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Melanee Mills

Professor Paul Roberts

HLTH 1050

3 August 2020

Research Paper: Why Marijuana?

Marijuana, also known as cannabis or hemp, has been a drug widely used throughout the

United States for many years. Millions of people use this stimulant drug every year (ProCon.org

1). The question is, “Why do people use marijuana?”. To understand the answer to this question,

the distribution, use, and effects of the drug must be analyzed.

People use drugs for the effects the drugs produce in their bodies. As a psychoactive and

stimulant drug, marijuana exhibits a wide range of largely temporary effects on the human body

and mind. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, some of the most common

symptoms of marijuana use are “altered senses, altered sense of time, changes in mood, impaired

difficulty with thinking and problem solving, impaired memory, and hallucinations…” (NIDA

2). Combined, these symptoms give users the “high” effect. Many users want the relaxed and

carefree feeling that the drug produces. This type of use, where the motivation is purely for

escaping reality by getting high, would be classified as recreational in nature.

Another reason that marijuana is used is for its medicinal value. Marijuana is composed

of many chemical compounds. The two main compounds are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and

cannabidiol (CBD). THC is the active psychotropic element in marijuana that causes the “high”

in people. CBD is the component of marijuana that does not cause the mind-altering effects that

THC does but will still have inhibiting effects on the nervous system (NIDA 1). In the medical

world, doctors and scientists are most interested in utilizing the CBD component of marijuana
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because it provides the desired nervous system depressants without causing the patient to

become high.

There are a variety of diseases and disorders that could be treated with CBD. However,

for many years the use of marijuana as a medicine has been greatly controversial due to the

general view of marijuana as a purely recreational and delinquency-causing drug. In fact, it was

not until 2018 that marijuana was approved by the FDA for medicinal purposes (FDA 1). The

FDA approved a marijuana derived drug, Epidiolex, is an “oral solution for the treatment of

seizures associated with two rare forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet

syndrome…” (1). These two seizure disorders are usually diagnosed in early childhood and

many children with these disorders do not live past eight years old. Traditional western medicine,

treatments, and pharmaceuticals can help patients with these disorders, but most patients never

receive much long-term relief from their seizures with these practices. This all changed when

CBD oil was introduced to patients with these seizure disorders.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta with CNN created a documentary about a little girl, Charlotte Figi, with

Dravet syndrome. This disorder caused her to have many intense seizures every day. Her parents

took her to many doctors, tried numerous medications, and did all they could to find adequate

treatment for their daughter, but they came up short for a long time. Eventually, they decided to

try CBD. The Figi family found a distributor who had cross-bred a marijuana plant that had

extremely low levels of THC and high levels of CBD. For any other use than medicinal, this

ratio of chemical compounds would be undesirable because low THC means less of a “high”.

However, for Charlotte and other children like her, this ratio is exactly what was needed. Almost

immediately after taking the CBD oil, Charlottes seizures lowered in frequency and intensity

until she was basically seizure free. This shows that marijuana does have medicinal value. There
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quite simply may not be any other option for some people. If CBD works, then it should be

available for those who need it (Gupta, “Weed”).

With CBD becoming increasingly accepted in the medical world, more people are using

it. In most states, to legally use marijuana products for medicinal purposes, one must apply for

and obtain a “Medical Cannabis Card” (Utah Dept. of Health, “Utah Medical Cannabis

Program”). As of May 17, 2018, there were 2,132,777 legal medical marijuana users who were

registered and had cards. However, some states have not legalized medical marijuana and

California does not require registration for use, so ProCon.org gave an estimated number of

medical marijuana users at 3,514,510 nationwide (ProCon.org 1). These numbers show a

significant national demand for medical marijuana to be available.

In the state of Utah, the Department of Health recorded that “6.1% of adults reported

current use of marijuana” (current use = use within the past 30 days) with the most prominent

users in the age range of 18-34 (Utah Dept. of Health, “Utah Health Status Update”). In the same

survey, it was found that 42.3% of current consumers of marijuana used it for non-medical

reasons or in other words, for recreational purposes. Those using marijuana for only medical

reasons comprised 26.9% of current users, and the remaining 30.8% reported using it for both

medical and non-medical reasons (1). This data shows that there is a high demand for marijuana

as a medicine with 57.7% of current users being for medical purposes. While there is still

concern for the dangers of recreational use marijuana at high levels of THC, the medicinal value

cannot and should not be overlooked.

In the past, it was illegal to grow, distribute, sell, and/or use marijuana in the United

States. During these times, marijuana had to be smuggled in due to the demand for the drug.

Now, with some states legalizing marijuana, there is more marijuana being grown in the states,
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but this does not mean that the smuggling has stopped. Regarding the current supply of

marijuana in the U.S., the National Drug Intelligence Center stated, “Despite continuing

increases in the amount of cannabis produced domestically, much of the marijuana available

within the United States is foreign produced. The two primary foreign source areas for

marijuana…Canada and Mexico” (NDIC 1). While legalizing marijuana has slightly impacted

the drug business internationally, foreign supply of drugs like marijuana is still happening which

often corresponds with other forms of unwanted organized crime.

There are many reasons that people use marijuana. Just like any drug, there are legitimate

medical uses for it. However, there are also legitimate dangers to using the drug. With proper

regulation and responsible use, marijuana could be a life saver for many.
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Works Cited

Bassir Nia, Anahita. “Cannabidiol as an Adjunctive Treatment for Schizophrenia.” Psychiatric

Times, vol. 36, no. 4, Apr. 2019, pp.5-7. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=ccm&AN=135948636&site=eds-live.

FDA Commissioner. “FDA Approves First Drug Comprised of an Active Ingredient Derived from

Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration,

FDA, 25 June 2018, www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-

drug-comprised-active-ingredient-derived-marijuana-treat-rare-severe-forms

Gupta, Sanjay. “Weed 2 – Canabis Madness.” Youtube, Decriminalise it – Jersey, 11 Mar. 2015,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m09Inj-aaK8&feature=youtu.be

Gupta, Sanjay. “Weed.” Youtube, Decriminalise it – Jersey, 11 Mar. 2015,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SZzgfyXhJI

NDIC. Primary Foreign Source Countries for Marijuana. National Drug Intelligence Center,

July 2009, www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs37/37035/foreign.htm.

NIDA. "Marijuana DrugFacts." National Institute on Drug Abuse, 24 Jul. 2020,

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana Accessed 3 Aug. 2020.

ProCon.org. “Number of Legal Medical Marijuana Patients – Medical Marijuana – ProCon.org.”

Medical Marijuana, Britannica, 18 Oct. 2019, medicalmarijuana.procon.org/number-of-

legal-medical-marijuana-patients/.
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Utah Department of Health. “Utah Health Status Update: Current Marijuana Use in Utah.” IBIS-

Utah's Public Health Data Resource, Utah Department of Health, Jan. 2019,

ibis.health.utah.gov/ibisph-view/pdf/opha/publication/hsu/2019/1901_Marijuana.pdf.

Utah Department of Health. “Utah Medical Cannabis Program.” Utah Medical Cannabis, 2020,

medicalcannabis.utah.gov/.