Opponents of Medicinal Marijuana

Marijuana is one of the most talked about and controversial subjects in America today. Some say that it has medical advantages and should be legalized. While some say that it has a “high potential for abuse and addiction” and should not be allowed. Among the arguments, supporters of medical marijuana have given a strong argument for legalization through their use of research and evidence.

Opponents of medicinal marijuana have given a few reasons for why it should not be made legal. One of the most argued points is that “Marijuana smoke contains known carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) and produces dependency in users”. In some cases it has shown that it does have some harm such as the harm to the lungs associated with smoking, but the National Academy of Science confirmed that “marijuana’s short term medical benefits outweigh any smoking-related harms for some patients”. Although marijuana smoke has been proven to be damaging to the lungs similar to tobacco, a study in 2006 “found no evidence that marijuana users had higher rates of lung cancer”. The Food and Drug Administration has tested the usefulness of marijuana as a medicine and has found that the active chemicals in marijuana, cannabinoids, are helpful in “treating pain associated with chemotherapy, postoperative recovery, and spinal cord injury, as well as neuropathic pain, which is often experienced by patients with metastatic cancer, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes”.

There is also no evidence or research showing that patients who use marijuana medicinally become addicted. Though the opposite side says this to be a fact, they show no evidence at all in supporting this claim, which therefore, makes their claim invalid. There are many prescription pharmac...

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...for recreational use. Also “since 1996, voters in 13 states- have adopted initiatives exempting patients who use marijuana under physician’s supervision from state criminal penalties”. Sick people in America should be given these rights in every state so that each patient can receive the same treatment and care. As citizens of the United States seriously ill patients are born with rights and should not have these rights taken away from them.

Many of the different arguments, that the opposite side has given, are completely irrelevant and can be easily proven false by the evidence given to us from the true sources.

The DEA have let millions of sick people suffer miserably for decades because they refuse to give them the proper care that they need. Research has already proven that it has medicinal value and it should not be withheld from these patients any longer.