Medical Marijuana Essays (Examples)

In Germany it is still an offence under the drug laws to posses the drug but the laws are some what more liberal. For example the prosecution may not press charges where the drug was found to be in 'low quantity 'and was for personal use. Thus patients have received lower penalties. The progress in Germany is such that in April 2000, the German company THC Pharm received the approval to make "THC (dronabinol) available to pharmacies." (Grotenhermen, 2002) the future developments in that country depends on how the patients, physicians, politicians, lawyers and others involved in the debate bring it to a conclusion. In the U.S. The debate has taken another turn with economists showing that it is better to legalize the use of marijuana in the open market. For example a research on the relevance of the ban on drugs and crime and economic impacts of legalizing…

medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/bin/procon/procon.cgi?database=5-B-Subs-1.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=1&rnd=414.848519162785)." March 1, 2007 Lester Grinspoon
One of the more controversial uses of marijuana is the fact that it is believed to alleviate inflammation which opens the doors for arguments with regard to disorders including fibromyalgia which doctors still debate the existence of. However, as long as the patient is suffering and can match the set criteria for the disorder, who is society to argue that it does not exist and it should not be treated?

Medical marijuana has far less abuse and damaging potential than some of the current drugs being prescribed to combat such illnesses and disorders. The legalization and use of medical marijuana will provide the ability for doctors and patients to choose which treatment option will reduce symptoms with the least amount of damaging side affects that can be caused by such treatments.

The majority of physicians surveyed support the used of medical marijuana with the following conditions and…

Gilman asserts that the debate should not be about the medical value of marijuana, but how the drug should be delivered. The Genetic Science Learning Center outlines several delivery methods of medical marijuana. First of all is smoking. The benefits of this method include that it delivers all of the plant's active compounds, and that it is easy to regulate the dose. Disadvantages of this method are that there is no standardization of ingredients and that the toxins from the burning marijuana may cause emphysema and lung cancer. Gilman adds that in addition to the risk of lung disease, the potency of the drug is difficult to measure because THC levels vary between plants. According to the Genetic Science Learning Center, marijuana is also available in a synthetic pill form of THC called Marinol. hile this method delivers some of the benefits of marijuana, it is difficult to control the…

Legislators and drug enforcers are not physicians and should not substitute their belief system for demonstrable scientific studies showing that medical marijuana does benefit patients. The federal argument often begins with a denial of this, as if any study that suggests there is no benefit is automatically preferred to the hundreds that show there is. The next claim made is that the harm is greater than the curative power, which is patently false given that studies have trouble even showing harm from any use of marijuana. The long-standing argument that marijuana is a gateway drug and leads to the use of harder drugs is irrelevant when dealing with medical marijuana, for medical users are not likely users of harder drugs and are only trying to alleviate their suffering in the only way they can. The concern that allowing the medical use of marijuana is only the beginning might or might…

"
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." Allowing medical use of marijuana sends the wrong message to children. Children entering drug abuse treatment have routinely reported that they heard that marijuana is medicine'and, therefore, believed it to be good for them.

hose in favor of medical marijuana believe that studies such as the 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine are political motivated and outdated. here are numerous other studies proving the marijuana does have therapeutic use. hese studies show that marijuana provides relief for medical conditions, including nausea and vomiting, stimulating appetite, promoting weight gain, and diminishing intraocular pressure from glaucoma. Further, there is evidence that smoked marijuana reduces muscle spasticity from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, and diminishes tremors in multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana also provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, insomnia and…

Medical Marijuana and Social Control: Escaping Criminalization and Embracing Medicalization
Marijuana, also known as cannabis is derived from the cannabis plant (cannabis sativa). The ingredients of the plant, trahydro-cannabinol, widely known as HTC are part of the plant that gives the 'high' effect. The use of marijuana as a drug has been illegal in many states of America and the nations of the world. In the article 'medical marijuana and social control', assistant professor Patrick K. O'rien explores the current trend in the medicalization of marijuana across the United States of America.

O'rien starts by giving an overview of past researches about marijuana, its social effect and the various means used by the federal government to curb it. Many research and perceptions of people link to the effects of the drug on individual users and the society. The government and state agencies researching on the topic associate the use of marijuana as…

Medical Marijuana
To Governor Rick Perry:

In the state of Texas, the use of marijuana for medical reasons is illegal, but I would like you to reconsider this issue. I have a personal interest in this issue as I am terminally ill with colon cancer. By the time this issue is resolved in Texas, it will likely be too late for me, but being ill has made me wish to be proactive so that I can help others to alleviate their pain and suffering. Medical marijuana has proven to help cancer sufferers and other chronically or terminally ill people in a myriad of ways. I hope you will consider this information and, after reading this letter, promote the use of medical marijuana in the state of Texas so that people in my position will be happier and healthier in the future.

Medical marijuana has been proven to alleviate the symptoms of chemotherapy, including…

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"…

Although the decision does not invalidate laws in the 11 states that have approved medical marijuana, it does prevent protection from prosecution of users and doctors who prescribe the drug (Henderson).
The 11 states that have legalized medical marijuana use include Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and ashington (Medical). Eight states did so through the initiative process, while Hawaii's law was enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor in 2000. Vermont's law was enacted by the legislature and passed without signature in 2004, while Rhode Island's law was enacted by overriding the governor's veto in January 2006 (Medical). From 1978 to 1997, 35 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation recognizing the medicinal value of marijuana. These states include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New…

The most noticeable change is JJ's ability to use words: now, when he becomes frustrated in class, he explains what the problem is and he is no longer afraid to get help from the staff. He has also become more willing to help others who function at a lower academic level" ("Mother and Son: The Case of Medical Marijuana").
A main reason for which the government is unable to successfully control medical marijuana is the fact that it is not actively involved in the enterprise and that it would rather take on the mission of penalizing those who commit criminal acts and use the medical marijuana legislation as a cover-up (Kreit).

Although critics might think otherwise, traditional medicine has no beneficial effect in the case of some patients and this makes it absolutely necessary for these patients to be presented with alternatives in trying to gain relief from their pains. Even…

1). Of course, anyone who recalls the popularity of cocaine and opium during the late nineteenth-century knows that the historical use of a drug is not, in itself, a testament to that drug's safety or efficacy, but this long legacy of marijuana use for medicinal purposes is important due to the relative absence of clinical studies.
The three important treatments that marijuana can offer cancer patients is pain relief, appetite stimulation, and mood elevation. The first treatment is perhaps the most obvious, because cancer and the radiation treatments that frequently accompany it are extremely painful and force patients to live in near-constant pain. Marijuana offers an important response to this pain because it has the ability to relieve pain without the serious side-effects that accompany other pain relievers, and particularly those based in barbiturates. Furthermore, marijuana has a much lower potential for addiction compared to painkillers like codeine or morphine,…

The Concerns of Medical Marijuana:

There are a variety of concerns with the legalization of medical marijuana. At first glance, the safety of marijuana for medicinal use appears to not be in question; however, most testing has been conducted on those casual users who are young and healthy. This does not necessarily mean these same findings will translate to ill patients or those who use marijuana on a continual basis. As Martin noted, adverse consequence on the lungs have been noted on long-term inhalation of marijuana smoke. There is also a potential for the suppression of the immune system, and although not commonly extreme, withdrawal symptoms upon cessation. Martin also cited Solowji et al. And their findings in their observational studies that demonstrated impairment of cognitive functions, for marijuana users who had a long-term and heavy usage history.

Degenhardt and Hall agree that short-term use of marijuana for medicinal purposes has an…

An analogy can easily be made to the difference between purchasing a basil plant for $6 versus buying individual sprigs of basil at the grocery store for $2 each.
Medical marijuana aside, serious social, philosophical, and political problems are associated with keeping the drug illegal. First, there is a significant logical contradiction inherent in the legal status of marijuana vs. that of either alcohol or tobacco. Both alcohol and tobacco are widely known to be physically addictive and directly harmful and yet both alcohol and tobacco remain legal. Marijuana, on the other hand, has potential health benefits and is associated only with mild addictive symptoms but marijuana is illegal. The status of marijuana as an illegal substance makes no sense when it is compared with tobacco and/or alcohol.]

Second, the legal prohibition on alcohol in the early twentieth century, which culminated in a United States constitutional amendment, proved to be a…

Medical marijuana is slowly gaining steam in becoming a legal drug to treat disease and chronic illness. Its main beneficial component, THC, delivers a number of benefits such as increase in appetite, help with nausea, and even pain management. People with chronic incurable diseases like multiple sclerosis and AIDS have found relief through consistent use of medical marijuana. Marijuana has shown in multiple studies not only its effectiveness but its safeness compared to other typical treatments like opioids and steroids. Therefore it is my belief that medical marijuana should be legal nationwide for use in treatment of chronic illness and disease management.
What are the major "POs" of medical marijuana?

Some pros are the growing number of people using and growing marijuana. Not only does this help in making it more easily available, but it also increases its qualities and sellers have to compete and deliver better product, especially in places…

"You could say that anything that makes you feel better," Bock says, "whether chocolate or sex or invigorating exercise or a relaxing evening (depending on one's condition or circumstances), is good for you and could be viewed as medicine. Indeed, most Americans use the term 'good medicine' metaphorically and sometimes almost literally to describe some function or activity that promotes a sense of well-being" (131).
Certainly, crack addicts would maintain that they "feel better" when they have plenty of their drug of choice, just as alcoholics or any other substance abuser; with marijuana though, it remains unclear just how long the federal government can hold out against this growing social shift in how this seemingly benign drug is viewed by most Americans today, many of whom may have experimented with it when they were younger, or indeed, who continue to use it on a regular basis in their adult lives.…

Cannabis
The Efficacy of Medical Marijuana Use in Palliative Care

Clinical Question

Because marijuana has been legalized for medical use in twenty states, its use has received much media attention and scrutiny. Nurses need to be aware of their roles, rights, and responsibilities regarding working with patients who have been prescribed medical marijuana. Likewise, nurse practitioners need to be aware of the specific circumstances in which medical marijuana might be indicated as a treatment intervention. The focus of this research is on the efficacy of medical marijuana in a specific patient population: persons in palliative care. Approximately 1.5 million patients per year in the United States are in hospice or palliative care. If it is possible that medical marijuana will help patients in palliative care, nurses need to be aware of this fact.

The specific clinical question for this topic would be as follows: Among hospice or palliative care patients (P), what is the…

Current Events
Medical-Marijuana

On July 12, 2011 the Seattle city council took the first steps toward the regulation of medical-marijuana dispensaries within city limits. The city would require that "medical-marijuana operations get a city business license and comply with city land-use, fire safety, and other rules." (Martin) The state of ashington has had legalized medical-marijuana for 13 years, but the voter-approved law is scheduled to change on July 22, due to the governor's partial veto of a bill that would have legalized and regulated dispensaries and farms that grow marijuana. Governor Chris Gregoire's veto clearly makes medical-marijuana dispensaries illegal, and in response to the partial veto, the city of Seattle has taken the steps to regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries on their own.

The issue of medical-marijuana had become a major issue with the advance of medical technologies and treatments, specifically chemotherapy, but also other ailments such as AIDS. In July of 1998, a CNN…

AIDS -- it boosts appetite in patients who are experiencing severe weight loss.

Neurological disorders, including spinal cord injury and multiple scleroses -- it reduces pain and spasticity that results from nerve damage.

Inflammatory pain -- it has been found that Cannabinoids are more effective than opiates in treating long-term, chronic pain.

Autoimmune diseases like arthritis- it holds back the immune system thus resulting in less pain and inflammation (Cannabis in the Clinic?: The Medical Marijuana Debate, 2010).

More recent research has shown that there are additional benefits to the use of marijuana. A University of Saskatchewan study has suggested that the use of marijuana may encourage the growth of brain cells. This study also showed that a synthetic substance comparable to ones found in marijuana stimulates cell growth in regions of the brain that is linked with anxiety and depression. In addition, a study conducted by the Scripps esearch institute showed that THC…

Medicinal Marijuana
Medical Marijuana

The issue of accepting or not to accept the use of marijuana for the purported medical reasons still looms large. The Americans have divergent views on the Medical Marijuana with 73% supporting the idea of medical marijuana and another 31% supporting the legalization of marijuana. States like California passed the bill allowing the physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients who may find this medication appropriate and applicable to their situations.

Some of the conditions that medicinal marijuana is said to be able to treat are cancer, AIDs wasting syndrome, relief of muscle spasm and tremors among victims of multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, in treating glaucoma as well as handling chronic pain (Carol Eustice, 2011).

The issue of marijuana being a drug as well as medicinal herb has brought substantial controversy among the different medical practitioners and the law enforcement agencies. However, it has remained abundantly clear that most…

Legislative Letter
Jason M. Lewis, Senator

Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health

State House

Tel [HIDDEN]

Dear Senator Lewis,

A public health emergency was declared by Governor Deval Patrick on March 27, 2014, due to the dramatic rise in opiate abuse in Massachusetts (Cassidy, 2014). On the agenda was an addition $20 million for substance abuse prevention and treatment, taking Zohydro off the market, and allowing police officers to carry the anti-overdose drug naloxone. While these measures are a step in the right direction, the number of deaths to opioid overdose surged in December, from 60 in the previous month to 114 (MacQuarrie, 2015). The explanations offered include heroin mixed stronger opiates and stronger restrictions governing prescription painkillers. The sudden, inexplicable closing of the Andrew House Detoxification Center, a 60-bed facility on Long Island, certainly didn't help the situation any (Cullen, 2014).

One solution, which is already a part of the Massachusetts health system, is…

Abstract
In this essay, we discuss CBD Oil.  We discuss what CBD oil is, the benefits it has, the potential side effects from using it, the different types of CBD oil available, who can take it, and the best CBD oils.  By the time you finish reading the essay, you should feel as if you have a comfortable overview of CBD oil and what it can and cannot do.  In addition to providing an overview of CBD oil, this essay also serves as an example of an academic essay.  It provides a template for an academic essay format.  Therefore, in this CBD oil article, you will find: an introduction, a hook, a thesis statement, a structured body with evidence and analysis of that evidence, a conclusion, and a reference section.  In addition, you will find sources cited in an academic format and correctly formatted in the essay and in the works…

Chamberlain College of Nursing NR449 Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence Matrix Table

Independent (I)

Dependent (D)

Size and Selection

Major Findings

(sample not a real article)

Smith, Lewis (2013),

What should I eat? A focus for those living with diabetes. Journal of Nursing Education, 1 (4) 111-112.

How do educational support groups effect dietary modifications in patients with diabetes?

D-Dietary modifications

Education

Qualitative

Convenience sample-selected from local support group in Pittsburgh, PA

Focus Groups

Support and education improved compliance with dietary modifications.

de Vries K, Green AJ (2012) Therapeutic use of cannabis. Nursing Times; 108: 9, 12-15.

Describe the potential uses of cannabis in palliative care, and to help nurses advocate for patients by providing information about cannabis use and legality. How should nurses react when patients ask about medical marijuana?

None; not an experimental research design.

Literature Review

Untold quantities of research studies in published journals.

Peer-reviewed and professional literature. Legal documents.

Cannabis remains illegal in most areas, but nurses are responsible to remain informed of changes in the law. Until then, patients…

Introduction
Medical marijuana has increasingly been in the news as a growing number of states throughout the U.S. have passed measures or at least put on the ballot an initiative to legalize either medicinal or recreational marijuana usage.  The history of marijuana in the U.S. is one that goes back as far as the country itself:  hemp (a type of marijuana plant) was used for rope, paper and a number of other purposes because of its strong fibrous tissue.1  It was not until the Prohibition Era of the 1920s that marijuana began to be prohibited by law in the U.S.—and within a decade, it was regulated among most states under the Uniform State Narcotic Act.2  Thus, from its very first days as a crop grown by the Virginia Company for exporting to England by decree of James I—and in fact from the days of the first President of the U.S. George…

Medical Use of Marijuana
Increasing use of medical marijuana

Having looked at the various areas that medical marijuana has been brought into use and the various forms in which marijuana is administered, it is also important to take note of the various challenges that come with it. There have been various researches that have been conducted that covers the medical as well as the ethical side of the medicinal marijuana, and there have been a dilemma in the balance of the two sides on whether to institutionalize the drug or to stop it, and even on whether the medicinal use can be made to work without the proneness to abuse as is the case at the moment.

Medicinal marijuana has neither medical nor ethical standing within the contemporary society where drug abuse is one of the biggest worries of governments across the world and the alternative medicines that medical research can appropriately come…

Medical Marijuana Use and the National Drug Policy
It is clear that the marijuana plant covers numerous elements that may prove prized when it comes to treating a variety of symptoms illnesses or, leading numerous individuals to argue that it should be made legally obtainable for medical determinations. The states of Colorado and Washington in the United Sates have legalized marijuana for fun use. However, there is a quantity of other states which have legalized basic marijuana for "medical" utilization. esearch shows that even more states are passing laws that permitting individuals to start practicing medical marijuana. Therefore, if an individual lives in a state where medical marijuana is permitted and their physician trusts that it would benefit, they will get what is called a "marijuana card." With that said, this paper will discuss medical marijuana use and the national drug policy.

When it comes to national policy, twenty-three states and the…

medical and ethical dilemmas, even if the activities were deemed technically legal or not questioned at the time. The fact that the studies sought to gain information from human subjects under unfair and undesirable circumstances means their results cannot be condoned and the findings cannot be accepted or used as viable study data. Each study directly crosses the line into scientific unacceptability in different ways; and while their underlying approaches raise interesting historical and philosophical questions -- that did not need to be tested to be debated -- there is no way to weed out the biases that contaminate the data.
This being said, it is generally safe to say that all of the studies were improper (unethical and/or illegal) at the time that they were being undertaken. This can be seen in the fact that in every instance the medical professionals involved were either directly or indirectly punished for…

One very important aspect related to smoking marijuana concerns the number of deaths reported on an annual basis linked to using other legal and illegal substances. For example, according to the U.S. ureau of Mortality Statistics, 400,000 Americans die annually as a direct result of smoking cigarettes; 100,000 die prematurely from drinking alcohol; some 20,000 die from abusing legal prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Valium, Percodan, and other drugs prescribed by physicians; 2,000 die from the effects of consuming too much caffeine, mainly from heart failure, while the number of Americans who die from smoking marijuana currently stands at zero, an indication that smoking marijuana does not directly cause any known fatal and debilitating disease ("The Legalization of Marijuana," Internet).

Therefore, considering the number of Americans who die prematurely from consuming alcohol which has been legal since the end of Prohibition in the early 1930's, there is no logical reason not to…

Medical Marijuana Legislation and Civil Liberties
When the historic passage of legislation permitting medical marijuana use in states like Arizona (2010), Delaware (2011) and Massachusetts (2012) is considered in conjunction with the fact that 13 other states have similar legislation or ballot measures pending, the traditional conception of marijuana ingestion as a criminal act is being reexamined on a societal level. Further bolstering this assertion is the legal situation in California, Colorado and Washington, where marijuana has been decriminalized entirely and permitted for recreational sale by licensed dispensaries, providing the platform for a restoration of basic rights in these jurisdictions. With approximately half of the states in the union already affording citizens with medical needs the liberty to seek relief in the form of marijuana, while the federal government's ostensible ban on the substance remains in effect, the stage has been set for a national debate over the merits of legalizing…

The design of the study was to compare the patterns and frequency of recreational drug use of various types, and of the attitudes expressed by residents of California to the behavior and attitudes on the same issues in the 10 other states after California legalized marijuana for medicinal use in 1996. The number of respondents in California was 2,651 and a total of 12, 916 in the other 10 states. The Trevino and ichard study (2002) involved a sample of 188 drug users and non-drug users surveyed for their responses to questions about their opinions about the legalization of marijuana, and also of other illicit recreational drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines.
The Page, Verhoef, Stebbins, Metz, and Levy study (2003) utilized a self-reported questionnaire developed specifically as a tool for this study designed to identify differences in the choices made by patients with MS to use marijuana as…

President Richard Nixon chose to ignore and through the whole report into the garbage. Instead, he had the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) created and were given authority enter homes without knocking and to use wiretaps and gather intelligence virtually on anyone Milestones. In the 1980's President Ronald Reagan continued the war by advocated his own war and it was estimated that due to these wars, someone was arrested on a violation of a marijuana law every 38 seconds.
Thankfully, these wars have become more focused on the real drug problems that are primarily synthetic or man made or used in ways never imagined. But heroin and methamphitamines are clearly not health regimens. They kill people every day, cause real crimes and ruin families, lives and destroys entire groups.

The first step in changing the view of marijuana began with the legalization for medical usage. The compassions for the ill allowed California…

" In fact, the hite House admits that "a direct cause and effect relationship between marijuana use and subsequent use of other drugs is hard to prove." At the same time, the hite House tries to convince readers that adults who were early marijuana users were more likely to have used cocaine, heroine, and other drugs. Both websites offer a balanced viewpoint on the gateway drug issue, but the MPP makes a more convincing argument.
The hite House publication called "hat Americans Need to Know About Marijuana" is available in PDF format, either as a full file or in sections. The PDF format is convenient for people who wish to save the document to their hard drive and read it at a later date, and is also easy on the eyes. However, there are drawbacks to PDF files, such as the lack of hypertext and the amount of memory usage that…

Legalization of marijuana has been a controversial topic in the media as of lately. Completely legalizing marijuana would mean allowing just about anyone to have access to it -- of course with some government regulation. However, opponents of this process argue that the health detriments are enough to merit harsher punishments and the complete ban of this substance. Despite opposition to marijuana's legalization, there are many more benefits that need to be taken into consideration before rushing to any particular judgment. Marijuana should be legalized because it will bring a much needed boost to the economy, it has documented health benefits, and it is a safer drug than alcohol and cigarettes, which are already considered to be legal substances (ABC 20/20). In order for the welfare of all of the aforementioned entities to be established, marijuana needs to be legalized.
As of 2012, the states of Colorado and Washington have agreed…

Even proponents of medical legalization concede marijuana cannot cure or even alleviate the symptoms of MS or glaucoma, merely act as a narcotic. True, other narcotics exist on the market today -- and like marijuana, they are also addictive. Whether they are more or less addictive than marijuana remains uncertain, but advocates say the chronically ill should be able to choose what works best for them while opponents say only tested, carefully titrated drugs should be used as palliatives.
Weighing the rights of the sick with marijuana's long and short-term side effects is a delicate balance. When marijuana is smoked, users often suffer similar short as well as long-term problems to those of regular smokers, including a smoker's cough and breathing problems. In fact, "marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke" (Legalization of marijuana, 2010, Legalization of marijuana). The active agent in marijuana, THC,…

Paternalistic legislation, even when warranted, must be logically consistent both in theory and in practical application, in the case of marijuana, prohibitions against its medicinal use, even if still unproven in clinical trials, is logically and ethically inconsistent with the legal status of substances like tobacco which are devoid of any possible beneficial use and which, unlike marijuana, have actually been proven to cause disease and premature death.
Governmental paternalism is appropriate in many instances, including ensuring the safety and efficacy of substances used for medicinal purposes. However, the application of paternalistic legislation must, if nothing else, be logically consistent.

Federal prohibition criminalizing marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, is completely unjustified, particularly in light of the legal status of tobacco, which has absolutely no beneficial medical use and whose recreational use accounts for tremendous human harm.

References

The American Medical Marijuana Association website, (2007)

Retrieved November 21, 2007, at http://americanmarijuana.org/

Advocate organization dedicated to the…

marijuana should be legalized only for medicinal purposes.
The debate over medicinal marijuana usage and legality is a controversial one. Many experts argue the drug costs society too much money in terms of law enforcement and incarceration costs when the monies could be better spent in other law enforcement areas. A large majority of the American people does believe marijuana should be decriminalized for medical usage. In 2001, 34% of adult Americans believed marijuana should be legal, at least in small amounts, the largest percentage since 1969, and up to 70% of adults approved of using medicinal marijuana for certain ailments (Cauchon 01A). However, several questions regarding medicinal marijuana usage that must be addressed.

First, is marijuana a safe and effective medicine? Proponents maintain marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years and for a variety of uses. They claim that it is safe, no one has ever "died of…

The active chemical ingredient, THC, is accessed by smoking marijuana and is used for both recreational and medical reasons. The pro-legalization supporters and the anti-legalization supporters are divided by ethical and medical viewpoints. The use of marijuana is linked with health risks, but it is also associated with beneficial medical and therapeutic uses. Opponents of legalization also raise concerns about marijuana abuse, dependency, and its stance as a "gateway" drug which could lead a user to try "harder" drugs. Tobacco smoking and drinking alcohol give concerns for abuse, dependency, and have been linked with the use of "harder" drugs, however these substances remain legal.
A total of 14 states have allowed for the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and some studies have indicated the benefits of decriminalization of marijuana as law enforcement efforts and resources can be used for more significant crimes. There is a concern that the legalization…

In the shifting views about the health effects of marijuana, there is a general trend for states to relax the rules around this substance across the nation. Some states have already lifted the ban against marijuana for recreational purposes. The state of California set the pace in this discussion and shifting perceptions when it passed a proposal now popularly known as proposal 215 to allow possession of small amounts of the substance for medical uses (Murphy and Carnevale 2016). Other states have followed suit. The most notable among these states are the District of Columbia and six other states. They represent about 6% of the population of the nation. They have all allowed possession of marijuana; not for medical use only, but for recreational purposes.
There are several contributing factors to this phenomenon. One of the most outstanding reasons is that the much-touted war on drugs across the nation has failed.…

It has been proved that drug dealers succeed in selling their drugs, even with the measures introduced by the American government.

Countries like the Netherlands have become famous due to their tolerance of cannabis and millions of tourists visit them every year as a result. Considering the fact that the Netherlands has continued to have a great cultural value, and, that it has continued to have more tourists visiting it because of reasons other than its cannabis coffee shops, it is obvious that the Dutch have not been affected by the legalization of Marijuana.

Buckley Jr. illiam F. "Is Marijuana Fear a Myth?" National Review, Vol. 49, December 8, 1997.

Goode, Erich. "Marijuana." (Atherton: 1969)

isheit, Ralph A. "Domestic Marijuana: A Neglected Industry." (Greenwood Press: 1992)

Gerber, Rudolph J. Legalizing Marijuana: Drug Policy Reform and Prohibition Politics. (Praeger: 2004)

Chambliss, illiam J. "Another Lost ar: The Costs and Consequences of Drug Prohibition." Social Justice, Vol. 22,…

There is much more to the issue and how it is addressed than that (Seamon, 2007). These states are:
Alaska

California

Colorado

Hawaii

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Oregon

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington (Seamon, 2007)

Criticisms of Decriminalization

Gateway Drug

The war on drugs has been in the news for some time now, and marijuana has been included in that war. It continues to be listed as important in the speeches of many politicians, and it continues to be at the forefront of a great many debates about how our tax money should best be spent (Gray, 2005; Pacula, 2003b). One of the main concerns of the war on drugs, however, does not deal with what politicians think about it. Rather, it deals with what police think about it. Police are, after all, the ones that are out there on the streets every day, trying to fight the war on drugs. They have limited resources and limited manpower, but they fight just the same.…

Decriminalize Marijuana in Canada
The question as to whether Canada should decriminalize the use, sale, and cultivation of marijuana has been debated over the past few years, and the debate has taken a sharper turn now that it is being decriminalized in Colorado and soon in ashington State.

hat are the economic and social benefits of making marijuana legal in Canada -- and what is the residual impact on human health? Given that today there are glaring inconsistencies in Canadian law regarding marijuana -- as opposed to the legal sale of alcohol and tobacco -- how does the Canadian government propose to adjust its current laws if indeed marijuana becomes legal? These are the pertinent questions to be answered in this paper.

Thesis: The position of this writer is that Canada should proceed to decriminalize marijuana and remove the label of "controlled substance" -- because marijuana does less harm to users than alcohol…

Others believe that it is no better than other drugs and can even be more dangerous when used for long periods of time ("Medical Marijuana," 2008).
After centuries of use, it seems ridiculous that the government would get up in arms about marijuana proliferation for personal or medical use in the United States. If marijuana can relieve the symptoms of deadly diseases, allowing those suffering from them to be more comfortable, it should be used. In addition, Guither (2009) makes it clear that the reason marijuana was made illegal was not a result of scientific evidence or the opinions of experts. Instead, the illegalization of marijuana was fueled by political, economic, and social incentives. By legalizing marijuana, the United States would free law enforcement from focusing on this problem to train their focus on real crime.

eferences

Guither, P. (2009). Why Is Marijuana Illegal? etrieved June 18, 2009, from Salon.com.

Web Site:

http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html

"Medical Marijuana."…

Legalization of Marijuana
Marijuana is one of the most popular recreational drugs in the United States, exceeded in popularity by only alcohol and tobacco. Recent research reveals that "more than 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some point in their lives, and that 18-20 million have smoked during the last year (NORML, 1999)."

According to R. Keith Stroup, Esq., the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML, 1999), "Like most Americans, the vast majority of these millions of marijuana smokers are otherwise law-abiding citizens who work hard, raise families and contribute to their communities..." A national survey revealed that 32% of voting adults in the U.S. have acknowledged having smoked marijuana at some point in their lives.

The legalization of marijuana has been a topic of controversy for several years. Many proponents of the drug argue that marijuana should be legalized for both medical and recreational use.…

legalization of marijuana and its benefits to the society. Our arguments are focused on its medicinal value, income generated (economic value) to the state as well as the possible losses to tax payer's money as a result of trying to implement its prohibition. Our analysis is done via a thorough review of relevant literature containing expert opinions. We support our proposition that marijuana can be a benefit to society through its legalization. This is due to its medicinal value, revenue stream to the state and the reduced cost attributed to decreased prohibition budgets.
Marijuana which is the most commonly used illicit drug has faced has been heavily debated on issues of legalization and safe use. The debate has been so intense to an extent of which it has turned political (NYT, 2008). A recent study by Angus eid concluded that a majority of Americans are in support of marijuana legalization…

Attitudes Towards Medical Marijuana
The main purpose of the study will be to assess nurses' feelings and perceptions of patients who use medical marijuana for pain management. This will predominantly give light to the way the professionals who prescribe and supervise the use of marijuana think of the people they attend to on a regular basis. The research will be seeking to establish the perception created in the minds of the nurses and how this affects their reaction and handling of the patients who use marijuana for pain management. With the attitudes established, it will be fundamental in forecasting whether the use of medical marijuana will in the future have a positive reception and acceptance within the society or not.

esearch question

The research question that will guide the formulation of this study will therefore be 'What are nurses perception/attitude towards patients using medical marijuana for pain management?'

Method of study

In the context…

The process is even unlikely to stop if dealers are arrested, given that clients remain and support the market. The government however is not probable to change its convictions concerning marijuana in the near future, most probably because marijuana continues to be linked to crime and more dangerous drugs.
Weisheit, Ralph a. Domestic arijuana a Neglected Industry (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992)

The masses continue to absurdly blame marijuana, even though they are unaware of its potential. Numerous people (even marijuana consumers) are indifferent toward the industry marijuana could produce and prefer to keep it at the present level, most probably because they are afraid of the law and for the fact that they are reluctant to go through what they perceive as being a great deal of trouble.

Yacoubian, George S. "Assessing the Relationship between arijuana Availability and arijuana Use: A Legal and Sociological Comparison between the United States and the…

 When the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court, several people commended the Court for refusing to remove the only social protection they had which was established and improved by the New Deal as well as the Great Society. The House of Congress agreed to allow certain states have a significant level of command on the way federal programs such as Medicaid were implemented on the condition that it would be free to set up and enlarge its planned national entitlement schemes (Brown-Nagin, 2013). A huge disagreement in the beliefs of federalism has been bared for all via the suits contesting the Obamacare mandate. A school of thought believes that the government should get involved even constitutionally in situations when certain states do not have individual capabilities to settle a particular dispute. This school also believes that the main reason why the Constitution clearly specifies national bodies is…

Fact 9:

Europe's more liberal drug policies are not the right model for America.

Fact 10:

Most non-violent drug users get treatment, not jail time. (Legalization, 2010).

Conclusion

There are no benefits for society in the legalization of marijuana. The money from the taxing of the marijuana will end up being use to regulate and enforce the dispensaries. The money to treat the addiction will be another source of lost revenues from the taxation.

Increased usage by underage teens will be the same as cigarettes and alcohol and will increase as the price drops as it did in the Dutch experiment. Kids will be introduced onto the drug culture that leads to the use of the harder narcotics as a result of the increased access to the marijuana. The benefits will be just moved from one area to other areas of criminalization.

eferences

DEA website. 2010. etrieved on May 10, 2010 from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/drugs_marijuanaharm.html

"Feature: Hundreds of Los Angeles Medical…

For example, in the state of Montana, initiative organizers and supporters "face much opposition from local law enforcement and youth substance abuse prevention groups" that claim legalizing marijuana will lead to a great increase in the number of users. However, as the organizers of the low police priority initiative point out, the evidence to support this assertion does not exist; in fact, "We know that liberalizing drug laws in other places has not led to an increase in drug use. This assertion has also been equated with the "eefer Madness mentality," a reference to the film "eefer Madness" of the 1930's which depicted marijuana smokers as deranged criminals ("Lowest Law Enforcement Priority," 2006, Internet).
According to statistics provided by the National Organization for the eform of Marijuana Laws, voters in the city of Oakland, just north of San Francisco, "overwhelmingly approved the nation's first-ever business tax on retail marijuana sales,"…

Communication
Legalization of Marijuana

Pro-Side: There are many good reasons for the legalization of marijuana. While there are few jurisdictions from which to pull evidence on the positive benefits of legalization, we do have extensive experience with the negative impacts of marijuana prohibition. Marijuana prohibition has resulted in high arrest rates, in particular for minorities, which has created social chaos in those communities as young men are incarcerated long-term for what is a victimless crime. Marijuana prohibition also denies governments a potentially important source of tax revenue, as there is a fairly high consumption rate of the plant already. Marijuana prohibition costs law enforcement millions, has created a massive and bloody gang war in Mexico, and has done nothing to stem the use of the plant. These financial and law enforcement resources would be put to better use elsewhere. It is the interests of law enforcement, many politicians and the prison industry…

Legalize Marijuana?
Considering the Legalization of Marijuana

The federal government outlawed marijuana in 1937, a decision that remains controversial to this day. Proponents argue that growers have profited for decades and should be taxed accordingly. In the health care arena, medical marijuana is legal in a number of states, a decision with which seventy percent of Americans agree (Vlahos 18). Those against legalization cite potential health hazards, similar to those faced by smokers of tobacco. Although only mildly physically addictive, marijuana can be psychologically addictive. It is often called the "gateway" drug since users sometimes progress to more powerful illegal substances. Members of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) are against legalization for reasons that some may find surprising.

Marijuana is called a "soft" drug and seems more socially acceptable than other drugs; after all "smoking and eating are more naturally associated with pleasure than is injection" (Schmidt-Semisch &…

Introduction
The drug, marijuana, is actually not as lethal to human beings as cigarettes or alcohol. Further, it is much less addictive, being generally consumed in far lesser quantities. It is also not strongly linked to accidents, risky sexual conduct, and violence, the way alcohol is. Lastly, one can never lose one’s life to marijuana overdose. While a small share of individuals who consume marijuana do develop addiction, this issue can be easily treated. Marijuana in the form of a medicine proves effective in dealing with various acute symptoms such as wasting diseases, nausea and vomiting. Marijuana is very commonly used in America (DPA). The marijuana on sale and used across the nation varies greatly in its quality, besides displaying the likelihood of containing high potentially-lethal adulterant or pesticide levels. DPA (Drug Policy Alliance) supports regulatory framework implementation for controlling potency, educating consumers using labels, and safeguarding against toxic pesticides or…

The Arguments for and against the Legalization of Marijuana • Issue Identification
Today, more than half of the states have already legalized marijuana in some form for various purposes and several more are slated to follow suit this year (see Figure 1 below). The reasons for this trend are multiple, but include fundamental changes in social attitudes about marijuana, the recognition that the federal government’s so-called “war on drugs” has been an abject failure, and the realization on the part of state lawmakers that marijuana sales can provide an enormous boon to state coffers in the form of additional excise taxes and a reduction in the costs that are associated with more serious substance abuse practices.
Figure 1. Status of marijuana laws by state: as of January 2020
Source: https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state
• Position Statement
At first blush, the push for the nationwide legalization of marijuana at the federal level would appear to be a “no-brainer” given the…

Legalizing Marijuana
Any drug that alters the brain chemistry, impairs cognitive functions, and creates an addictive personality cannot be recommended as safe. While there is no suppressing the fact that controlling illegal marijuana use continues to be a financial and administrative bottleneck, they are overridden by the potential harmful health consequences of legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana has been in use for thousands of years for its medicinal properties. With the development of new synthetic drugs there was a gradual decline in its use from the early part of the 20th century. Today however, though illegal, it continues to be a widely used drug in the United States for both recreational and medicinal purposes. In the year 2000 alone there were more than 2.4 million new users of marijuana and the drug is supposedly consumed by more than 76% of all drug users. [NCADI] The comparatively safer and proven remedial properties of modern synthetic…

Marijuana Be Legalized Nationally According to the Terms of California Prop. 64?
People have been using Cannabis Sativa, also known as marijuana, for a number of centuries now. The plant from which marijuana is made grows in several locations around the world. Cannabis Sativa plant's flowering top is the source of marijuana as it has Tetrahydrocannnabinol (THC), a chemical that induces the state changes among users of marijuana. Studies show that using marijuana has both long-term and short-term health effects. Marijuana's short-term effects include distorting the senses including the sense of time and a reduced ability to concentrate. Long-term effects can be more damaging health wise and include a drop in testosterone and sperm levels among men, respiratory problems similar to those suffered by those who smoke tobacco, fatigue, lower libido, reduced fertility and alterations of body composition where the body records a drop in muscle mass as fat mass…

Legalize Marijuana Now!
Today, the United States enjoys the dubious distinction of incarcerating more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation on earth. Perhaps even more troubling still, the majority of these citizens have been imprisoned for nonviolent crimes involving drugs, with marijuana being one of the most prominently drugs. Furthermore, these issues have assumed new importance and relevance in recent years. As the country continues to struggle to recover from the Great Recession of 2008, dwindling federal and state budgets have forced lawmakers to scramble to identify ways to save money in order to turn the tide for economic recovery. One initiative that has been advanced time and again is the legalization of marijuana because it would reduce the number of people being incarcerated and help generate new tax revenues. To determine if this is the legalization of marijuana is a truly viable option, this paper provides a review…

Military Marijuana
military has a number of jurisdictional and operational issues associated with what it will do with personnel involved with the use of medical marijuana. Though it claims that there is no ambiguity -- that its Directives (DOD 1010.1) are clear -- in reality it now finds itself facing a "Don't Ask, Don't Smoke" problem. What is happening inside and outside of the armed services is mystifying how the rules are actually enforced and understood by its legal structure.

In general, the rules are clear. Law enforcement and command personnel inside of the services say the same as those on the outside who advice people about this issue:

The fact that your state has decriminalized marijuana use is not relevant to military law. The military is a federal institution, governed by federal laws. Drug use is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Article 112a, 10 U.S.C. 912a. Further,…

Canada boasts one of the highest cannabis usage rates in the world in spite of prohibition (Fischer, Kuganesan, & oom, 2015). Cannabis is also the most widely used illegal drug in the country by a wide margin (Hajidazeh, 2016). The complete decriminalization of cannabis in Canada would be unlikely to have any appreciable effect on raising rates of usage except potentially an initial spark of interest subsequent to the lifting of prohibition. Unfortunately, a dearth of literature exists on the actual effects of decriminalization given that the phenomenon has yet to occur, and given the fact that there are few case studies from other countries. The only country in the world to have outright legalized marijuana has been Uruguay; several other countries have relatively relaxed policies toward the drug but Canada's proposal to fully legalize would be revolutionary. This research can potentially contribute to the growing understanding of what consequences…

psychological effects of drugs. Specifically it will discuss the psychological effects of marijuana on the brain. Many factors of marijuana use can affect the brain, and these affects can be long-term and very harmful. Using marijuana may seem harmless, and less harmful than other types of drugs, such as alcohol, but it is very harmful, and can have long-term affects on people who use it regularly.
Marijuana has many chemicals that are harmful. Doctors Bell and Hall note that THC is the most well-known and harmful of these chemicals. They write, "Among them, THC is the most psychoactive in humans, producing euphoria, relaxation, intensification of ordinary sensory experiences, perceptual alterations, diminished pain, and difficulties with memory and concentration" (Bell & Hall, 2005). These affects do not typically last longer than a few hours, depending on how much of the drug the subject ingests, but the affects on the brain can…

Marijuana
ecently, Uruguay became the first country to legalize in its entirety and without qualification the marijuana trade. Uruguayan senators spent a total of twelve hours debating the issue, which was proposed by the country's President. The bill was described by its proponents as "an unavoidable response to reality, given that the 'war' on drugs had failed" (BBC, 2013, 1). The law allows registered citizens to buy up to 40g per month. The law is the first of what could be many as South American nations in particular are coming to the realization that drug prohibition, backed by American interests with the support of the United Nations, has left the continent with powerful and violent gangs that control the trade, while doing nothing to stem consumption (Ibid). Indeed, the UN has already weighed in by stating that Uruguay's legislation is in contravention of the international treaties that are enforced by the…

Marijuana
Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized in United States

Marijuana is a plant with extreme strong fragrance, and its dry leaves are an active ingredient of a number of hallucinogenic drugs. The liberty endorsing and preaching societies of the world are still in a fit to either legalize the usage of marijuana or not. The argument that forms the mainstream of the authorization of the usage and legal selling of marijuana in the United States has long been a subject of contention. Health hazards pertaining to the usage of marijuana are a common stance used to justify the illegalization of this drug in United States. The following paper tends to highlight the various aspects that will justify that marijuana should be legalized in the United States.

The most important reason that forms the mainstream of the stance that marijuana should be legalized in the United States is the rational choice theory approach. The…