There are a great number of reasons that people have for
wanting to
legalize all aspects of marijuana, but at this site, we will focus solely
on the legalization for sick people's medically supervised use. The most
common and most obvious reason for legalizing the herb for sick people is
that it makes some of them feel better. Numerous books and articles have
been written by and about people with various ailments that have only been
treatable with marijuana. The main point behind these writings is that if
a person's doctor believes that marijuana will help them, and they are not
opposed to taking it themselves, a patient should not be denied the
potential benefit derived from ingesting cannabis or any of its
derivatives. Leading the battle to allow sick people to acquire
cannabis is Dr. Lester
Grinspoon,, a professor at the Harvard Medical School, whose work and
writings have been pivotal in the efforts to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule 1 Narcotic
to Schedule 2. The current classification of Schedule 1, under the
DEA's system, means that marijuana has a high potential for abuse, high
addiction potential, and no medicinal potential. Many other drugs that
have been shown to have much more serious detrimental effects than
cannabis, such as opiates and cocaine, have Schedule 2 status. Dr.
Grinspoon has written two books on the subject of medical marijuana, the
most recent of which is Marihuana, The
Forbidden Medicine which addresses the benefits of using smoked
marijuana as opposed to the synthetic form, dronabinol, when treating
patients suffering from: cancer chemotherapy, glaucoma, epilepsy, multiple
sclerosis, paraplegia and quadriplegia, AIDS, chronic pain, migraine, PMS,
menstrual cramps, labor pains, depression and other mood disorders.
Another reason that has been proposed for legalizing medicinal marijuana
is pure economics. This argument spills into the plea to legalize all
drugs, but it can be applied directly to this issue. Federal and local
government agencies currently spend hundreds of millions of dollars every
year to combat the trade and use of drugs in this nation. A very large
percentage of that money is directed at hindering the cultivation and
distribution of marijuana. Over 9 million people have been arrested for
marijuana-law violations since 1965 and another person is arrested
approximately every 2 minutes. Over 80% of these arrests are for
possession for personal consumption, medical or otherwise.(citation) It costs the taxpayers of
this country millions of dollars a year to prosecute these people, some of
which are merely seeking solace from a debilitating and painful disease.
If the federal government were to take the illegality out of the marijuana
business, whether it be for all use or solely for medical use, it would
take the money out of the black market and put it back into the cycle of
funds that adds to our national wealth. Not only would the states and
federal courts save money by not tracking down and prosecuting marijuana
cultivators and consumers, but they would also provide more revenue by
taxing its sale. That is just common sense, but total legalization has
problems which I haven't the time or space to discuss here. If cannabis
were to be rescheduled so that doctors could prescribe it, sick people and
their loved ones would not have to risk the current legal penalties to
acquire medicine. This would not cause a supply burst on the street, but
it would eliminate the paranoia for sick people. They could, with
confidence, go to their local pharmacy and fill their prescription for a
limited amount of cannabis.
Though there has been a remarkable
public
outcry for the legalization of medicinal marijuana, there has been an
almost equal uprising of people that would like marijuana's legal status
to stay right where it is. The basis for their beliefs rely on a few
arguments, some of which have validity and some of which do not. The
first argument that has been presented is that the aim behind rescheduling
cannabis to allow doctors to prescribe it is not geared toward helping
sick people at all, but rather is a first step in total legalization.
Also, many of the people seeking a prescription for marijuana could be
treated with other, accepted medicines. Another argument is that people
that are prescribed marijuana will sell it to other people for profit.
Some people, including many law enforcement personnel involved in the "War
on Drugs" claim that if marijuana is legalized for medical purposes, it
will send a confusing message to the children of this nation by telling
them that drugs are okay. One final argument that has been used by
physicians opposed to its rescheduling is that nowhere else in western
medicine is any form of a drug smoked. Dr. Gabriel Nahas has been a
long-time opponent of rescheduling marijuana and his studies have been the
basis for many policies concerning the legal status of the plant. He says
that
medical marijuana is a cruel hoax and people should not use it. His
studies have been severely criticized and questioned, but they are often a
major reason why sick people cannot legally access the plant.
All of these arguments can easily be put to rest if one applies common
sense and is not prone to propaganda-inspired hysteria. Please read my personal responses to each of the arguments listed
above.
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