Debates On Medical Marijuana Legalization
Legalize Medical Marijuana
Over the years ‘drugs’ have been in the spotlight and have been the headlines of magazines, newspapers and even blog posts. While drugs have been surrounding us for years whether recreational or medical, we have still not yet come to a point where the topic of beneficial drugs can be seen in a positive manner. One of these drugs is Marijuana. The legalization of medical marijuana is an important issue that should be better looked at and its benefits should not be overlooked because of the stigma behind its name. Legalization of medical marijuana is beneficial in treating severe ailments, and is widely supported by health officials and the public.
Not only does the majority of public opinion support its legalization, but many professional health workers do too. According to CBS, “Among doctors, 67 percent said they believed medical marijuana should be a treatment option for patients. Half of those doctors in states where medical marijuana isn't legal said it should be legalized, as did 52 percent of doctors in states considering such laws.” (Preidt) In this quote, both doctors in and out of states that have legal marijuana are in support and believe it should be a treatment option for patients. If even doctors think medical marijuana should be legalized, then why isn’t it? Doctors know what is best for the patient and this proves that more than half of the doctors in states where it isn’t think that it should be legalized. “The survey of more than 1,500 doctors and nearly 3,000 consumers found that 69 percent of doctors said medical marijuana can help with certain conditions and treatments. Only 52 percent of consumers expressed that same belief.” (Preidt) Based on evidence collected and discussed in CBS source, more doctors, specialized people who know what is best for people, than consumers, thought that medical marijuana should be legalized because of it potential benefits, this proved that it is beneficial and its not just a recreational drug to be used abusively by the public such as Methamphetamine.
Many health officials believe there is a lot of evidence towards the benefits of marijuana usage, yet its drawback comes from people’s confliction to legalize due to the stigma behind it. Medical marijuana is proved to be an effective means of treating severe ailments such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and benefit many patients experiencing severe weight loss. The legalization of medical marijuana can help stop the spread of some diseases throughout ones body like cancer as well as numb some of the very harsh pain experienced in chemotherapy, it can also save lives; by increasing the appetite of severely underweight HIV patients. According to University of Utah’s Health Sciences College, “The endocannabinoid system influences our immune system, protects nerve cells from premature death, and influences mood, memory, appetite, sleep, sensation, and movement,” and these are only some of the benefits that medical marijuana can bring to a consumer.
According to the Huffington Post, “a team of drug experts in the U.K. assessed the combined harms to others and to the user of marijuana as less than the harms posed by alcohol or tobacco use” this quote shows that the legalized substances have more effect yet are not in the same category as medical marijuana, even if it is not as harmful. This quote is also supporting that Marijuana, as a drug, is much safer to use than already legal drugs and narcotics such as tobacco. Marijuana should be legalized because it is not as harmful as tobacco or alcohols, both of which cause many deaths yet are still legal. “Ever since mankind has known marijuana, not one single account of death from overdose has been recorded. On the other hand, in 2010, 38,329 people died from drug overdoses. Sixty percent of those were related to prescription drugs. In that same year, 25,692 people died from alcohol-related causes.” Proving both that Marijuana is not the cause of these incidents and that its abuse isn’t deadly. Although medical marijuana is considered as a prescription drug, it is not as harmful nor is it as addictive. By classifying it as an abusive substance, in the same category as serious drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, marijuana is unable to be used to its advantage medically even if its not harmful at all in comparison to these other drugs.
Medical marijuana has many benefits and support from different groups of people to support its legalization; its public opinion and medical backing are additionally great cause for its legalization. The legalization of medical marijuana can lead to many health benefits, especially in relieving symptoms of those with severe ailments. Over the years, more research has proven that some substances are more helpful than they thought they were previously and with this advancement in technology and research we should also advance in helping our people. Why allow others to suffer over the dislike of a medically beneficial drug due to a stigma behind its name?
