Benefits Of Legalizing Medical Marijuana For Pain Treatment - Essay Example

Should medical marijuana for pain treatment be legalized? The time has come to end the war against use of medical marijuana for pain treatment. Despite public support coming from 44% of Americans in ending prohibition of medical marijuana (Hechtkopf, 2009) the Federal government has remained steadfast in its rule to prosecute users. This rule should be ended now and amendments to the law be given due consideration by the U.S. government. The state laws should be uniformly implemented in all of the states of America because a lot of resources are devoted in the arrests of marijuana users instead of using the spending money for health and rehabilitation. In the U.S.

alone, for the year 2009, there is a total marijuana arrest of 858,408, from which 758,593 is due to possession, while 99,815 is due to trafficking or sale of marijuana (Drug War Facts No. 8). What’s more, if the government is really serious on cost of spending in the criminal justice system, it is about time that the government takes this matter seriously. Attitudes gathered from the poll survey (Hechtkopf, 2009) showed that the population differs in opinion. The West, in Gallup survey, favored legalization as a revenue generating scheme, while the younger generation supports this for medical reasons; however, in terms of ideology, a large percentage, or 78% overwhelmingly supportive of the issue.

A gathered opinion from Atty. Cohen of CBS News suggests taxing marijuana use, which is tantamount to legalization. He said that the government should consider the revenues gathered from legalized marijuana aside from decongesting jail conditions in the U.S. (Cohen, Andrew, 2009). A lot of savings could be devoted to other purposes of the government than marijuana arrests because of relaxed policies. Prohibition should be ended because a number of states in America have softened on their stand against marijuana use for medical purposes as they have seen the benefits.

Among them are 15 states of the U.S. that include Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The District of Columbia is coming close to elimination of its prohibition as it showed symbolic support to medical marijuana use but did not give legal protection to its users. New Mexico passed medical marijuana laws in 2007 while other states have made their own researches for medical laws, but so far only 13 states have made positive results (Procon.org.) Reforms are needed and a relaxation of medical marijuana laws should be done in the urgency of the need of patients care.

Studies have shown that medical marijuana has health beneficial effects to several sicknesses and can alleviate pain of patients. For instance, relating to marijuana and safety, the DEA’s Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young had concluded that “in strict medical terms, marijuana is far safer than many foods commonly consumed”. By comparison, the Judge said that eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response, while it is impossible physically to eat enough marijuana to induce death.

The conclusion further said that “marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man, and that it can be safely used under the supervised routine of medical care” (Drug Enforcement Administration). The supervised routine of medical care referred to in the 15 states of United States is in the form of possession limit. For example, in Arizona, in 2010 allowed possession of marijuana by 2.5 oz. usable and 0-12 plants, and requires registry or applications.

The quantity of allowance is not uniform among the 15 states. The government should not deny patients of their rights to benefit from the medical relief of the plant and therefore should now relax marijuana policies for medical purposes. According to Medical Marijuana Care, pain is reduced with the application of marijuana on certain diseases and sicknesses; most common of them are: attention-deficit-disorder, AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, asthma, auto accidents, Alzheimer’s disease, chemotherapy, chronic pain and others.

A list of diseases and practical application of medicinal marijuana as cure is attached for reference. Patients who have received marijuana treatment avowed relief from pain. For instance, Anthony Jourdeen, a patient who uses chemotherapy for his rare case of cancer, said that medical marijuana gave him the energy to get up in the morning, and without it, he said, he would have been reduced to skin and bones. The director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana, Greg Francisco, was happy about it as he is one among those who are pursuing for the legalization of marijuana for its medicinal benefits for over ten years.

(McVivar, 2009) Legalization should be pursued further because of the people’s responses and need. The government in Michigan received praises for their efforts in legalizing of marijuana for medical purposes as applications coming from residents to be an authorized user pours in the department. As of 2009, there were about 2,144 pending applications but not all are approved, more than 280 have been denied. The war on drug policies against use of marijuana medical treatment should end now because it has become evident that the advantages owing to it outweigh disadvantages.

Disadvantages can be resolved and given due process thru law, but sickness cannot be cured by law. Works Cited 15 Legal Medical Marijuana states and DC. 28 Feb. 2011 Cohen, Andrew. Time for marijuana legalization. Economic Crisis, spurring politicians to talk about legalizing pot. 25 Feb. 2009. 28 Feb. 2011 Drug War Facts. No. 8 total marijuana jailed and drug arrests by years. 28 Feb. 2011 Hechtkopf, Kevin, 2009. Poll:44 percent support marijuana legalization. Political Hotsheet. 2009. 28 Feb.

2011 McVivar, Brian.Users of Medical Marijuana defend its benefits. The Muskegon Chronicle, mlive.com. 2009. 27 28 Feb. 2011 l  US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22], (September 6, 1988), p. 57. 28 Feb. 2011 http://www.iowamedicalmarijuana.org/pdfs/young.pdf, Annex 1 Benefits of Marijuana Here is a list of common diseases that marijuana has been known to benefit. We have outlined the basic symptoms and the potential benefits marijuana has on each disease.

ADD/ADHD AIDS Anorexia Arthritis Asthma Auto Accidents Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Injury Cancer Chemotherapy Chronic Pain Chronic Nausea Colitis Crohn’s Disease Epilepsy ESRD/dialysis patients Side effects from Dialysis Fibromyalgia Glaucoma HIV Head Injury Hypertension Irritable Bowel Syndrome Migraines Muscular Dystrophy Multiple Sclerosis Muscle Spasms Nausea Paraplegia Parkinson’s Disease Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Quadriplegia Radiation Therapy Seizure Disorders Sleep Disorders Spinal Cord Injury/Disease Sports Injury Tourette’s Syndrome Source: Medical MARIJUANA Care