Should Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes?
Should Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes?
Marijuana has been used extensively as a medical remedy for more than five thousand years. In the early 1900s, medical usage of marijuana began to decline with the advent of alternative drugs. Injectable opiates and synthetic drugs such as aspirin and barbiturates began to replace marijuana as the physician's drug of choice in the twentieth-century, as their results proved to be more consistent than the sometimes erratic effects of the hard-to-dose potencies of marijuana (Grinspoon). The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 made cannabis so expensive to obtain that its usage as a medical remedy in the U.S. came to a halt. Although now illegal ...
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to [its] effects, medical uses, and potential for abuse" (Claim V). In this classification system, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, grouped with heroin, LSD, hashish, methaqualone, and designer drugs. These are drugs having "unpredictable effects, and [causing] severe psychological or physical dependence, or death" (Claim V).
A closer analysis of the DEA's Federal Scheduling system reveals that, according to various studies by physicians on both sides of the legalization debate, marijuana does not meet the requirements of a Schedule I drug, but not those of Schedule II. The difference between the two classes is that Schedule I drugs may lead to death, while those on Schedule II are less likely to do so. Proponents of legalization cite information that indicates marijuana is a relatively "safe" drug. "There is no known case of overdose; on the basis of animal models, the ratio of lethal to effective dose is 40,000 to 1" (Grinspoon). Even some opponents of marijuana ...
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is scientifically, legally, and morally wrong. (Grinspoon) Like many other physicians fighting for the re-classification of marijuana, Dr. Grinspoon makes claims only towards the drug's medical benefits. However, their rhetoric in calling the issue "morally wrong" suggests that they may have other motives as well.
Furthermore, the fact that "44% of oncologists" suggested their patients use marijuana, despite its illegality, may suggest that many of these physicians have little respect for post-prohibition laws. The article also fails to address the negative side-effects of marijuana that result from smoking the plant.
While there are many physicians who support the ...
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Should Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes?. (2013, May 13). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-Marijuana-be-Legalized-Medical-Purposes/102670
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"Should Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes?." Essayworld.com. May 13, 2013. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-Marijuana-be-Legalized-Medical-Purposes/102670.
"Should Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes?." Essayworld.com. May 13, 2013. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-Marijuana-be-Legalized-Medical-Purposes/102670.
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