Medicinal Marijuana Issue - Research Paper Example

?Medicinal Marijuana Cannabis Sativa commonly known as marijuana is the most abused drug in the United s of America whether obtained legal or illegally. Marijuana has been legalized in the sixteen states and Washington D.C. in America for medical use while eighteen states are waiting for legislation. Recently, The Dr. Oz Show presented a debate on the safety use and risks of medical marijuana and if states should legalize or prohibit its medical use, prescription and dispensation. Accordingly, two leading medical groups in America stated that medical marijuana has potential to be used as a medicine but the Controlled Substance Act of the government classified marijuana as not safe and without medical use. What if a number of patients have concrete evidences on the medicinal effects of marijuana? Should the government allow them to use it legally to save their life or continue its prohibition? Dr. Andrea Barthwell representing the White House National Drug Control Policy pointed at Dr. Oz’s show that state legalization of medical marijuana will only increase abuse incidences especially with the youth as the most vulnerable sector. On June 29, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington sent a memo nationwide stating that the state laws do not spare the patient or other users from federal prosecution when found guilty of abuse (Laitner and Bell, 2011). This memo was sent after Michigan reported a large scale law breaking incidents related to medical marijuana. Arguments against legalization of medical marijuana is sustained by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and by other similar studies of crusaders against marijuana with report stating the adverse effects of smoking marijuana includes disorientation of some brain functions, cardiac vulnerabilities, lung diseases, and addiction (2010). The federal government believes that legalizing medical marijuana will only provide more opportunity for abuse like in the state of California where restrictions on the use of drugs is loose a person can acquire medical marijuana card when a physician recommends it for treatment just for any kind of ailment. As presented at The Dr. Oz Show, medical marijuana across the states where it is legal can be prescribed for a bundle of diseases ranging from life threatening such as HIV, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain due to cancer, and non-life threatening such as headache, anxiety, stress, and insomnia among others (2011). On the contrary, notable medical marijuana advocates present at the Dr. Oz show like Dr. Donald Abrams, Director of the Integrative Oncology Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco, believes on the potential of marijuana to be used as medicine for critically ill patients because of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant characteristic. Another guest Montel Williams, famous host and author who is a multiple sclerosis patient, revealed that since he used medical marijuana no brain plaque growth has been observed in his brain . Williams shared that the University of Southern California, San Diego published its 2010 study which revealed medical marijuana as one of the top choices of physicians in treating patients suffering from multiple sclerosis and that there are no evidence suggesting smoking of marijuana as dangerous to lungs. Both sides taken considerably, the conflict is two tiers, at the government level and at the physician-patient level. The federal government declares that it illegal to use and distribute marijuana, and the Food and Drug Administration has not approved use of marijuana for medical purposes but many states are legalizing medical marijuana with varying and mostly loose regulations. The studies done to prove and disprove the medical efficacy and effectiveness of marijuana are done separately by different physicians and patients looking into its different aspects. Such that oncologists like Dr. Abrams looked into how medical marijuana can help alleviate sufferings of terminally ill patients while psychologist and other physicians like Dr. Barthwell concentrates only into the side effects of smoking marijuana. The irony of it all however as revealed by Montel Williams was that despite the federal government’s opposition against legalizing medical marijuana it has been running a special program for 20 patients at the University of Mississippi for twenty two years already. These selected people have been receiving medical marijuana monthly from the federal government which has been grown using public taxes. If these people were given the opportunity to receive treatment using medical marijuana, why not give the same opportunity to terminally ill patients who have medical proof that using marijuana has helped alleviate if not totally treat their diseases? Nobody desires to be persecuted by federal law neither to just stand by watching a person die when you know you can do something to save that person’s life. It would be equally painful to be robbed of the opportunity to live when you know there is a way to extend your life. Medical marijuana becomes a moral decision rather than clinical or even political when you see a terminally ill person striving to live more days to be with family and friends or perform more of life’s duties and responsibilities. When health and the right to live are the primary concerns, the patient has the right to know and have access on the medicine that can alleviate his or her suffering from the chronic disease. Everybody should be given the opportunity of a life worth lived. Whether the use of medical marijuana is legalized or not in a state will not erase the fact that some people will continue to access the plant for their personal consumption. Declaring it legal would however mean more state law on the control of its appropriate medical use, production, prescription, and dispensary. It would also provide opportunity to gather integrated scientific studies on its medicinal capabilities and implement the law that will discipline individuals found abusing the use of medical marijuana. Stricter laws and regulation on its growing, use, and dispensation can assist more in monitoring, evaluating and providing sanctions to those who abuse medical marijuana. As Montel said what works for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis may not work for other critically ill patients. Legalizing medical marijuana cannot be compared to the growing alcohol and tobacco abuse because both do not require strict physician prescription. Unlike alcohol and tobacco which are sold in any supermarket, medical marijuana will only be sold in accredited dispensaries from accredited physicians for scientifically approved and specified diseases. As a nurse practitioner, it is my ethical responsibility to advocate and work for the health, safety and rights of a patient (The American Nurses Association, Inc., 2011). As an individual, I do believe in a person’s right to pursue his or her desired destiny as long as no harm is inflicted to other beings in the course of obtaining it. Anything consumed in excess whether healthy foods or prescribed drugs is harmful to human body thus I am as well against any form and means of abuse that pulls down the quality of life. A patient with chronic illness has my support on the use medical marijuana as long as it is seen to be effective and with concrete evidences based on medical test results. Should there be abuse or any adverse reactions from inhaling medical marijuana, it is as well my ethical responsibility to report to the attending physician for review of the medical treatment to protect the life of the patient. Because medicinal marijuana is an issue that calls for more scientific research and stronger legislative directive, I, as a healthcare worker can do my part in providing the right quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services related to medical marijuana by being proactive in monitoring and reporting the use and misuse of plant. References Laitner, Bill and Dawson Bell (2011, July 8). U.S. No One is Outside Federal Marijuana Laws. Detroit Free Press. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-07-08-medical-marijuana_n.htm National Institute on Drug Abuse. (November 2010). Infofacts: Marijuana. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/infofacts/marijuana The American Nurses Association, Inc. (2011). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements. Nursing World. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNur ses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf The Dr. Oz Show. (2011, March 23). ZoCo Productions, LLC. New York. Read More