Medicinal Marijuana's Pros and Cons - Research Paper Example

There is also a segment of the society that believes that there are available many legal drugs sans the side effects attributed to marijuana. Some of the experts go even a step further to claim that the medicinal good attributed to marijuana is too exaggerated and far from being true. There is no denying the fact that negating the ethical and moral objections associated with marijuana, it is imperative to have an insight into the veracity of the pharmacological possibilities attributed to it, while also delving on the possible negative implications associated with the issue.

It was as far back as in 2737 B.C., that the Chinese emperor Shen Neng held that marijuana offered a viable possibility for the treatment of dementia, gout, malaria and rheumatism (Stack & Suddath, 2009). Form China, the popularity of marijuana as a healing herb eventually spread to Asia, Middle East and Africa (Stack & Suddath, 2009). It goes without saying that in a historical perspective, many of the renowned ancient physicians prescribed marijuana for a wide range of ailments. However, it also needs to be noticed that many ancient doctors also warned against the overuse or abuse of marijuana, blaming the overuse of marijuana being liable to give way to hallucinations, impotence, blindness and many other serious side effects (Stack & Suddath, 2009).

It was in 18th century that the American medical journals started supporting the usage of marijuana for the treatment of venereal diseases, inflammation and incontinence (Stack & Suddath, 2009). However, factually speaking, it was an Irish doctor William O’Shaughnessy that popularized the medical use of marijuana in America and England (Stack & Suddath, 2009). Yet, the strange thing was that in those times there was no controversy associated with the medical use of marijuana. A sea change in the state and public attitude towards the medicinal use of marijuana emerged at the end of the 19th century when a significant section of the American population got addicted to morphine that was used as an ingredient in many patent medicines (Stack & Suddath, 2009).

This brought in a significant shift in the American drug policy towards marijuana (Stack & Suddath, 2009). During the initial stages the governments tried to curtail the non-medicinal use of marijuana by imposing hefty taxes (Stack & Suddath, 2009). 23 states outlawed marijuana by 1937 (Stack & Suddath, 2009). In the 70s the Regan administration favored tough laws for marijuana. However, in a contemporary context, the trend has been towards the relaxation of laws pertaining to the medicinal use of marijuana.

Once California legalized the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996, this precedent was followed by a dozen states (Stack & Suddath, 2009). Hence, it will be really insightful to consider the pros and cons associated with medicinal marijuana. Marijuana, though being a drug could serve as a viable cure for a range of ailments (Earleywine, 2002, p. 15). It is a matter of public knowledge, the fact that even the patent drugs do also tend to have many side effects. Besides, there is a range of patent drugs that could be overused or abused by people.

So, it would be utterly unreasonable to raise an issue around the medicinal use of marijuana, when a range of patent drugs could be ascribed the ills and anti-social aspersions that are mostly