Colorado voters made history when they approved Amendment 64, making the possession, sale, and home, cultivation of marijuana legal. Marijuana has been a controversial issue for some time now. Although there have been many slanderous claims about the use of marijuana, the truths are slowing starting to resurface. Marijuana has many benefits, such as, health, profit, and helps many civilians. Even though marijuana may seem like a harmful drug, it can actually be quite rewarding. Until I researched this topic I had no idea this was once a legal medicine. Marijuana and cannabis are one in the same.
Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is no recent discovery. In fact, written references to the use of medical marijuana date back to 4000b.c Western medicine embraced marijuana’s medical properties in the mid-1800’s and by the beginning of the 20th century, physicians had published more than 100 papers in the western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of disorders. (library.thinkquest/03oct/01474/history.htlm)
According to michiganmedicalmarijuana.org the following is a list of agents marijuana can help with. More than 15 million American are affected by Asthma, taking a hit of marijuana has been known to stop a full blown asthma attack. Fourteen percent of blindness in American is from glaucoma, cannabis smoking would benefit 90% of our 2.5 million glaucoma victims. Cannabis is also an incredibly successful herb for reducing many types of tumors. “Marijuana is the best agent for control of nausea in cancer chemotherapy,” stated Dr. Thomas Ungerleider, who headed California Marijuana for Cancer research program from 1974-1984. Marijuana also helps with epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, back pain, muscl...
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...e of doing harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. Just because most people that do hard drugs started with marijuana does not mean that marijuana will cause people to do harder drugs. If someone wants to experiment with cocaine they are going to do it regardless if they have tried marijuana before. People need to stop putting the blame of heavy drug users onto this harmless plant. To this day, I have not heard an intelligent argument against the legalization and regulation of cannabis that cannot be quickly dismissed or refuted. The public has gotten it into their heads that legalizing marijuana is the same as condoning it, which it is not. One doesn’t have to condone the smoking of marijuana to vote for its legalization. Marijuana is a profit maker, pain reliever and helps many civilians. I hope one day other state will legalize marijuana just as ours did.
middle of paper ... ... Cannabis has been used throughout the ages in many societies around the world to treat many conditions; an ancient Chinese emperor prescribed it to cure conditions such as gout and malaria, soon its healing properties were heard around the world and the use of cannabis as a medicine spread like wildfire to many other regions (Earleywine, p. 168). In fact, marijuana was legal in the United States until 1942 when, against the medical community's recommendation, it was removed from the list of acceptable medications. Today there are numerous studies being conducted on the effects of medical marijuana and scientists have proven its effects on treating many symptoms.
The article discussed several potential health benefits to medical cannabis. For example, medical marijuana can be used to test glaucoma by slowing the progression of the disease and preventing blindness. It can help control epileptic seizures and decrease the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet’s Syndrome. The chemical CBD may help prevent cancer from spreading. In addition, it may decrease anxiety, ease the pain from multiple sclerosis, and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Medical marijuana may lessen the side effects from treating some illnesses such as hepatitis C. It has also been used to alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, and promote
According to Grinspoon (2005) marijuana, may have been a crop farmed as many as 10,000 years ago. The first evidence discovered that attests to the use of medicinal cannabis dates back to the Chinese Emperor, Chen Nung, who lived five-thousand years ago when this plant was recommended for malaria, constipation, and rheumatic pains, as well as, the inability to concentrate and pains in relation to the female body (Grinspoon, 2005; Guterman 2000). Even Queen Victoria had a physician recommend that she use marijuana as medicine for ailments such as “insomnia, migraines, menstrual cramps, and muscle spasms” (Guterman, 2000, p. A21). Evidence of the power of marijuana as a medicine can be found in almost any culture on Earth. For example, some tribes in Africa use marijuana to treat snake bites and to reduced the intense pain of child-birth and in India, cannabis is used to “quicken the mind, lower fevers, induce sleep, cure dysentery, stimulate appetite, improve digestion, relieve headaches, and cure venereal disease” (Grinspoon, 2005, p. 1). Marijuana has been proven as a powerful medicine by people of many ethnic backgrounds and countries over the entire world, time and time again.
Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants (Nahas 8). Since it became illegal in 1967, there have been questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine, other than being a leisure drug. Debates between pro and con groups for the use of marijuana in the medical profession, have been heated and in recent months, referendums have been pasted in a least three states to make it accessible for medical treatment. Personally, I feel that marijuana has the potential to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, more research needs to be done to maximize its potential.
The legalization of marijuana is, and has been a heavily disputed issue for decades. On one hand, marijuana could lead to a medical breakthrough, or at least provide relief to cancer and AIDS patients. On the other hand, legalizing a drug could expose it to too broad an audience. As a drug, marijuana has never proven to be anywhere near as harmful as cigarettes or alcohol. Each year in the United States, 400,000 people die from tobacco, 50,000 from alcohol, and from marijuana, zero. Regardless of what side one may take to this argument, there are some causes to this marijuana debate that everyone should know. Marijuana was not always illegal, and the reasons behind the history of narcotic regulation are interesting when viewed from today's perspective. The history of marijuana prohibition is a story of racism, political repression, and poorly represents the qualities this country claims to embody.
History of Marijuana Marijuana has been used both recreationally and medicinally for centuries. There are numerous accounts of its medicinal qualities in multiple historical artifacts. Its use dates back to 2737 B.C. when the Chinese emperor, Shen Nung, used it for medicinal purposes including malaria, gout, poor memory, rheumatism, and analgesia (Carter et. al., 2003). Eastern Indian documents, in the Atharvaveda, dating back to 2000 B.C. also refer to its medicinal use.
The history of marijuana in the United States dates to early colonial times. ``In 1619, America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Va., `ordering' all farmers to `make tryal of' (grow) Indian hemp seed.” (Tribune) A by-product of the cannabis plant is hemp. Today, hemp can be used to make fabrics, construction, paper, medicines, oils, body care products, and molded plastics. In colonial times hemp was used to make various textile products and in the 1800s hemp was found to have medicinal benefits. Herer says in his book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, “various marijuana and hashish extracts were the first, second or third most-prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s. (Herer) For centuries people have recognized the medicinal properties of cannabis; “depending on the c...
The cannabis plant has been the topic of much debate throughout the history of this country. Many people don't know that it was not the effect of cannabis that originally spurred its banning. It was actually originally the work of the cotton industry who put big money behind illegalization for the plant's mind altering effects. The cotton industry was afraid that hemp, a product of the cannabis plant, would soon overpower the strong hold of cotton since it was a more durable textile that required less work, less ground depletion, and could be grown almost anywhere. Since the time when cannabis first became illegal it has been grouped with other narcotics as a counterpart. The truth is cannabis has many benefits to society and other than the effects of smoke inhalation has very few negatives. Those against legalization try to put cannabis in the same light as other more potent drugs like cocaine and heroin. There are many misconceptions about the substance and it is clear it should be looked at separately.
Cannabis, more commonly known as marijuana, is a plant that people have been using recreationally for years. In fact, people have consumed marijuana since ancient times. Until 1906, the year the United States Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act. The debate on whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the United States has really blown up within the last decade. And finally, in 2012, Colorado became the first state to officially legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational uses. The prohibition of marijuana has gone on for far too long, and it is time for America to change its views.
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
Marijuana is the third most common leisure drug in the United States after alcohol and tobacco. Millions of Americans smoke marijuana despite the strict laws against its use. Marijuana is less dangerous compared to tobacco or alcohol. Smoking marijuana can cause breathing problems and coughing just like cigarettes and some people get addicted after using for a while. Regulating and legalizing marijuana will bring Americas greatest cash crop under law, create economic opportunities and jobs in the formal economy as opposed to the underground market. Adopting a legally controlled market for marijuana will ensure that consumers buy the products from a safe and legal source. Marijuana has been approved in some states for medical uses to ease the effects of different health challenges. Colorado and Washington legalized m...
Colorado is the latest state to approve the sale of marijuana for recreational use. This topic has been tossed around by the officials for years now. Legislators in Colorado have “considered excise and sales taxes on marijuana of up to 30 percent combined” (Frosch, 2013). With the rapidly growing market and marijuana industry, rules and regulations had to be put into place. Even this tax charge needs to be implemented and enforced.
Stanley, Janet E., Stanley J. Watson, and John A. Benson. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington D.C.: National Academy P, 1999.
6. There are also some medicinal uses of marijuana such as relieving nausea and pain. Some studies also indicate the possible relief of glaucoma.
As you know, Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the U.S causing a huge controversy in today’s society. I think that in some ways not legalizing marijuana could hurt us and our country. I know that you, as a member of the CALM, feel very strongly on your opinion of legalizing marijuana. The CALM does make very convincing arguments about crime, youth, and health with the use of marijuana. While some of these arguments can be persuasive to many, I think that my following propositions on crime, health, and medicinal marijuana also provide a swaying argument.