Jumping for me

Medical Marijuana for People of All Ages:
Parents always want what’s best for their children, but what if what’s best for that particular child is frowned upon or discouraged by society? In a perfect world Children would be born healthy and not suffer from any illnesses or diseases but in the real world there are millions of Children born every day with disabilities that can be life threatening. Doctors all around the world are putting children with cancer, leukemia, epileptic seizures and other illnesses on high doses of medication and traumatizing treatments. In attempts to make them healthier or cure them of their diseases, but eventually these treatments stop working and the medication no longer takes its affect. The side effects of the treatment and medication ultimately make the child worse. So the parents of these children are left to deal with a sick child and no viable options or at least politically correct ones. However now there is an option that all people of all ages should consider and try. That option is Medical Marijuana. Matt and Paige Figi were faced with this issue recently when they couldn’t get their daughter Charlie Figi’s seizures under control. Charlotte’s seizures worsened as she aged , when she turned two and a half Charlie began to get inferior and seemed as if she was losing it, her seizures were lasting anywhere from two to four hours and her symptoms seemed to be worsening by the day. The doctor’s had diagnosed her with Dravet Syndrome. “Dravet Syndrome is a rare, severe form of intractable epilepsy. Intractable means the seizures are not controlled by medication. The first seizures with Dravet Syndrome usually start before the age of 1. In the second year, other seizures take hold: myoclonus, or involuntary, muscle spasms and status epilepticus, seizures that last more than 30 minutes or come in clusters, one after the other.”(Young)
Charlotte was put on a new diet, although the seizures seemed to be decreasing the other side effects form the diet like bone loss, her immune system weakening and her behavior had worsened. So her parents were forced to step back and ask one another if this type of treatment was beneficial or not? Paige Figi was against Medical Marijuana until her husband Matt witnessed a video online about a young child in California whose Dravet was being successfully treated with Marijuana. This young boy and his parents saw miraculous results and by this time Charlotte was getting worse, she wasn’t eating, talking or sleeping, she was averaging three hundred grand mal seizures a week. Charlotte had been hospitalized numerous times and the doctor even suggested putting her in a medically induced coma to give her body a rest. Paige was ready to try something new so her and her husband decided to try Medical Marijuana. People who are uneducated about the benefits of this “miracle drug” assume children are getting “stoned” or smoking joints with their parents. However a professional was extracting the weed and turning it into oils that Charlie was dosed with at every meal, the low amounts of THC and the high amounts of CBD didn’t give Charlotte the psychedelic effects. Charlotte is now six years old and only has three to four seizures a month, and is able to ride a bike, eat her own food, and talk much better. Paige also said she was connecting things that she hadn’t connected in years. She had not heard her daughters laugh in years and this couple truly considers Medical Marijuana a “viable option.”
Individuals discourage or cut down parents who are trying this alternative but instead encourage the doctors that would rather put children on prescription pills that can be addicting or put them through treatments that are life threatening. Individuals all over the United States, of different ages are seeing results after their first dose of Medical Marijuana, most of these results are far more beneficial than prescription pills and the side effects are weaker. “Whether “medical marijuana” (Cannabis sativa used to treat a wide variety of pathologic states) should be accorded the status of a legitimate pharmaceutical agent has long been a contentious issue. Is it a truly effective drug that is arbitrarily stigmatized by many and criminalized by the federal government?”(procon.org) Forty percent of Americans are using alternative medicine but because marijuana is classified as a schedule one drug under the Uniform Controlled Substance Act passed in 1972, the Federal Government feels it necessary to continue to prosecute individuals who use it recreationally and medicinally. There are even cases of the Federal Government taking away children because their parents use medical marijuana or are giving their children this “drug”; instead of allowing doctors to pump their frail, tiny bodies full of pain pills, anti-depressants, and benzodiazepines. Michigan passed the Medical Marihuana law almost five years ago but today loving parents who are licensed patients or care givers are having their children ripped from their hands all because of the alternative they have chosen. When the CPS and the Police Department attempt to take these children away because their parents smoke or grow Medical Marijuana, over eighty-five percent of the kids end up being returned and the charges end up being dropped due to lack of substantial evidence. The United States has a hard time understanding the scientific evidence and political ideology because we all have been taught and grew up believing that Marijuana was this horrible drug that affected people only in negative ways and couldn’t be beneficial to anyone’s health. However after years of studies and solid proof, doctors and citizens are starting to reconsider their beliefs and are interested in medical Marijuana as an alternative. The government is afraid to legalize Marijuana because it would be going against everything they ever preached to the public about the “drug” plus the truth of it is a lot of pharmaceutical companies and representatives would be out of work and the government would lose money. It’s not politically correct to give a child a drug but doctors prescribe children drugs every day and they aren’t ripped out of their homes or thrown in jail.
“Opponents of medical marijuana argue that it is too dangerous to use, lacks FDA-approval, and that various legal drugs make marijuana use unnecessary. They say marijuana is addictive, leads to harder drug use, interferes with fertility, impairs driving ability, and injures the lungs, immune system, and brain. They say that medical marijuana is a front for drug legalization and recreational use.” (procon.org) However they are prescribing pills that have only been around or studied for a couple years versus something that has been around for hundreds. Also after further studies they learned that Marijuana is not as addictive as pills and the fact of it is, pills are now being used for recreational use and within the past ten years everyone has heard a few cases about children, movie stars or teenagers dying from drug overdoses, how many of those were from marijuana? None! The government is looking for all the negative things about Marijuana but in the end the facts and the proof speak for itself, Medical Marijuana is helping not only people but children around the United States. The government is embarrassed and ashamed that they are wrong about Marijuana which is why they are in denial of the “drugs” beneficial aspect. Citizens who reside in the United States are able to see for themselves that the effects of Marijuana are far less detrimental than the effects of prescription pills. "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day.” (procon.org) Marijuana is also said to help or be a beneficial treatment for Alzheimer’s, Anorexia, Arthritis, Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Epilepsy, Glaucoma, pain, nausea and many more. So if doctors are going to fill children or adults up with harsh, dangerous drugs why is it so dangerous to treat their disease with a medicine that is known world- wide and has been around for decades? Instead of following the norm and following society or what others tell us we as individuals need to take a stand against prescription pills and ban together to fight for Medical Marijuana as a treatment option for people of all ages.

Works Cited:

ProCon.org. "Medical Marijuana ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

The Union:Business Behind Getting High Dir. Brett Harvey. Perf, Tommy Chong, Joe Rogan, Nam Stamper. Documentary, 2007. DVD
Young Saundra. “Marijuana stops child’s severe Seizures” CNN.CNN-health, August 2013,Web. 23 October 2013.

Cited: ProCon.org. "Medical Marijuana ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. The Union:Business Behind Getting High Dir. Brett Harvey. Perf, Tommy Chong, Joe Rogan, Nam Stamper. Documentary, 2007. DVD Young Saundra. “Marijuana stops child’s severe Seizures” CNN.CNN-health, August 2013,Web. 23 October 2013.