The Many Benefits of Medical Marijuana

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Marijuana has many health benefits, ranging from pain relief to halting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (Medical Benefits of Cannabis). What other medicine is there that has such a wide range of healing properties? There certainly is not a manufactured medicine on the market that aids so many different types of ailments with one medication, as Marijuana. Using Marijuana for medical reasons has less bad side effects and more positive medical uses than any single synthetic pharmaceutical on the market. My position on this topic will be that Marijuana should be legalized and more easily obtained for people who have chronic illnesses and that can benefit from this natural medicine.

There are many medications on the market today for just about every type of ailment. They may work for a single illness but the side effects of most of these medications are worse than the illness they are intended to treat. For instance the medication (used to treat Alzheimer’s) Exelon® (rivastigmine) side effects include but are not limited to; Severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, Depression, Hallucinations, Aggressiveness, a dangerously slow heart rate (bradycardia), Stomach or intestinal ulcers, Seizures, Uncontrollable body movements or twitches and can cause other lifelong illnesses such as; Hypothyroidism, Diabetes and Glaucoma(What is Exelon?). This medication only treats the symptoms; it does not halt the progression of Alzheimer’s.

A compound found in Marijuana called Cannabidiol, has successfully treated memory loss in Laboratory mice and researchers say that the compound is not a hallucinogen (Alzheimer). Are the risks really worth the benefits when there is an all-natural medicine out there that can halt the progression of this disease...

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...ents insurance would pay for the medication just like any other synthetic pharmaceutical and the government could put a tax on it, which would help the deficit at the same time. It would be a win-win for everyone.

Works Cited

Unknown. (n.d.). Medical Benefits of Cannabis. Retrieved from http://www.cannabissearch.com/medical_benefits/

Harris, G. (2009, June 30). Ban is advised on 2 top pills for pain relief . The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/health/01fda.html

Unknown. (n.d.). International statistics. Retrieved from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/painkillers/international-statistics.html

Unknown. (n.d.). Vicodin addiction and treatment. Retrieved from http://www.drugabusehelp.com/drugs/vicodin/

Unknown, . (n.d.). Myths and facts about marijuana. Retrieved from http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/#tobacco

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