This is what I have so far for my essay:
Marijuana Madness
Only eleven states have legalized marijuana for medical uses: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ME, NV, OR, RI, VT, and WA. Medicinal marijuana should be legalized in every state, not just eleven. Some people believe that prescribed medicinal marijuana should remain illegal because it could lead to other, harder drugs. But many others believe that it should be passed as a legal drug (by doctors prescription) because other legal drugs around today could be abused as well. If people were going to abuse marijuana, they would do so whether it was legal or illegal. So, it should be passed as a legal law to help the ill.
Marijuana is from a Mexican or Latin American origin. In terms of usage, marijuana has been known in central Asia and China around 3,000 BC. In 1937, the United States Marijuana Tax Act prohibited medicinal cannabis. Prior to this, 27 legal medicines contained marijuana.
Marijuana has been proven beneficial with various diseases. It is mostly widely known for helping with Glaucoma, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cancer.
Glaucoma is the second largest cause of blindness in the United States.
“It is a condition where the channels through which the fluid flows gradually become blocked, and the intraocular pressure gradually increases, causing increasing damage to the optic nerve, and gradual deterioration of vision” (The human eyeball…). It is said that the standard treatments to help with it have unpleasant/dangerous side effects. Long-term glaucoma patients using marijuana have preserved their eyesight 20-25 years longer. In addition, their eyes reduce in pain and occasionally the damage stops. By using medicinal marijuana, the intraocular (within the eye) pressure is lowered and the patient’s vision is restored.
“In the condition known as Multiple Sclerosis the normal functioning of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord is disrupted. Debilitating attacks, which last for weeks, come and go unpredictably, with gradual deterioration and eventual disability. Because the central nervous system controls the entire body, the effects may appear anywhere. Common symptoms include tingling, numbness, impaired vision, difficulty in speaking, painful muscle spasms, loss of co-ordination and balance, fatigue, weakness or paralysis, loss of bladder control, urinary tract infections, constipation, skin ulcerations and severe depression” (In the condition…). The standard drugs that would normally treat this disease are known to be addictive, and have severe short term/long term effects. Many people that have Multiple Sclerosis find out that these medications don’t even work. Cannabis (or marijuana) stops muscle spasms, reduces shaking and pain, and restores balance, speech, and eyesight. Wheel chair bound declare that they can walk independently when the use medicinal marijuana.
The drugs that treat cancer patients are extremely powerful and toxic chemicals used in medications. These medicines kill both cancer cells and healthy cells, which cause dangerous side effects. “The most common is days or weeks of vomiting, retching, and nausea after each treatment. The feeling of loss of control is highly depressing, and patients find it very difficult to eat anything, and lose weight and strength. People find it more and more difficult to sustain the will to live, and many chose to discontinue treatment, preferring death to treatment” (The drugs used…). Marijuana can relieve the nausea of chemotherapy and can allow its patients to eat and live like a normal person. Cannabis is much safer and usually a more effective drug for people that have cancer. People with cancer find it more effective to inhale (smoke) marijuana as opposed to taking it orally because they have trouble keeping things in there stomach long enough for it to work. By smoking marijuana, it has an instantaneous effect and the dosage is easier to control. Furthermore, cannabis helps them have more of an appetite, therefore they are able to gain weight easier.