Four Twenty, Prescribe it?

: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 1

Four Twenty, Prescribe it?

Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized

Adam D. Foulke

Northern Oklahoma College

Adam Foulke
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 2

T,Th 11:30-12:45

April 12, 2017

The arguments over Marijuana have been the same as they were over 40 years ago. The

arguments for the legalization of the use of the plant include such reasonings as, it is a medical

miracle , it is not harmful to those that partake, and that compared to alcohol it is quite

safe. While marijuana is considered a gateway drug that can lead to harder drugs, the legalization

of marijuana should be contained to medical uses only. There are many reasons why marijuana

can be used as a good medical drug. From Alzheimer's to cancer, it has many good uses,

although the misuse of drugs should not be allowed, as the use of a drug only for a hallucinatory

experience is a poor use of a drug.

Why should Marijuana be legalized? Well, researchers have come up with many reasons

why, from developing drugs from TLC to clear plaque from the brain, to drugs that kill cancer,

and to treat PTSD, there are many more possibilities for medical uses of TLC. One of the

problems though, is that research on marijuana is hard because the federal government has only

one authorized grower of of the plant, so researchers can only get so much product to test with.

Thus the amount of research, and its ability to be replicated is small. Although this is distressing,

what the researches have find will show the federal government of the need for the legalization

of marijuana to help those in need.

The research on the medical uses of marijuana is numerous, there have been over twenty

five thousand papers on the subject of marijuana (PubMed), What many researchers have found

is that the medical use of cannabis does indeed work. In the case of brain tumors a study found

that THC was found to induce the death of various human brain cancer cell lines and primary

cultured human brain cancer cells by a process known as autophagy. (Guillermo Velasco) What
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 3

this indicates, is that marijuana does have a definitive use as a medical drug, but only in its

purified form, one that does not induce a high.

In other instances, the use of the marijuana has been used in the treatment of what many

doctors would consider medicinally untreatable PTSD with THC. The use of the drug is not well

known in its help on those with PTSD, while some research suggests that is helpful, other papers

suggest that cannabis is harmful to those with PTSD. One study in which the researchers

separated the subjects into four groups: Never-users, Stoppers, Continuing-users, and Starters.

The researchers findings showed :marijuana use was significantly associated with worse

outcomes in PTSD symptom severity, violent behavior, and measures of alcohol and drug use

when compared with stoppers and never-users. (Wilkinson, Samuel) These contradictory results

just show that more research is needed in the area of how cannabis affects the psychiatric

abilities of those with certain mental illnesses.

While these issues are large, they are not insurmountable, but they do show that the

government needs to make it easier for researchers to be able to research easier. Part of the issue

is that the government has a hard time recategorizing the drug do to the stigma attached to it by

being placed into the category it's currently habitating -category one of three, three being the

lowest- this and the fact that the largest current user of the drug use it to attain a high, thus not

endearing the possibilities of its more beneficial uses to those who craft the laws of the nation.

Research done to see if marijuana is harmful to the user is necessary before the

drug can be deemed usable as a medical drug. What these research papers have found is

intriguing. Some research has found that extended use, especially in those unused to its effects

may experience anything from panic, anxiety, paranoia, and even hallucinations. (Cox, Lauren)
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 4

Other effects of cannabis on the body include many of the same respiratory problems

experienced by tobacco smokers, such as increased daily cough and phlegm production, more

frequent acute chest illnesses such as bronchitis, and a greater instance of lung infections.

(NIDA) These, and other reports show that marijuana is not completely safe, unlike how some

proponents for its use claim.

What these studies show us is that the steps taken to achieve a medicinal use from

cannabis need to be taken with an accounting as to what detrimental effects the drug may have

on the body. For example, one study showed that marijuana use in some people, do mainly to

genetic factors, do indeed become addicted to the drug, further more, the study also showed a

link between the addiction, and depression. Further research is required into these areas before

concrete conclusions can be made. Furthermore, there is a large danger in that those who do not

need the drug, or those who become addicted through regular use, will abuse the system in ways

to obtain more of the cannabis.

Now what this has shown, is that the regulation and the research of cannabis is lacking in

many areas, making the arguments for its legalization a hard topic to stand by, as the evidence to

back up the claims is limited, but what evidence has been provided, does indeed show a

legitimate reason for its legalization.

Many problems associated with legalization, is in illegal use as stated above, but the

demographics involved the illegal use include those who are in the 8th through 12th grade range.

Studies have shown that those who are still young and use marijuana will develop problems in

the development of their brains. The overall abundance of marijuana if made legal will make it
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 5

all the more available to those who want to get it. Other studies have shown that with long use of

marijuana, the brain matter will start to degenerate.

Many of these issues may be overshadowed if scientists can prove that marijuana can be

used safely in the use of treating cancer, alzheimer's and other terrible diseases. Indeed if

scientist can show that the drug is useful, then the government will find a way to properly

regulate the drug, so that it will be less likely to fall into the wrong hands. Another concern is

that those who use marijuana will then drive on the road. Marijuana use in these situation impairs

the driver's ability to react properly, causing an increase in accidents for users.

While there is danger in the way people will misuse the drug, an inevitability, what the

government can do is develop programs that do punish misusers, but not as badly as they do

today, these less harsh sentences will help to slow the spread of misusers of the drug, even if it

does not stamp them out completely. These lighter sentences may include less heavy fines,

decreasing jail time, and relabeling what it would take to become a felon by having marijuana.

All of these arguments as stated above, hinge on one assumption, that the use of medical

marijuana will be in a form that allows for its users to experience the highs that it causes its

natural state. If, instead, marijuana is taken and purified, distilled into its over one hundred

distinctive chemicals, then those chemicals are used as the basis for better medical drugs, which

would not cause the high that taking marijuana directly causes.

The purpose for medical marijuana should be just that, medical. The main reason for

advocating for the release of marijuana as a schedule one drug should be so that it can be used as

drug to save the lives of others. The extent of the use of marijuana should not extend pass this,

the effects of what pure marijuana can do to the body are still not well known, despite what
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 6

advocates for the plant say, it is still dangerous and naive to be taking such a drug and expect it

to not hurt anyone. For this reason more expansive research needs to be done.

To say that the whole of the drug marijuana is evil and should be banned, is simplistic.

One must not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Marijuana is indeed a useful drug, from

producing treatments for many forms of cancer, brain destroying disease and other unforeseen

benefits, marijuana is a whole pharmacy unto itself. Although the drug is useful, it does not

excuse the abusement of the drug for recreational uses. Indeed the best uses call for its purified

chemical forms, ones unsuitable for recreational use.

Bibliography

Author, Honey, K. (2009, April 3). "Anti-Cancer Effects In Active Component Of Marijuana."

Medical News Today. Retrieved from

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/144770.php.
 Four Twenty, Prescribe it?: Why the Drug Marijuana Should be Legalized 7

(10 April 2010) Title of article. Medical marijuana and the mind

Harvard Mental Health Letter. Retrieved from

http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/medical-marijuana-and-the-mind

Roitman, P., Mechoulam, R., Cooper-Kazaz, R. et al. Clin Drug Investig (2014) 34: 587.
doi:10.1007/s40261-014-0212-3

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40261-014-0212-3

Author, Wilkinson, Samuel, & Author, Stefanovics, Elina, & Author Rosenheck, Robert (2015)

Title of article. Marijuana use is associated with worse outcomes in symptom severity and

violent behavior in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. DOI: 10.4088/JCP.14m09475 or

http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/26455669

Author, Cox, Lauren (March 31, 2014) Title of article. Marijuana: Effects of Weed on Brain and

Body

Live Science

http://www.livescience.com/24558-marijuana-effects.html