Medical Marijuana essays

Medical Marijuana essays Marijuana is a drug that has been in the media for years. There is a constant debate about if it should be used medically. The world is afraid of what they do not know about marijuana; for years weve been told, say nope to dope. While marijuana can help for medical purposes it can also be of great danger. This is not true however, if it is used correctly. Historically, marijuana has been used to treat a multitude of illnesses such as AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and chronic pain. Currently, the treatment that is promoted most is the use of marijuana for its ability to control nausea in cancer and AIDS patients. In 1986, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in a pill form, which contained THC, a major component for the treatment of nausea from cancer chemotherapy. It has been determined that the pill, which is called Marinol, acts differently than marijuana that has been smoked and is not effective. Marijuana also has been found to be useful in the treatment of arthritis. Aspirin, commonly used for arthritis pain is believed to have caused more than 1000 deaths in the US annually. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are also routinely used for arthritis treatment, have caused more than 7,600 deaths and 70,000 hospitalizations. Even with the numerous deaths these drugs are still used to treat patients everyday. Marijuana, however, can be smoked several times a day without harming the body as Aspirin would. Also, there are no reports of death from the use of marijuana. Still there are long-term effects from marijuana that can put many people at risk. For example, smoking marijuana is even more damaging to the lungs than tobacco smoking is. Marijuana smoke as 50-70 percent more carcinogens than tobacco smoke does. Marijuana smokers can be found to have more microscopic damage to the lungs defense against inhaled contaminants and microbes, an ...