Jessica Contreras 1

English II
December 8, 2017

Medical Marijuana Legal or Not?

Medical Marijuana has had a good impact on people as well as a bad impact. There are

many people that think Medical Marijuana is used for a good purpose, such as relieving nausea

and vomiting, or treating appetite loss. Other people believe that Medical Marijuana is bad for

your health because it can become a risk of abuse or addiction, or it can be bad for your lung

tissue. Many people have a back and forth debate with each other when it comes to the

legalization of Medical Marijuana. Some people think that Marijuana Is beneficial for many

types of illnesses, and it should become legalized. Other people think that Marijuana being

legalized is not a good idea because it can hurt people and cause them to pick up an addiction for

Marijuana. The topic of Medical Marijuana has become a very interesting debate, showing good

responses to why and why not it should be legalized. People should realize that Marijuana can

possibly relieve illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, anxiety, and aids. And, people

should know that Medical Marijuana is safer that some drugs prescribed to us everyday. Finally,

people should realize Medical Marijuana can be bad for your brain development if it is being

consumed at the ages of adolescents. Medical Marijuana should be legalized with a few

restrictions to make everything fair for everyone.

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First, people think that Medical Marijuana should be legalized because it can help people

who have different illnesses such as cancer or multiple sclerosis. For example, In the website

“cancer.org”, talks about how marijuana can treat such things as nausea, seizures, and could

reduce anxiety. For example, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) seems to cause the "high"

reported by marijuana users, and also can help relieve ​pain​ and ​nausea​, reduce inflammation, and

can act as an antioxidant. Cannabidiol (CBD) can help treat seizures, can reduce anxiety and

paranoia, and can counteract the "high" caused by THC. This shows a benefit to consuming

marijuana because it can help out patients who are in need of this drug to help them out. This

goes back to the topic legalization of marijuana because it can help out many people and help

them live a longer and healthier life without suffering from illnesses such as cancer.

Second, People think that marijuana should be legalized because it is safer than most

drugs prescribed to us that we use everyday. For example, Philip Denney, stated that “ I have

found in my study of these patients that cannabis is really a safe, effective and non-toxic

alternative to many standard medications. There is no such thing as an overdose. We have seen

very minimal problems with abuse or dependence, which at worst are equivalent to dependence

on caffeine.” This shows that marijuana is a good thing to consume because it helps people and

will not cause so much harm to people. Some people believe that medical marijuana is bad to

consume because there can be a possibility of an overdose. Marijuana should be only used for

medical purposes and only used by people who genuinely need to consume medical marijuana
for medical reasons. This relates back to the legalization of marijuana because there should be

people who are in genuine need of

medical marijuana and use it for a good cause. The legalization of marijuana can help many

people, as long as they to not overuse it..

Finally, People think that medical marijuana should be consumed with a few restrictions

due to medical marijuana being bad for your brain development if consumed at the ages of

adolescents. For example, Mary Hagg says, “marijuana is not a “legitimate” medicine, and how

the drug could impact our brain development considering our brains develop until the age of 25.”

This shows that people should not use medical marijuana because it is not considered an actual

medicine and cause us to not have a good brain development​.​ Kids should not be consuming

Medical marijuana because it could affect them poorly in the future. This shows how leaglization

should be done but with a few restrictions because marijuana can do damage to brain

development and to prevent that people should consume marijuana until the age of 25. This gives

a benefit and makes it equal for everyone because people can get the help they need, but they

will not be affected with damage to brain development.

Some people say that medical marijuana should not be legalized at all. For example,

Chuck Rosenberg, says, “we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don't call

it medicine -- that is a joke…” People might feel that medical marijuana is not considered an

actually medicine to help people because when marijuana is consumed, it can do damaged to

your lungs which can cause lung cancer or cause people to have brain damage. This reason is
illogical to the main issue because people should recognize that restrictions can be put for people

to have a healthy life consuming medical marijuana, restrictions such as medical marijuana

should not be consumed frequently and medical marijuana shall not be consumed until the ages

of 25 . This shows that people can be healthy and responsible.

In conclusion, the issue of medical marijuana is important because it is a very debatable

topic. There are good reasons to and to not smoke medical marijuana. I believe that being

responsible when consuming marijuana, such as waiting for a while at home until the medical

marijuana has weared off, just to protect yours and everyone's safety. Another way to solve the

issue of medical marijuana is to wait until a reasonable time to consume marijuana, this will keep

you healthy by waiting. The importance of medical marijuana and its legalization is to keep

everyone safe and let people live longer, without suffering. Some people believe legalizing

medical marijuana is a good idea because it can help people who are in need of treatment.

Jessica Contreras
English II
12/5/2017

1. This argument is against medical marijuana. Mary Haag is president and CEO of
Prevention First!, an organization that encourages people throughout Greater Cincinnati
to make healthy lifestyle choices.​ ​This article says how marijuana is not a “legitimate”
medicine, and how the drug could impact our brain development considering our
brains develop until the age of 25. This source is helpful because it gives a side to people
against medical marijuana explaining why it is not a good idea to legalize medical
marijuana. The goal of this source is to get people to not use medical marijuana because
it is not considered an actual medicine and cause us to not have a good brain
development. This fits into my research because i believe that medical marijuana should
be legalized but with a few restrictions, for example the age people should consume
marijuana is 25 and older to not affect the brain development.
Updated: 7:00 PM EST Feb 19, 2016
http://www.wlwt.com/article/should-fate-of-medical-marijuana-in-ohio-be-left-in-hands-of-lawm
akers-voters/3562625

2. This argument is with marijuana and its use. At first Dr.Sanjay Gupta was against the use of
marijuana, but after doing some research he decided that marijuana is for a good use. He went to
travel around the world and met up with medical leaders finding very surprising results. He
believes that marijuana is the only thing that works for some people. Marijuana can help many
different diseases and such. This is a useful source because I think that marijuana is genuinely
for a good use for people who are sick. This information shows the side of a person who once
thought that marijuana wasn’t good for people, but with more research he found that marijuana
was for a good use. This helps shape my argument because it shows how people's minds can
change if doing more research on a subject.
Aug. 8, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html

3. Joycelyn Elders, MD, former US Surgeon General, wrote the following in a Mar. 26, 2004
article titled "Myths About Medical Marijuana," published in the ​Providence Journal:

"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."

Mar. 26, 2004 - ​Joycelyn Elders, MD

This shows how marijuana is a benefit for people because it is less toxic than drugs that are
prescribed to us.

4. This talks about cancer and marijuana and what happens when people with cancer consume
medical marijuana. The marijuana is a benefit which comes to why people should legalize
marijuana.
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/complementary-and-alternative-me
dicine/marijuana-and-cancer.html

The topic about Medical Marijuana and Cancer.

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But it's not clear that marijuana deserves the bulk of the blame. Some researchers have suggested
that factors such as peer influence, emotional distress or a tendency toward problem behavior
could predispose people to drug use as well as poor life outcomes. "Is marijuana the causal agent
in these outcomes, or is it part of a variety of vulnerability factors?" Weiss asks.
In the short term, marijuana use has been shown to impair functions such as attention, memory,
learning and decision-making. Those effects can last for days after the high wears off. Heavy
marijuana use in adolescence or early adulthood has been associated with a dismal set of life
outcomes including poor school performance, higher dropout rates, increased welfare
dependence, greater unemployment and lower life satisfaction.​.
This shows how marijuana is not good for brain development.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2015/11/marijuana-brain.aspx

6. Philip Denney, MD, co-founder of a medical cannabis evaluation practice, stated the following
in his Nov. 17, 2005 testimony to the Arkansas legislature in support of House Bill 1303, ​An Act
to Permit the Medical Use of Marijuana:

"I have found in my study of these patients that cannabis is really a safe, effective and
non-toxic alternative to many standard medications. There is no such thing as an overdose.
We have seen very minimal problems with abuse or dependence, which at worst are
equivalent to dependence on caffeine. While a substance may have some potential for misuse,
in my opinion, that's a poor excuse to deny its use and benefit to everyone else."

Nov. 17, 2005 - ​Philip Denney, MD

This shows a benefit to medical marijuana because it is safe for people to use.