Why medical marijuana should be legalized

This essay is going to address the case for the legalization of medical marijuana by dispelling the reasons given by those in the
case against the legalization of marijuana. This will be done by sifting through and evaluating the arguments for and against
medical marijuana and drawing logical conclusions. This paper is cited in MLA format.

In 1972, marijuana was placed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 made
completely illegal by the United States Congress. This made growing, distribution and use illegal as
congress considered marijuana to have no acceptable or legitimate medical use. Twenty of fifty states
and DC in the United States of America have since legalized the use of medical marijuana but medical
marijuana is still illegal in the rest of the United States. As someone from a conservative upbringing, I
was led to believe that marijuana had no positive effects and congress was right to enforce a ban but
have since reviewed my thoughts on the matter as new evidence has come to light. Although
congress efforts to curb substance abuse are admirable and necessary, recent studies of marijuana
shown the advantages of medical marijuana far outweighing the potential side effects. This shows
that a review of their stance on marijuana is overdue.
Medical marijuana is no newcomer to the medical scene and was part of the United States
drug pharmacopeia up until 1943. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a certified medical practitioner and an
internationally acclaimed medical correspondent who has gained a lot of respect from the public as a
credible source of reliable information. He recently wrote an article for CNN in which he revised his
stance on the subject of legalization of the use of marijuana in the medical field. The article was
written as an apology for his documentary Why I Would Vote No on Pot. Dr. Gupta apologizes to
the general public on his previous stance on marijuana claiming that it was misinformed and that this
article is his effort to rectify the mistakes he made in the documentary outlining key information and
evidence as to why he was wrong and why medical marijuana has to be legalized. The apology reads,

We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United
States, and I apologize for my own role in that
I apologize because I didn't look hard enough,
until now. I didn't look far enough. I didn't review papers from smaller labs in other countries
doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate
patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.- (CNN, Reuters)
His apology outlines that the main reason for Dr. Guptas earlier conclusion on medical marijuana was
that his prejudice of marijuana clouded his judgment to point where he ignored the evidence which
was right in front of him. He is not alone in this as thousands of other reputable medical practitioners

all over the world have realized that their patients have responded well to the use of medical
marijuana and are willing to endorse medical marijuana as a neuropathic pain drug (Neuropathic pain
is a type of pain which is caused by damage to or dysfunction of the nervous system). As a matter of
fact, a recent survey by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that 76% of certified and state
approved doctors are in favor of the use of medical marijuana for advanced cancer pain over
conventional medicine. Medical marijuana is more effective in dealing with unbearable neuropathic
pain compared to the conventional opioids (painkillers ranging from ibuprofen to morphine,
oxycodone and dilaudid) but with fewer side effects. Although medical marijuana is said to be
psychologically addictive, the conventional drugs on offer are both psychologically and physically
addictive with morphine often associated with cocaine which one of the hardest of hard drugs out
there. Dr. Gupta shared the story of one of his patients from Colorado, who started having seizures
soon after birth and was having 300 a week by age three despite being on seven different
medications. According to Dr. Gupta, the use of medical marijuana calmed her brain, limiting her
seizures to two or three per month. This and thousands of other cases serves as a testament to the
need to review marijuana laws and probe further research into marijuana as a form of medicine.
Although medical marijuana is clearly the better option for dealing with neuropathic or
unbearable pain, critics argue that marijuana is a gateway drug for most of the youth who get
involved in substance abuse. In a 2002 article for the Chicago Tribune titled Marijuana is not
medicine, Dr. Andrea Barthwell, MD, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control, wrote,
"By characterizing the use of illegal drugs as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday
afternoon fun, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that drug use is dangerous. They
undercut the goals of stopping the initiation of drug use to prevent addiction.... Children
entering drug abuse treatment routinely report that they heard that 'pot is medicine' and,
therefore, believed it to be good for them."
(Andrea Barthwell, Chicago Tribune)
In this Chicago Tribune editorial, Dr. Barthwell firmly believes that legalizing marijuana for
medical use will destabilize the societal norm that drug abuse is a bad thing and that this will lead
children into doing drugs. Although it is a reasonable assumption that labeling marijuana as medicine
and good for you will result in a better perception of marijuana, I disagree with her notion that this
will necessarily lead children into wanting to smoke marijuana for purposes of recreation. For
example, as a child growing up in a working/lower middle class socioeconomic background, I knew
that cough syrup was medicine and was good for me (in terms of recovering from a serious cough) but
I hated it and never did my friends and I have a cough syrup barbeque or cough syrup hangouts or

cough syrup parties. I firmly knew it was medicine and nothing but medicine. If we can successfully
label medical marijuana as we have labeled our cough syrups, with the side effects clearly labeled, it is
more than possible to market marijuana as being nothing more than medicine to future generations.
FDA regulations state that one may use opioids but are not allowed produce their own and
distribute without proper licensing. The FDA also advocates and enforces proper labeling as a method
of curbing the potential harm that would be caused by improperly administering these opioids. By
labeling medical marijuana as medicine, it will become easier to control its supply, quality and
distribution in the same way the FDA controls the supply, quality and distribution of current regular
prescription medication. That way the levels of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; THC is a
psychoactive cannabinoid and is responsible for the majority of the effects that you get from
marijuana consumption and basically responsible for making the user high) can be monitored and
regulated to ensure that abuse of marijuana will have a minimal effect and still retain the medical
qualities to benefit those in need of medical marijuana.
The main cause of the misconceptions of medical marijuana is how limited the research in the
area of medical marijuana is. Due to the prohibition of growing marijuana, it is near impossible to
conduct any plausible research to draw meaningful scientific conclusion that may lead congress to
change their mind about marijuana. In a correspondence statement to ProCon.org, former United
States senator, Bill Frist said,
"
Although I understand many believe marijuana is the most effective drug in
combating their medical ailments, I would caution against this assumption due to the lack of
consistent, repeatable scientific data available to prove marijuana's medical benefits. Based on
current evidence, I believe that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that there are less
dangerous medicines offering the same relief from pain and other medical
symptoms." (ProCon.org)
The statement admits that medical marijuana has potential but points to the lack of scientific
data available as a reason for the ban. This is rather peculiar as congress itself is the main deterrent
for marijuana research. In other words, he is blaming congress for preventing congress from making
an informed decision. Although this statement is from 10 years ago and most of us would like believe
is outdated, this is still the argument congress uses when confronted with the question of
legalization of medical marijuana. If congress opened up marijuana research to more medical research
institutions, much of the stigma and myth surrounding medical marijuana will be dispelled and
progress will be made in the medical field.

I am by no means endorsing drug abuse and firmly believe that congress should help curb any
form of substance abuse. However, medical marijuana has shown to be beneficial to patients
suffering from unbearable pain that conventional drugs have been ineffective in relieving. It seems
inhumane to refuse cancer patients suffering unbearable pain, the treatment they require. With a
majority of medical practitioners reporting positive progress from patients using medical marijuana, it
seems that social prejudice is standing in the way of science. By form of regulation of quality, supply
and distribution, it is more than possible to ensure that medical marijuana can get to the people who
need it and simultaneously reduce the effect of the drug to potential abusers.

Works Cited

Barthwell, Andrea. "Marijuana Is Not Medicine."

Chicago Tribune
. N.p., 17 Feb. 2004. Web. 28
Sept. 2013.
"Bill Frist, MD - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org."
ProConorg Headlines
. N.p., 30 Jan. 2009. Web.
28 Sept. 2013.
ElSohly, Mahmoud A.
Marijuana and the Cannabinoids
. Totowa, NJ: Humana, 2007. Print.
Gupta, Dr. Sanjay. "Why I Changed My Mind on Weed."
CNN
. Cable News Network, 01 Jan.
1970. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"The New England Journal of Medicine."
Medicinal Use of Marijuana NEJM
. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct.
2013.
Wechseler, Jill. "Manufacturers Under Pressure to Manage Painkillers - Pharmaceutical
Executive."
Manufacturers Under Pressure to Manage Painkillers - Pharmaceutical Executive
.
N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2013