Medical Marijuana and Civil Liberties Research Project Part II Literature Review
As the specter of Reagan's poorly planned and disastrously waged War on Drugs continues to haunt the American social landscape, an increasing number of ordinary citizens are indulging in an activity which has been demonized by prior generations and criminalized by the federal government. Casual ingestion of marijuana and other cannabis-based products has become legitimized in the eyes of many Americans, as California, Colorado, Washington and a growing number of states have elected to sanction the legal use of marijuana for medicinal purposes through legislative acts and voter propositions placed on public ballots. Whether smoked and inhaled through the traditional methods of rolling marijuana cigarettes or loading a pipe, or consumed via edible products and absorbed through the digestive process, the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), exerts a potent psychoactive effect on both body and mind.
While seeking the "high" which results from marijuana use was once frowned upon by most segments of society, and relegated to the fringes with the consumption of other illicit drugs, today there are many respected voices in medical, political and other significant social circles who consider the substance to be a source of healing at best, and a benign diversion at worst. A series of studies conducted recently by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) confirmed the theory that marijuana has quickly become the national drug of choice, with at least "17.4 million Americans -- or 6.9% of the population -- saying they used marijuana in 2010, up from 14.4 million or 5.8% of the population in 2007."1 Every year the demographics of marijuana use expand to include younger users, and the same SAMHSA survey found that "21.5% of young adults aged 18 to 25 used marijuana in 2010, up from 19.6% in 2008 to 21.2% in 2009."2 Many civil libertarians and other critics of federal marijuana laws have decried the harsh measures, including multiyear prison sentences and massive fines doled out to those convicted of simple marijuana possession, pointing out the majority of arrestees are students and minorities. Indeed, the raw statistical evidence gleaned from national incarceration rates and other sources shows that the preponderance of "data support earlier research that found Hispanic college students have higher rates of marijuana use as compared to Asian and African-American college students."3
While the moral and social consequences of widespread marijuana use may be debatable, rigorous scientific study of the substance's active ingredients and their effects on the human brain's physiology have shed light on the potential consequences for habitual smokers. The THC present in marijuana exerts a tremendous short-term influence on a user's cognitive functions, including dizziness, memory loss, and an inability to focus. Regular users report a greater artistic ability in the pursuit of music, art, or other creative outlets, which may be a result of changes made to the brain's neurotransmitter system.
1. Jackie Frank. "Marijuana use rising in U.S., national survey shows." Reuters, September 08,
2011, U.S. section.
2. Ibid.
3. Sean Esteban McCabe, Michele Morales, James A. Cranford, Jorge Delva, Melnee D.
McPherson, and Carol J. Boyd. "Race/ethnicity and gender differences in drug use and abuse among college students." Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse 6, no. 2 (2007): 81.
In the case of chronic, long-term marijuana use, several studies indicate that "heavy users displayed significantly greater impairment than light users on attentional/executive functions, as evidenced particularly by greater perseverations on card sorting and reduced learning of word lists."4 Even so, doubts remain as to the true cause of these perceived impairments, and despite the fact that "heavy marijuana use is associated with residual neuropsychological effects even after a day of supervised abstinence from the drug & #8230; the question remains open as to whether this impairment is due to a residue of drug in the brain, a withdrawal effect from the drug, or a frank neurotoxic effect of the drug."5 When the totality of statistical and scientific data is objectively considered, it becomes quite clear that "the weight of evidence suggests that long-term heavy use of cannabis does not produce severe impairment of cognitive function like that observed in heavy alcohol users & #8230; (and) there is evidence that it may produce more subtle cognitive impairment in the higher cognitive functions of memory, attention and organization and integration of complex information."6 For patients who endure from the debilitating effects of a chronic condition like multiple sclerosis (MS), and face the prospect of suffering from the same pain for the rest of lives as they cope with the incurable inflammatory disease, the use of complementary alternative...
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