows that a review of
their stance on marijuana is overdue.

Medical marijuana is no newcomer to the medical scene and was part of the United States drug
pharmacopeia up until 1943. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a certified medical practitioner and an internationally
acclaimed medical correspondent who has gained a lot of respect from the public as a credible source of
reliable information. He recently wrote an article for CNN in which he revised his stance on the subject
of legalization of the use of marijuana in the medical field. The article was written as an apology for his
documentary “Why I Would Vote No on Pot.’’ Dr. Gupta apologizes to the general public on his previous
stance on marijuana claiming that it was misinformed and that this article is his effort to rectify the
mistakes he made in the documentary outlining key information and evidence as to why he was wrong
and why medical marijuana has to be legalized. The apology reads,

‘’ ​We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United
States, and I apologize for my own role in that ​I apologize because I didn't look hard enough,
until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries
doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate
patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.’’- (CNN, Reuters)

His apology outlines that the main reason for Dr. Gupta’s earlier conclusion on medical marijuana was
that his prejudice of marijuana clouded his judgment to point where he ignored the evidence which was
right in front of him. He is not alone in this as thousands of other reputable medical practitioners all over
the world have realized that their patients have responded well to the use of medical marijuana and are
willing to endorse medical marijuana as a neuropathic pain drug (Neuropathic pain is a type of pain
which is caused by damage to or dysfunction of the nervous system). As a matter of fact, a recent survey
by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 76% of certified and state approved doctors are in
favor of the use of medical marijuana for advanced cancer pain over conventional medicine. Medical
marijuana is more effective in dealing with unbearable neuropathic pain compared to the conventional
opioids (painkillers ranging from ibuprofen to morphine, oxycodone and dilaudid) but with fewer side
effects. Although medical marijuana is said to be psychologically addictive, the conventional drugs on
offer are both psychologically and physically addictive with morphine often associated with cocaine
which one of the hardest of hard drugs out there. Dr. Gupta shared the story of one of his patients from
Colorado, who started having seizures soon after birth and was having 300 a week by age three despite
being on seven different medications. According to Dr. Gupta, the use of medical marijuana calmed her
brain, limiting her seizures to two or three per month. This and thousands of other cases serves as a
testament to the need to review marijuana laws and probe further research into marijuana as a form of
medicine.

Although medical marijuana is clearly the better option for dealing with neuropathic or
unbearable pain, critics argue that marijuana is a gateway drug for most of the youth who get involved
in substance abuse. In a 2002 article for the Chicago Tribune titled “Marijuana is not medicine”, Dr.
Andrea Barthwell, MD, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control, wrote,

"By characterizing the use of illegal drugs as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday

afternoon fun, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that drug use is dangerous. They undercut
the goals of stopping the initiation of drug use to prevent addiction.... Children entering drug
abuse treatment routinely report that they heard that 'pot is medicine' and, therefore, believed it
to be good for them."​ – (Andrea Barthwell, Chicago Tribune)

In this Chicago Tribune editorial, Dr. Barthwell firmly believes that legalizing marijuana for
medical use will destabilize the societal norm that drug abuse is a bad thing and that this will lead
children into doing drugs. Although it is a reasonable assumption that labeling marijuana as medicine
and good for you will result in a better perception of marijuana, I disagree with her notion that this will
necessarily lead children into wanting to smoke marijuana for purposes of recreation. For example, as a
child growing up in a working/lower middle class socioeconomic background, I knew that cough syrup
was medicine and was good for me (in terms of recovering from a serious cough) but I hated it and
never did my friends and I have a cough syrup barbeque or cough syrup hangouts or cough syrup
parties. I firmly knew it was medicine and nothing but medicine. If we can successfully label medical
marijuana as we have labeled our cough syrups, with the side effects clearly labeled, it is more than
possible to market marijuana as being nothing more than medicine to future generations.

FDA regulations state that one may use opioids but are not allowed produce their own and
distribute without proper licensing. The FDA also advocates and enforces proper labeling as a method of
curbing the potential harm that would be caused by improperly administering these opioids. By labeling
medical marijuana as medicine, it will become easier to control its supply, quality and distribution in the
same way the FDA controls the supply, quality and distribution of current regular prescription
medication. That way the levels of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; THC is a psychoactive
cannabinoid and is responsible for the majority of the effects that you get from marijuana consumption
and basically responsible for making the user ‘high’) can be monitored and regulated to ensure that
abuse of marijuana will have a minimal effect and still retain the medical qualities to benefit those in
need of medical marijuana.

The main cause of the misconceptions of medical marijuana is how limited the research in the
area of medical marijuana is. Due to the prohibition of growing marijuana, it is near impossible to
conduct any plausible research to draw meaningful scientific conclusion that may lead congress to
change their mind about marijuana. In a correspondence statement to ProCon.org, former United States
senator, Bill Frist said,

"​Although I understand many believe marijuana is the most effective drug in combating
their medical ailments, I would caution against this assumption due to the lack of consistent,
repeatable scientific data available to prove marijuana's medical benefits. Based on current
evidence, I believe that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that there are less dangerous
medicines offering the same relief from pain and other medical symptoms." (ProCon.org)

The statement admits that medical marijuana has potential but points to the lack of scientific
data available as a reason for the ban. This is rather peculiar as congress itself is the main deterrent for
marijuana research. In other words, he is blaming congress for preventing congress from making an
informed decision. Although this statement is from 10 years ago and most of us would like believe is
‘outdated’, this is still the argument congress uses when confronted with the question of legalization of
medical marijuana. If congress opened up marijuana research to more medical research institutions,
much of the stigma and myth surrounding medical marijuana will be dispelled and progress will be made
in the medical field.
 I am by no means endorsing drug abuse and firmly believe that congress should help curb any
form of substance abuse. However, medical marijuana has shown to be beneficial to patients suffering
from unbearable pain that conventional drugs have been ineffective in relieving. It seems inhumane to
refuse cancer patients suffering unbearable pain, the treatment they require. With a majority of medical
practitioners reporting positive progress from patients using medical marijuana, it seems that social
prejudice is standing in the way of science. By form of regulation of quality, supply and distribution, it is
more than possible to ensure that medical marijuana can get to the people who need it and
simultaneously reduce the effect of the drug to potential abusers.
 Works Cited

Barthwell, Andrea. "Marijuana Is Not Medicine." ​Chicago Tribune​. N.p., 17 Feb. 2004. Web. 28

Sept. 2013.

"Bill Frist, MD - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org." ​ProConorg Headlines.​ N.p., 30 Jan. 2009. Web.

28 Sept. 2013.

ElSohly, Mahmoud A. ​Marijuana and the Cannabinoids.​ Totowa, NJ: Humana, 2007. Print.

Gupta, Dr. Sanjay. "Why I Changed My Mind on Weed." ​CNN​. Cable News Network, 01 Jan.

1970. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.

"The New England Journal of Medicine." ​Medicinal Use of Marijuana — NEJM.​ N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct.
2013.

Wechseler, Jill. "Manufacturers Under Pressure to Manage Painkillers - Pharmaceutical

Executive." ​Manufacturers Under Pressure to Manage Painkillers - Pharmaceutical Executive.​

N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2013