The Question over MedicalIn Nov. 1996 the people of the State of California approved proposition 215, the initiative that could make marijuana legally available as a medicine in the U. S. for the first time in 60 years. Under this initiative the government will not prosecute patients or their caregivers who possess cultivate marijuana for medical treatment.
The medical recommendation may be either written or oral and doctors cannot be penalized by the state of Arizona at the same time. However at this time it is still illegal to posses, administer, sell or use marijuana in any of the other 48 states across the U. S. Why haven’t the rest of the country followed the lead of these two states? What this paper attempts to do is provide a proving argument that it is immoral to deny seriously ill patients the right to use marijuana for medical purposes, and that the current misperceptions about marijuana have been grossly overstated.
Basically I’m going to prove the marijuana has been given a bum rap. Currently there is question as to whither there is a valid use for marijuana for medicinal use. This question has been the spark for much controversy. “There is no evidence to prove marijuana’s use in chemotherapy. There are numerous alternative drugs that obviate the need to even pursue research on the subject.
” Our course scientific research would give use a different opinion than the one above that current President Bill Clinton has stated above. Marijuana’s therapeutic uses are well documented in the modern scientific literature. Using either smoked marijuana or oral preparations of delta-9-THC (marijuana’s main active ingredient), researchers have conducted controlled studies. These studies demonstrate marijuana’s usefulness in “reducing nausea and vomiting, ” “stimulating appetite, promoting weight gain, and diminishing intraocular pressure from glaucoma. ” There is also evidence that smoked marijuana and/or THC “reduce muscle spasticity form spinal chord injuries and multiple sclerosis, and diminish tremors in multiple sclerosis patients.
” Other therapeutic uses for marijuana have not been widely studied. However, patients and physicians have reported that smoked marijuana have not been widely studied. However patients and physicians have reported that smoked marijuana “provides relief from migraine headaches, depression, seizures, insomnia, convulsion, and chronic pain. “In the U.
S. , using marijuana for medical purposes is illegal because federal law includes marijuana in schedule I, a category for drugs deemed unsafe, highly suspect to abuse and possessing no medicinal value. In 1996, voters in California and Arizona went to the polls and in sweeping victories, told Washington that federal drug policies – at least as they applied to sick people – were wrong. Voting on proposition 215, Californian’s “approved the medical use of Marijuana by a 65 to 35 margin.
” In Arizona a solid majority (65%) voted to give the doctors the right to prescribe a range of drugs, including marijuana, heroin, and LSD. However, federal law prevents states from making marijuana supplies legally available. In effect thousands of “Americans use marijuana as a medicine illegally, putting themselves at risk of arrest and prosecution. ” Unfortunately other who might benefit from marijuana are deterred by its illegality. Since 1986, synthetic THC (Marinol) has been available as a Schedule II drug, which allows physicians to prescribe it under highly regulated conditions. “It is only recently in July of 1999 that Marinol was moved from Schedule II to a Schedule III drug.
” The change makes it much easier for doctors to distribute the drug and keeps the DEA from looking over their shoulder each time they write a prescription. Marinol is labeled as officially as an anti-nauseate and an appetite stimulant, but doctors can and do prescribe it for other conditions such as depression and muscle spasticity. Even though THC delivered orally by Marinol is available, many patients find that smoked marijuana is more effective. For people suffering from nausea and vomiting, who are unable to swallow and hold down a pill, smoking marijuana has the additional advantage of delivering THC. “For nauseated patients, smoking marijuana has the additional advantage of delivering THC quickly, providing relief in a few minutes, compared to an hour or more when THC is swallowed. “Smoking marijuana not only delivers THC to .
