Jeffrey Muffler

Mr. Gardner

Grody Goats

8 Feb. 2023

Benefits of Illegal Substances for Medical Research

Could illegal substances be used for medical purposes? These drugs such as

Heroin, Cocaine, MDMA, Ibogaine, ketamine, etc. are all very powerful drugs that have

benefits to each of them. Some of them are more dangerous than others but can be

used for certain diseases that we don’t have solutions to. Using these drugs could be a

huge change in the medical field but is unlikely that they ever legalize them.

There are a few known substances that are not legal for medical use in the U.S.

Ketamine, MDMA, Ibogaine, and heroin are all examples of Illegal substances in the

U.S. right now that could be used. “MDMA seems to give people a period of time in

which they connect with their emotions but are not overwhelmed by them” (Barclay). In

this article they talk about how MDMA is a drug that can be used for people who have

PTSD, because the drug gives them a brief period of time where they don’t feel

overwhelming thoughts and can talk to a therapist about their problems and hopefully

resolve them. Although MDMA is a very useful drug for people who have PTSD, MDMA

is a drug that has a moderate Therapeutic Index which means it has a decent chance of

killing the person and is a schedule 1 drug which indicates that it has a high chance of

abuse.
 A lot of medical companies are starting to work with different types of cannabis

and work with it to try and make it help patients with their certain diseases. A girl named

Maggie who lived in Colorado would stay on heavy medication and still have 500+

seizures a day plus she would stay asleep for 20 hours. Karen suffered from PTSD and

tried many medications but did not get relief. “Once a month the therapist gave Karen

MDMA then stayed during the eight hours the drug was active, helping her recall past

traumas in a more healing way” (Voice of America 1:58). This video really helped show

how MDMA and Cannabodiol can treat people with seizures or PTSD. Maggie went

from 500 seizures a day to fewer seizures and was much more alert and sleeping less.

Karen was able to connect with her thoughts during therapy in a much more calm way

using MDMA. MDMA, being a schedule 1 drug, has a high abuse potential, which

means while the drug is helping Karen, there’s a very high chance that she becomes

addicted to the drug and wants to use it more than she should.

Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus released an image of a bunch of approved

uses of marijuana medically in the state of Colorado. This image displays many different

medical conditions that people can have, that cannabis has the ability to help with. (See

Figure 1):
Conditions like Seizures, Cancer, Hiv/Aids, Autism, and more are all conditions that

have been approved by Colorado to be used on patients. Cannabis helps cancer reduce

nausea, vomiting and pain. It reduces patients' seizures by a lot. It reduces Glaucoma's

Ocular pressure for a short duration. With the benefits of cannabis it has a bunch of side

effects that can badly affect the human body.

There are a lot of known substances that have the capability of healing people.

Though they might be dangerous, there is no denying that they can help in certain

cases. One substance known as ibogaine was a very powerful drug used illegally to

heal people. “Ibogaine was given to patients on boats to counteract another drug before

they were brought home” (Graham). Ibogaine is a schedule 1 drug meaning it's a very

addictive and is likely abusive drug for patients to consume. Certain doctors would take

passengers on boats out to sea where they were no longer in the U.S. and administer

Ibogaine to passengers. Until the drug had worn off, the passengers would stay out

there. Once the drug was out of their system they could return back to the U.S. The

U.S. banned this drug for its abusive habits. Although these drugs have worked on

people it's too much of a risk for these companies and the country to legalize and work

on.

I think there definitely should be some drugs that are legalized for medical

purposes and medical only. They should not be used recreationally, but if you direly

need them then your doctor should be able to administer them to you. There also needs
to be a limit and a certain criteria met before they are allowed to be legalized. They can't

be schedule 1 and the Therapeutic Index must be moderate-high so that the possibility

of death isn't as high.

Although there have been proven ways that these substances could be used to

treat disorders and conditions, they are too risky for anyone to consume and for

companies to be administering them to people. They probably will never be legalized,

and for good reason. They are too unpredictable with what they could do to somebody's

body. If they were to ever legalize these, they would need to limit the amount and

identify which ones are too fatal for use.

 Works Cited

Barclay, Rachel. “4 Illegal Drugs That Might Be Medicines.” Healthline, 2 September

2014,

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/mental-four-illegal-drugs-with-medicinal-

qualities-113013.

Voice of America. “Medical Role for Illegal Drugs.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Dec. 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=BQ3k_ITvkOM.

University Of Colorado. “COLORADO-APPROVED USES OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA.”

University Of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 10 Feb. 2022,

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/hurdles-slow-pace-of-urgently-needed-medic

al-cbd-research. Accessed 1 Feb. 2023

Graham, Patrick. Interview. Conducted by Jeffrey Muffler. 4 Feb. 2023.