Nayyar1

Nikhil Nayyar

Mr. Gregory

English 1201

5 May, 2021

Is Marijuana Beneficial For The Medical Field?

With marijuana being a big part of society now as many states are legalizing it for some

time now a big controversy has always been “is marijuana truly beneficial medically?” I

personally do believe marijuana does have a medical impact. Marijuana has been used for

medical purposes for a very long time now. States such as New York, California, Washington,

and more have fully legalized marijuana such as decriminalizing it and being used medically.

While there are states that have decriminalized it there are some that have not made marijuana

legal even for medical usage. This topic has always been split sided as people believe marijuana

does not help you but rather does more damage. Then there are people who do believe marijuana

has a medical impact in a person and it can truly be helpful. Marijuana has been known to be

useful for both mental issues and physical ones. Marijuana has been known to help with anxiety,

Parkinson's disease and more. Even though marijuana helps medically that does mean that it does

not have any negative side effects. Some negative side effects to marijuana are depression,

hallucinogenic effects, and more. Marijuana can be taken multiple ways such as smoking it or

even eating it when it is mixed in with food. Not only does marijuana can be taken different

ways there are 3 main strains of it. Overall I strongly believe marijuana should be allowed to be

used for the medical field as it has a lot of great advantages and can help many people.
 Nayyar2

Marijuana has been around for a long time as it was used for medical purposes. It was

dated to be used over 5,000 years ago in what is now Romania. The Food and Drug

Administration had considered how marijuana might support the scientific rigor of medical

claims and the medical uses if it. There are always different regulations and their effect on acute

care hospital settings. Marijuana was used for medical purposes in the 19th and early 20th

century. It was first described in the United States Pharmacopoeia in 1850. Marijuana was first

able to be sold and used in 1937 (The Effects of State Marijuana). It later on went and was

dropped from the Pharmacopoeia because of the legal penalties you can receive for having

possession of it. While throughout 1951-1956 penalties for possession of marijuana started to

increase as limitations for research for academic purposes had also come into play. In 1996

California went on to become the first state that legalized the usage of botanical cannabis for

medical usage as long it was under physician supervision with the enactment of the

Compassionate Use Act. The Compassionate Use Act allowed access for a patient with a life-

threatening condition or serious disease to use an investigational medical product. Many states

went on to then legalize it for the usage of medical purposes and no other reasons. Later on some

states went on to decriminalize it as if someone was caught with a small amount of marijuana

they then no longer would have to face some sort of penalties. Over the time the usage and

acceptance of marijuana has slowly started to evolve with many states legalizing it for medical

usage. As of now 36 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes and some have fully

decriminalized it. In 2021 around 4 more states such as Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, and

Rhode Island are looking into legalizing marijuana as they were all given proposals which will

be looked at. While there are states that have or are

 Nayyar3

going to soon legalize marijuana there are still some who are not planning on legalizing it at all

even for medical purposes.

The debate of marijuana has been going on for some time now as some people think it

should be legal and has medical benefits while there are also people who believe it should not be

legalized at all. When there was a poll for Americans on whether they believe if marijuana

should be legalized 60% of the population believed it should be legalized. 81% percent of

respondents had believed that marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes (Ingraham).

Many healthcare providers also believed the fact that marijuana should be legalized as it can be

beneficial for therapy under certain circumstances. Regardless of how many people believe

marijuana is beneficial the United States of Pharmacopoeia and the FDA have considered the

down side of marijuana as it can fit into a regular framework of drugs in the United States. While

⅔ of American believe marijuana should be legal there is still an 8% that believes that marijuana

should not be legal at all (Ingraham). I understand where people who do not believe marijuana

should be legal are coming from as they believe it has more of a downside rather than it being

beneficial. People think weed would not be beneficial as it might become that people heavily rely

on as it can have an opportunity for people to abuse it. Although there are people who say

marijuana should be legal I also do understand where the people who do think it will be

beneficial are coming from, it is not a debate that is one sided both sides have to be looked at

thoroughly before a decision is made. The debate between marijuana will always be split as there

are good sides to it and down sides to it too, however I believe any drug has the potential to be

abused but if it has been proven to be beneficial to the medical field then I think it should be

allowed for usage.

 Nayyar4

With marijuana becoming legalized in many states people should know how useful marijuana

is medically. Marijuana has been known to help with pain as there are chemical compounds

called cannabinoids. Cannabinoids have been known to provide relief for chronic pain. With

evidence it has been shown that marijuana is safe and pretty effective in helping with

neuropathic pain. When controlled running trials it has also been known to be very effective in

helping against feeling nauseous and vomiting. According to What Are the “Benefits of

Marijuana” by Kristeen Cherney some neurological and mental disorders marijuana has been

beneficial with:

● Anxiety (When taken in a monitored dosage, cannabis can help alleviate anxiety and

calm the users down.)

● Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also known as PTSD (Marijuana helps control the fight or

flight response preventing you from going into a sort of overdrive.)

● Parkinson's Disease (People with Parkinson’s Disease can use cannabis to help reduce

tremors, help ease pain, and help promote sleep. Cannabis has also been shown to

improve motor skills in patients.)

● Autism (Marijuana has been known to help calm users down and help with their mood as

it helps people that experience violent mood swings.)

● Can help regulate and prevent diabetes (Research conducted by the American Alliance

for Medical Cannabis has shown that cannabis stabilizes blood sugars, lower blood

pressure and helps improve blood circulation.)

● Mend Bones (Cannabis has been linked to helping in healing broken bones and speeding

up the process. The Bone Research Laboratory in Tel Aviv has also said it can help

strengthen the bone during this process.

 Nayyar5

● ADHD/ADD (Cannabis has been proven to help focus on things for people with

ADHD/ADD cannabis is also a safer alternative to Adderall and Ritalin.)

With this information given many people argue that marijuana is safe as trials were conducted.

Marijuana has also had very low death deaths reported from usage.

With marijuana being beneficial does not mean it does not have downsides. It can cause

potential harm and usage of cannabis can lead a gateway to other substances. Marijuana contains

chemicals that have an effect on your brain in ways that can be harmful to an individual. Users

who smoked marijuana lost mental capabilities that did not regenerate even after the users quit

smoking (Cherney). This information is the reason why there is a debate on whether marijuana

should be legalized or not. A problem with marijuana is the fact it has the potential for people to

become dependent on it, addicted, and abuse it. Marijuana is often consumed as an

antidepressant. It has been known to alter senses and perception as it perceives colors and affects

your mood. Usage of marijuana can lead to altered brain development, poor educational choices,

and cognitive impairment. A study showed for people who were heavily smoking marijuana lost

about an average of 8 IQ points. Long term or heavy usage of marijuana can be associated with

chronic bronchitis and increased risk of psychosis related health disorders which include

schizophrenia, variants of depression, strokes, and transient ischemic attack which is one of the

three kinds of a

stroke. Marijuana also has the potential for it to fit into a regular framework of drugs in the

United States as the FDA took that into consideration. Marijuana is also not recommended for

pregnant women. Women who smoked marijuana during their pregnancy were reported to have

low birth weight and memory problems. It can also take a toll on your mental health as it can
 Nayyar6

make a person paranoid and or suspicious. Some more in depth of the negative side effects of

marijuana are:

● Hallucinogenic Effects (As it may cause mild hallucinations, poor motor skills, or altered

perception of reality. Users have reported that marijuana affects their sense of time

drastically. For these reasons when under the usage of marijuana certain activities may be

unsafe such as driving which is illegal to do in every state even where marijuana is legal.)

● Stimulating Effects (Marijuana may boost your mood and cause hyperactivity, rapid

breathing, increase of blood pressure, and heart rate.)

● Depressant-Like Effects (Marijuana can sometimes cause depressant side effects.

Marijuana may cause similar effects as alcohol usage as it may cause issues with your

coordination and concentration.)

● Some Other Side Effects (Some other side effects or Marijuana are bloodshot eyes, dry

mouth and increased appetite.)

These are the side effects of marijuana and I totally understand where some people might come

from. Some of these negative effects are serious and can truly hurt an individual. Marijuana

might not be 100% safe and people have to do what's best for them including the states that

allow the usage of marijuana. Some states and people might believe marijuana is not safe for

them or for their society as they might not believe it is medically safe and that is okay everyone

has their own opinion.

The 3 main strains of marijuana are Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid. Indica is usually very

calming and something you would take to relax. Sativa is more of a hyper strain such as people

who enjoy being active. A hybrid strain usually is mixed with all strains as it cannot be

considered only Indica or Sativa but rather balanced with both strains. They each play a role such
 Nayyar7

as sativa helps by reducing anxiety and increasing focus while indica helps relieve pain,

decreases nausea and increases your appetite. Some strains of marijuana include:

● Sour Diesel (Sativa)

● Purple Haze (Sativa)

● Kosher Kush (Indica)

● Gorilla Glue (Hybrid)

● OG Kush (Hybrid)

● Strawberry Banana (Indica)

Marijuana’s most common methods of usage are through smoking, inhalation, and

ingestion of edible products. Each different type of usage can have different types of impact on

your body. Some types of usage can affect the intensity and duration of how long the effects last.

Each one can also have different types of effects on your organ systems and higher the chance of

addictive potential. When smoking marijuana the THC is rapidly transferred from the lungs to

blood. Although smoking marijuana is very common, the usage of vaporization is on the rise

very quickly. Vaporization has very similar effects such as smoking while reducing exposure to

byproducts and decreasing respiratory syndromes. Inhaling of THC can cause the psychotropic

effects to kick in within a few seconds to a few minutes. Effects of inhalation reach their

maximum effect within 15-30 minutes and wear off within 2-3 hours. When ingesting marijuana

orally through edibles the effects take between 30-90 minutes and reach their maximum level of

effect after 2-3 hours. With oral ingestion the clinical effects were much slower but lasted much

longer. Depending on the dosage of intake it depends on how long the effects last. With the way

cannabis is being legalized in multiple states the different methods of cannabis administration

there are very important public health implications. Some public health implications of
 Nayyar8

marijuana being legalized are increases in impaired driving, increase in effects of pregnant or

nursing women, and increase of cannabis use disorder and dependence (The Effects of State

Marijuana).

Since the legalization of marijuana there has been some impacts in some states such as

taxes, crimes, and in health. Since the legalization of marijuana there have reports for lower

suicide rates. The reason for this is because marijuana is being used a great substitute for

dangerous painkiller and also helps with substituting opiates. With these stats reports show that

marijuana is a less risky pain reliever. Many states thought with the legalization of marijuana

would cause higher crime rates as many young people would use it and get caught with. Instead

Maine and Nevada reported that crime decreased from 90 to 178 crimes but even it was reported

less crime in Alaska and Massachusetts it was reported that crime jumped up by 57 to 152 after

legalization (The Effects of State Marijuana). From this we can tell that marijuana has neither

went up or down but evens out. Marijuana has had a huge impact on increasing state tax revenue.

States such as California, Washington, Colorado, and Oregon have imposed significant taxes on

marijuana. Colorado almost collects $20 million from marijuana as Washington collected $70

million in tax revenue from the first year of sales which was a lot more than they expected (The

Effects of State Marijuana). Oregon did not start taxing marijuana until January 2016 and

averages $10 million a month as where they estimated only 2-3 million and California averages

around $50 million in monthly taxes from marijuana.

Overall I believe marijuana is very beneficial in the medical field and can truly help.

Marijuana has been doing a lot of good for us and helps the medical field a lot in multiple areas.

I went on and talked about the medical usages and the reason why I believe it is beneficial. Yes I

do understand that although it does good it does bad also but I feel that regardless of it if people
 Nayyar9

are safe using it and it helps them then why should we not allow it. Many drugs are harmful to us

but they still get used on the daily for the medical field so if marijuana does the same why should

we deny it from people? All around marijuana is becoming legalized and changing the way of

the medical field and I think this is a change people should start getting used to or to look

forward to.

Works Cited

1. Cherney, Kristeen. “What are the Benefits of Marijuana?” Healthline, 6 January 2020,

https://www.healthline.com/health/medical-marijuana/benefits-of-marijuana

2. Ingraham, Christopher. “Only 8 percent of Americans say marijuana should be

completely illegal” The Washington Post, 15 November 2019,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/11/15/only-percent-americans-

say-marijuana-should-be-completely-illegal/

3. “State Medical Marijuana Laws” National Conference of State Legislatures, 5 April 2021

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx\

4. “Cannabis Strains” Green Sativa, https://greensativa.com/indica-vs-sativa-vs-hybrid/

5. “20 Health benefits of cannabis everyone should know” Medical Cannabis Network, 22

July 2019, https://www.healtheuropa.eu/health-benefits-of-cannabis/92499/

6. Dills Angela, Miron Jeffrey, Partin Erin, Goffard Sietse, “The Effects of State

Marijuana Legalizations: 2021 Update” CATO Institute, 2 February 2021,

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/effect-state-marijuana-legalizations-2021-update