Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option?
medical cannabis is becoming a preferred option for many people.
In 1970, the United States Congress placed marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act since they considered it to have actually “no accepted medical usage.” Ever since, 23 of 50 US states and also DC have actually legalized the medical use of weed.
Proponents of medical cannabis suggest that it can be a secure and also efficient therapy for the signs and symptoms of cancer, AIDS, numerous sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, as well as various other problems. They cite loads of peer-reviewed studies, famous medical companies, significant federal government reports, and the usage of weed as medication throughout world record.
Opponents of clinical cannabis say that it is also risky to make use of, lacks FDA-approval, as well as that numerous legal medications make cannabis usage unnecessary. They say weed is addicting, results in more challenging substance abuse, meddles with fertility, harms driving capability, and harms the lungs, body immune system, and also mind. They claim that clinical cannabis is a front for medication legalization and also leisure use.
Andrea Barthwell, MD, former Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), wrote in an editorial published Feb. 17, 2004 in the Chicago Tribune:
Pros argument
“By defining using unlawful medications as quasi-legal, state-sanctioned, Saturday afternoon enjoyable, legalizers destabilize the societal norm that medication usage threatens.
They damage the goals of quiting the commencement of substance abuse to avoid dependency …
Children getting in medication misuse treatment repeatedly state that they listened to that ‘pot is medication’ and, as a result, thought it to be great for them.
The most effective expect lowering drug use and also its consequence is to teach kids not to start. A kid is less likely to use if there is a clear caution.
The biggest hazard to creating an efficient environment of prohibition is the active project of legalizers to obscure the line between harmful, controlled substances as well as medicine.”.Cons
Mitch Earleywine, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Albany, and Karen O’Keefe, Esq., Attorney and Legislative Analyst for Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), explained in their Sep. 2005 record “Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws”:.
“While it is not possible with existing information to figure out conclusively that state clinical cannabis legislations triggered the recorded declines in adolescent weed usage, the overwhelming downward trend highly suggests that the impact of state medical cannabis regulations on teen marijuana usage has been either neutral or good, inhibiting youthful trial and error with the medication … Legislators thinking about medical cannabis proposals ought to assess the expenses by themselves qualities without concern for unverified claims that such laws increase teen weed use. Opponents of medical marijuana legislations must discontinue making such unverified claims.”.
New Mexico Medical Cannabis 