Use of Marijuana As MedicineIf your every waking moment was consumed by pain and nausea, wouldn’tyou ask for medication? What if the only medication legally available wouldleave you unconscious or do nothing at all? If you were the one suffering, wouldyou resort to the only treatment that allowed you to live normally even thoughit was illegal? Thousands of people across the country are forced to break thelaw to ease their pain. They have chosen marijuana over anything legallyavailable because it has various medicinal properties that cannot be foundanywhere else. Due to these many unique medicinal uses, marijuana should bereclassified as a valid, legal form of treatment.
Marijuana has many unique uses as a form of treatment. It has been usedeffectively to combat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, to reduce the internalpressure of the eyes of glaucoma patients, and to prevent the wasting syndromein AIDS and cancer patients (Marijuana for the Sick A10). As an alternative tousing actual marijuana, modern science has developed a synthetic form of THC,the active chemical in marijuana. However, this synthetic drug, called Marinol,is useless for most everyday treatment because it has the unpleasant side effectof being a powerful sedative. A member of Milwaukee’s AIDS community, said thata friend of his was taking Marinol to increase his appetite: He spends thewhole day laughing and watching movies. .
. He can’t even drive a car because he’sso out of it. (3/25/97) In addition to that, Marinol only comes in pill form,which makes it useless for patients taking it for nausea. Marijuana has neitherof those drawbacks. Because it is usually smoked, even the most nauseous patientcan use it as well as easily regulate their intake (Medical Marijuana 23). Noprescription drug offers the benefits and potential of marijuana.
Many people have testified to marijuana’s validity as a unique form oftreatment. One of these, Robert Randall, one of only eight patients suppliedwith marijuana by the federal government, was diagnosed with acute glaucoma andtold that he would be blinded within five years (Brazaitis 1C). Randall discovered by accident that smoking marijuana relieved the internal pressure ofhis eyes (1C). After more than twenty years of smoking marijuana, Randall stillhas his vision, defying the predictions of his doctors (2C).
Richard Brookhiser,a senior editor of the conservative National Review who has admitted to usingmarijuana to treat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, claims that if thatmoment comes to you, you will turn to marijuana. (Brookhiser 28) Rita Zweigfurther illustrates marijuana’s effectiveness: If anything that is prescribedworked as well for me, she said, I wouldn’t use marijuana. (Snider A1) Thesethree people represent thousands of sufferers across the country who usemarijuana as a form of treatment. Marijuana as a form of treatment has gained support from the medicalcommunity. Such prestigious medical publications as the New England MedicalJournal have come out in support of medicinal uses for marijuana (MilwaukeeJournal Sentinel 1/30/97 3A).
In addition to that, a Harvard study showed thatnearly 44% of doctors who treat cancer patients in the American MedicalAssociation, a group officially opposed to marijuana, have actually recommendedmarijuana to ease the pain of their patients (Medical Marijuana 22). Evenwith this support, the federal government has refused any sort of clinicaltesting or reclassifying. Because of its medicinal value and the lack of an effective substitute,marijuana should be reclassified as a Schedule II drug instead of a Schedule Idrug, which would allow it for certain medical uses. Other illegal drugs such ascocaine and heroin are classified as Schedule II, even though they areconsidered habit forming and dangerous, where marijuana, classified as aSchedule I, has never caused a death or overdose and is not considered addictive. The federal government refuses to reclassify marijuana because there is noproof that smoked marijuana is the most effective available treatment foranything.
(McCaffrey 27) There can be no proof until marijuana has been testedin a series of clinical trials. There can be no clinical testing of marijuanabecause the federal government will not allow them (Conant 26). Anyone who hasread the book Catch-22 will find this situation familiar. The government opponents of medicinal marijuana are against it forpolitical rather than practical reasons. Clinton, who suffered in the pollsafter he admitted to smoking pot, has taken a strong anti-drug stance to followin the popular vein of Reagan and Bush’s war on drugs. Congress has taken astrong anti-drug stance, which could be viewed as another example of Congress’detachment from the people they represent, since 35 states have laws that allowmarijuana for medicinal use in certain circumstances.
The newly passedreferendums in Arizona and California demonstrate popular support of these laws,and that they couldn’t be passed through California’s legislature alsodemonstrates the representative’s isolation from the voters. Federal law, whichbans marijuana for all uses, makes all these state laws illegal. This issuerepresents the power struggle between the state governments and the federalgovernment. The federal government has no constitutional right to ban drugs,especially not if it overrides a state law.
This issue has become more than justmarijuana for treatment of the sick, it has grown to include the federalgovernment’s desire to maintain its dominance over the state governments. Unfortunately, people whose morality and patriotism prevent them from usingmarijuana to treat their cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, or other illness pay the price. The other opponents of marijuana as a form of medical treatment havepresented several illogical arguments against it. Many opponents argue thatmarijuana is a gateway drug that often leads to harder drugs.
This argument iseasily disproved by the fact that use of hard drugs in the Netherlands hasdecreased significantly since marijuana was legalized (Medical Marijuana 23)u. Parents are often worried that prescription marijuana will mean that more of itwill get into the hands of kids. Some of these parents have prescriptions forMorphine, Prozac, Zoloft, Dexedrine, or countless other mood-altering drugswhich they successfully keep out of their children’s hands. Marijuana should reclassified so its unique medicinal value can belegally utilized to treat patients.
How long would the loudest opponent ofmedicinal marijuana live incapacitated by nausea or Marinol before he would turnto marijuana? Maybe opponents should spend a month or two in chemotherapy beforethey deny patients the most effective means of relief. Works CitedBrazaitis, Tom. “The Illegal Wonder Drug. ” Plain Dealer 2 July. 1995:1C-2C. “Journal backs medicinal use of marijuana.
” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel30 Jan. 1997: 3A. “Marijuana for the Sick. ” New York Times 30 Dec. 1996: A10.
Conant, Marcus. “This Is Smart Medicine. ” Newsweek 3 Feb. 1997: 26. McCaffrey, Barry.
“We’re on a Perilous Path. ” Newsweek 3 Feb. 1997: 27. “Medical Marijuana. “Issues and Controversies on File” 10 Jan. 1997: 22-23.
Brookhiser, Richard. “Pot Luck. ” National Review 11 Nov. 1996: 27-28. Snider, Burr. “Inside a Marijuana Pharmacy.
” San Francisco Examiner 3July. 1994: A1-A2.
