Medical Marijuana: the Controversial Herb
In America, 443,000 people die from tobacco use, 40,000 die from alcohol use and 15,000 die from other illegal drugs annually (Bureau of Mortality). The death rate of marijuana is zero, but yet the government sees it as a risk and criminalized a plant with great potential. The decriminalization of medical marijuana could create many cures and treatments, bring enormous tax revenue, and could be used for everyday needs. The criminalization of medical marijuana has proven to be a failure and a waste of resource and should be abolished.
Concerns on the drug are understandable; many people fear that marijuana can lead to the use and abuse of harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine. “Marijuana is far less addictive and far less subject to abuse than many drugs now used as muscle relaxants, hypnotics and analgesics”(Lester Grinspoon, MD and James B. Bakalar, JD). Medical marijuana should not be considered as a drug but more like a healing herb. Marijuana isn’t even a drug, it’s a plant. Therapeutic use of marijuana has a history spanning over 4,500 years. Around 2700 B.C., in Egypt, marijuana (cannabis sativa) was used as a treatment for sore eyes; the Greeks used cannabis as a remedy to treat inflammation earache and edema (Teresa Odle and Clare Hanrahan). Even today, clinical studies have shown that marijuana is effective against relieving nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy treatments for cancer. The herb has also been Shown to reduce intraocular pressure in the eye by as much as 45%, which is beneficial for patients with glaucoma (Teresa Odle and Clare Hanrahan). Medical marijuana was used for the treatment of gonorrhea, insomnia, epilepsy, bronchitis, whooping cough, and asthma.
Concerns on the drug are understandable; many people fear that marijuana can lead to the use and abuse of harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine. “Marijuana is far less addictive and far less subject to abuse than many drugs now used as muscle relaxants, hypnotics and analgesics”(Lester Grinspoon, MD and James B. Bakalar, JD). Medical marijuana should not be considered as a drug but more like a healing herb. Marijuana isn’t even a drug, it’s a plant. Therapeutic use of marijuana has a history spanning over 4,500 years. Around 2700 B.C., in Egypt, marijuana (cannabis sativa) was used as a treatment for sore eyes; the Greeks used cannabis as a remedy to treat inflammation earache and edema (Teresa Odle and Clare Hanrahan). Even today, clinical studies have shown that marijuana is effective against relieving nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy treatments for cancer. The herb has also been Shown to reduce intraocular pressure in the eye by as much as 45%, which is beneficial for patients with glaucoma (Teresa Odle and Clare Hanrahan). Medical marijuana was used for the treatment of gonorrhea, insomnia, epilepsy, bronchitis, whooping cough, and asthma.
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