Benefits of Legalizing Marijuana - Research Paper Example

College Legalizing Marijuana Are there any significant benefits of legalizing the use of marijuana in any society? This is a major question that has remained unanswered for some time. There is a widely held perception that people who use marijuana are criminals and have a higher possibility of being involved in crimes. Moreover, those who use marijuana are perceived as aggressive and sometimes paranoid people with antisocial behaviors in the society. This has made marijuana a prohibited drug in many countries and communities. This report will show that legalizing the use of marijuana has some positive benefits that many have never thought. Some of the benefits include using marijuana for medical cases, reducing pain and nerve disorders, leading to body and mind relaxation, reducing drug cartels and associated insecurity issues, increased income to the government, among others. The use of marijuana has been found to be effective in treating some conditions related to sensory neuropathy and pain reduction in nerves. Therefore, although cannabis has been banned in many countries, legalizing the use of cannabis may lead to major medicinal and social benefits to the society, making marijuana not only a medicinal drug but a vital component in dealing with major vices in the community. Cannabis has been found to be effective for medical use especially in offering reliable relief in certain neurological conditions, which suggests that marijuana has high medicinal values. Robson (2001) in a study of the medical value of marijuana noted that marijuana has a component that relieves intra-ocular pressure significantly. In other words, the research found some evidence on the use of Marijuana resulting in improved well-being and relief of symptoms in certain neurological cases, which included AIDS infections and certain types of cancers. Therefore, when used for its medicinal value, marijuana provides a wide range of medical benefits to patients. The drug may be used in a controlled medical context as “an analgesic and to contain intra-ocular pressures,” the result of which would be reduced anxiety and improved sleep among patients with the above conditions (Robson, 110). The use of marijuana for medical purposes was further supported in a study by Grant regarding the effects of medicinal cannabis on painful sensory neuropathy. In the research, Grant observed that cannabis could address issues related to painful peripheral neuropathy, a condition characterized by “pain, abnormal sensations of pins or needles, numbness, coldness or heat” among other issues (Grant, 446). In addition, the research indicated that when marijuana is used in a controlled medicinal set up, the dug has reliable medicinal properties, all which increase the wellbeing of the persons involved. However, in such cases, the risks associated with the use of Marijuana do not preclude the use of the drug for medicinal value. As such, there is a need for proper coordination based on careful risk-benefit analysis on how to use marijuana on patients with the above conditions (Svrakic, 90). The above medical benefits associated with marijuana show that the drug has some beneficial components if used under a physician’s directions. In addition to use of marijuana for its medicinal value, marijuana has proved to have major benefits in relieving pains even among healthy persons. University of California medical researchers in a study slipped a component of chili peppers beneath the skin of marijuana smokers to determine whether marijuana could relieve pain. The study observed that the drug could relieve pain to a good extent at certain doses (Hecht, par 1). As a result, the state of California invested about $8.7 million in a study aimed at testing the benefits of marijuana and how the drug could be used for its medicinal value (Hecht, par 1). The researchers found that marijuana was effective in offering pain relief in nerves and other conditions not only among the sick but also in healthy people. Therefore, in addition to offering major medicinal benefits, marijuana has been found to offer relief from nerve pains. This would suggest that marijuana could find better applications in reducing pain among people who do strenuous jobs leading to joint problems or other body bruises. The breakthrough on examining the benefits of marijuana, though the rug has not been legalized, suggests the successes of major studies on the benefits of marijuana. Therefore, the drug has been scientifically proven to possess positive benefits that may call for its legalization towards facilitating controlled use of the drug. Marijuana is a powerful and effective element in balancing the operations of the body system. Bello (29) argued that one of the major benefits of marijuana is that the drug balances the body systems and how they operate. In other words, Bello claimed that marijuana is a special drug that serves as an antidote in the body to “prevent extreme mood swings among its users,” while at the same time “stimulating the body and preventing cases of depression.” Marijuana has unique compounds that maintain body balance through its stimulating effects and the ability to reduce depression. For instance, the major benefits of marijuana in the body, as Bello argued, include slower and extensive breathing rhythms, which are an indication that the parasympathetic system is relaxed (Bello, 29). This relaxation is typical of any normal relaxation when a person is not working. In aiding relaxed breathing rhythms, marijuana triggers the expansion of the air sacks more effectively, which helps in getting rid of stale air from the lungs and allows more oxygenation to take place in the body (Bello, 29). One aspect in yoga that leads to great body relaxation is increasing the size of the rib cage to accommodate more oxygen in the body, through relaxation of the skeletal muscles. Therefore, persons who take doses of marijuana regularly benefit from this body relaxation, which leads to better blood circulation in the body. In such a case, marijuana enhances the brain to receive more blood with a high saturation of oxygen due to the “dilation of the blood vessels in the brain” (Bello, 30). Consequently, marijuana smokers, in most cases, have high spirits due to the incredible relaxation attributed with the drug, as well as improved pulse rates that improve blood circulation into all body organs and especially the brain. Therefore, considering its properties, marijuana has major physical and physiological benefits that may necessitate its legalization. Marijuana has been a versatile drug that has helped in treating other drug addicts especially the alcoholics and the addicts of morphine. A study involving observation of a group of addicts with withdrawal symptoms due to morphine abuse concluded that marijuana had significant benefits in treating such addicts. Bello (30-31) noted that, Dr. Mikuriya, while working under the medical marijuana state law in California, he claimed to have treated a group of alcoholics with marijuana to complete recovery from addiction. The research involved a group of 92 alcoholics whom he authorized to substitute alcohol with marijuana in the treatment plan under certain controls. The result was that a good number of those who substituted alcohol with marijuana had remarkable rehabilitative signs and treatment of the symptoms associated with alcohol addiction. This would suggest that alcohol addicts could be rehabilitated with much ease by substituting alcohol with controlled amounts of marijuana under the guidance of a specialist. In other words, instead of people spending much time in alcohol rehabilitating centers, regular and controlled doses of marijuana could be used to rehabilitate such people with much ease and at a faster rate than undergoing the normal rehabilitative programs. However, there has to be ease of obtaining the required doses of marijuana to avoid cases where such addicts may resume taking alcohol due to their addiction, which would water down the rehabilitative efforts (Bello, 30). Moreover, a study in Berkeley California revealed that, from a sample of 350 alcoholics, 40% agreed to have used marijuana to quench alcohol cravings to a great success. In addition, 26% of the respondents explained to have used marijuana to quench the desire of other hard drugs; all the respondents indicated a success in the use of marijuana to deal with hard drug cravings (Takushi, 2014). Among the people in warm climates such as in Africa and South America, marijuana has been used for many years to facilitate relief from “fatigue and stimulate their appetite” (Bello, 31). Therefore, marijuana, though rarely used, has been proved to be an effective drug in treating addiction cases especially in alcohol related addiction. The fact that marijuana can also increase the appetite in persons makes it ideal for people who need extra energy due to strenuous jobs to develop good appetite for foods to recover the lost energy. This makes marijuana not only a medicinal drug, but an effective drug with inhibitive properties that can be used under controlled circumstances to deal with problems caused by other drugs. Therefore, there are proven incredible benefits of marijuana for drug addicts in rehabilitation centers where the drug can help save huge budgets consumed in rehabilitating addicts and accelerate the time required for complete recovery of other drug addicts. Legalizing the use of marijuana can be a good source of income for the government to bridge its budget deficit while at the same time reducing the effects of the drug to the society and the public health. A research by the UK Institute of Special and Economic Research noted that decriminalizing the use of marijuana could, in fact, reduce the policing costs and the cost of prosecuting and treating the drug users by more than 300 million pounds per year (Wright, 2013). Moreover, as the research observed, legalizing marijuana could increase the governments income by between 400 and 900 million pounds in the UK. As such, the study noted that the continued criminalization of marijuana has not been based on credible and hard evidence, but on societal perceptions, which makes the benefits of marijuana ignored. This would suggest the government and the society are losing huge possible incomes to drug dealers as drug dealing continues to spread in underground and illegal channels. Moreover, criminalization of the drug leads users to overuse the drug thus leading to addiction. This would imply that legalizing the drug may facilitate “regulation of its use and control of its potency” in ensuring the drug has no major effects to the health of its users (Atha and Davis, 17). The use of backstreet drugs endangers the health of the public as these drugs are not regulated and can be contaminated with harmful elements. However, with proper regulations through legalization of marijuana, people will transact the drug in the open making it easier for the government to control the drug, which would deal with the risks associated with the drug use, reduce street crimes associated with drug gangs among other unsocial behaviors associated with illegal drugs. Therefore, legalizing marijuana would be of many benefits to the government due to increased revenue from taxing the drug and reduce anti-social behaviors associated with the drug. In summing up, the use of marijuana has been criminalized in many countries across the globe, with only a handful of states especially within the U.S having legalized the use of the drug for medical use only. Marijuana has major health benefits when used in a controlled manner and for medical purposes, which have not been utilized due to the ongoing criminalization of the drug. Some of the benefits associated with legalizing the use of marijuana include increased government revenue from taxation of the drug, reduced street insecurity, reduced drug overuse, medical benefits in reducing pain and nerve related disorders, treating drug addiction problems such as those associated with alcoholism, among other benefits. Therefore, legalizing the use of marijuana would lead to a wide range of benefits to the society and the community at large, which are currently ignored due to the continued criminalization of the drug. Work Cited Atha, J. Mathew and Davis, T. Simon. Taxing the UK Cannabis Market: A report commissioned by CLEAR. IDMU, Augsut 26, 2011. http://www.clear-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/TaxUKCan.pdf April 12, 2014. Bello, Joan. The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological and Spiritual. Pennsylvania: Lifeservices Press, 2008. Grant, Igor. Medicinal Cannabis and Painful Sensory Neuropathy. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 15.5 (2013), 466-469. Hecht, Peter. California pot research backs therapeutic claims. The Sacramento Bee, April 11, 2014. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/12/4625608/california-pot-research-backs.html April 12, 2014. Robson, Philip. Therapeutic aspects of cannabis and cannabinoids. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 204.4 (2014), 107-115. Svrakic Gradon, Lustman Patrick, Mallya Ashok, Finney Rhonda and Svrakic M. Neda. Legalizing, Decriminalization and medicinal use of Cannabis: a scientific and public health Perspective. Missouri Medicine, 109. 2 (2012), 90-98. Takushi, Sarah. Medical cannabis used to treat Alcoholism. Liberty Voice. March 9, 2014. http://guardianlv.com/2014/03/medical-cannabis-used-to-treat-alcoholism/ April 12, 2014. Wright, Oliver. Legalizing cannabis: £1.25bn tax benefit - without necessarily damaging public health. The Independent. Sept. 16, 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/legalising-cannabis-125bn-tax-benefit--without-necessarily-damaging-public-health-8818064.html April 12, 2014. Read More