Legalization of Medical Marijuana in the United States
The legalization of Marijuana is a highly heated and controversial issue in the United States today. There are several medicines containing marijuana, which are produced by large pharmaceutical firms such as Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb and are legally available in the US market. There are several states including DC that have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana. Under the Marijuana Act of 1937, the federal law still prohibits the medical uses of marijuana. The federal law can prosecute and arrest the marijuana users in those states. This situation is indefensible. Unlike conventional pain drugs, marijuana is an effective medicine to treat and cure neuropathic pain. The legalization of medical use of marijuana can bring relief to millions of Americans suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and other chronic illnesses. Thus, the federal government should enact a law to legalize medical marijuana to treat chronic pain and other illnesses for millions of sick people in the United States.
Marijuana has many medical benefits. It can be used to help reduce the nausea and loss of appetite, relief from chronic pain, and reduce the muscle spasms. The medical research studies on pain management suggest that marijuana can benefit patients in managing neuropathic pain caused by nerve injury and in treating cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. According to Kallen Stuart, Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the aliment itself and by various of aids medications. Based on the ongoing research studies, the prospects for cannabinoid medicines are very encouraging and promising. If FDA approves cannabinoid products, physicians and patients can easily access cannabinoid medicines for chronic pain treatments. “On March 17, 1999, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that there are some imitated circumstances in which we recommend smoking marijuana for medical uses” (Kallen Stuart 74-80).
There are several strong research results that support the idea of using marijuana to relieve neuropathic pain. For example, a trial of 50 AIDS patients in 2007 found that 52% of those who smoked marijuana reported a 30% or greater reduction in pain, while only 24% of those who got placebo cigarettes reported the same lessening of pain. “The study, from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), found smoked marijuana to be effective at relieving the extreme pain of a debilitating condition known as peripheral neuropathy” (Louise Gerdes). This clearly suggests that smoking marijuana is very effective in managing chronic pain. If the Federal Government legalizes the use of medical marijuana, it can open a door to wider cultivation and use of the drug by many people without serious medical conditions. Many advocates of medical-marijuana laws believe certain...
