We now embark on an era where the idea of marijuana is shifting from negative to positive. Generally seen as a liberal prospect, marijuana is becoming more accepted among many subcultures despite conservative belief systems. Though it is often associated with an unproductive youth, marijuana is proving to have medical benefits that transcend and negate some of the stigma behind it.
There are many myths I would personally like to see these put to rest. While it is true many people become addicted to drugs like heroin and cocaine after smoking marijuana, how many consumed alcohol earlier-or even milk for that matter? While it is true most people who partake in “hard” drugs like heroin also smoke marijuana, this is a small portion of total users. It has been shown to be less addictive than cigarettes and even chocolate. There are some hazards such as mixing with certain medications for those with psychological disorders-but that is also the case with the majority of modern pharmaceuticals.
I find it confusing that alcohol is legal and marijuana is not. Marijuana affects your reflexes but it does not make you feel invincible. Alcohol takes away your inhibitions and makes you feel like you can do anything. You can ask anyone and a majority of them will say they have made mistakes while being intoxicated. Whether this means drinking and driving or having sexual relations without protection, any of these mistakes can change a person’s life for the worse.
Marijuana generally makes you feel happy, sleepy, and hungry. It is highly unlikely that someone is going to feel inclined to do something dangerous while under its influence. I have been around people who are intoxicated from alcohol and high from smoking marijuana. I can say with complete conviction that people become more rowdy and unruly from drinking alcohol than from smoking marijuana.
Regardless of marijuana being used recreationally it has been proven to be effective in treatment of many illnesses and disorders. A woman named Jacqueline Patterson has a severe case of cerebral palsy. She has children and is a widow. Because of marijuana she is able to live a somewhat normal life. In this video she begins speaking more coherently after inhaling once. Sure, she could have taken a pill to help but the positive effects would not have been as immediate. You can see the amazing effects medical marijuana creates at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLpJMacS8c8&feature=related.
My grandmother passed away from uterine cancer six years ago in February. At the end of her life she was given high doses of morphine and did not eat. If anyone has ever lost a loved one from cancer you can understand how painful it is to see them in so much pain and essentially deteriorate before your eyes. I wish I would have known then what I know now and could have helped ease her struggle. Dr. Bruce Bauknight states, "Cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy often suffer loss of appetite and chronic pain. Marijuana could help to revive patients' appetites while reducing nausea and pain" (Ortega, 2010). When someone is fighting a losing battle with death it is only decent to give them anything that will make them feel better, regardless of what the government says.
Marijuana can be a very beneficial antidepressant. So many people suffer from depression and many of them choose to medicate themselves with alcohol which is a depressant whereas marijuana can level emotions and relax the body. A good friend of mine was going through a deep depression about a year ago and started smoking out of curiosity. Within a month I noticed her mood shift to much more positive and asked her if she was taking any form of antidepressant. She informed me that she had started smoking marijuana out of curiosity but continued to self-medicate because it helped her balance her moods and relax when she was feeling anxiety. Robert Melamede states, “Marijuana helps my depression significantly. I can be in one of my non stop crying mania self-hating moods and the ONLY thing that has any sort of calming effect on me is Marijuana. Should I keep pumping myself of dangerous chemicals included in anti-depressants or could I simply smoke a bit of Marijuana and feel that sense of relief? That sense of calm that overcomes me?” (Melamede, 2010). So obviously this is not just a fluke with my friend.
For those people who associate marijuana with strictly smoking might like to know that you can feel the effects of marijuana through avenues other than smoking. You can bake marijuana in brownies, make teas, and use vaporizers. Marinol, or medical marijuana, is distributed in pill form so you do not need to smoke it. It is completely understandable that people would be afraid to smoke marijuana especially those with asthma or emphysema. These other alternatives to smoking just prove that the fear of harming your lungs is not exactly necessary.
Dr. Igor Grant states, “There is not very strong evidence that marijuana, for example, produces emphysema or lung cancer or permanent brain damage… anything you smoke in a combustible form has potential risks, but the safety profile seems to be better for it than some other drugs like tobacco” (Buchanan & Colliver, 2010). Of course there are side effects for smoking marijuana but they are negligible when you compare them to the benefits. Victoria Colliver and Wyatt Buchanan state, “The first U.S. clinical trials in more than 20 years on the medical efficacy of marijuana found that pot helps relieve pain and muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and certain neurological conditions, according to a report released Wednesday by a UC research center” (Buchanan & Olliver). It is doing the medical world a disservice to brush marijuana off as a recreational drug. Due to more research there is evidence that marijuana can absolutely benefit the medical world.
If marijuana were to be legalized I propose that laws be placed that are paralleled to alcohol. You must be of a certain age to smoke, you should not operate heavy machinery while under the influence, and you should not work while under the influence. Like anything else, if done in moderation, the negative effects are fairly limited and pale in comparison to the side effects of many pharmaceuticals..
Dr. Yusuke Yahagi states, "Overdosing on marijuana can suppress breathing and change behaviors, and smoking even a small amount can slow a person's decision-making process... That's why marijuana is not legalized -- due to the potential danger to both the patient and other people," (Ortega, 2010). Though I fully respect Dr. Yusuke Yahagi's claim, I must point out that it is impossible to overdose from smoking marijuana. You would have to smoke 1,500 lbs. of marijuana to overdose which is close to at least $150,000. I disagree with his statement that reason marijuana is not legalized is because it slows a person's decision-making process. I feel the real reason marijuana is not legalized is because of the government's view on it. It is assumed that marijuana breeds chaos and insolence when in fact this only comes from people who feel inclined to create negativity prior to smoking. It is not surprising to me that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands who recently closed eight prisons because there is a lack of need.
If people in government were paying attention they might realize that legalizing marijuana would boost the economy. The Wichita Eagle states, "[California] would overhaul the state's marijuana laws and allow possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana for people 21 and older while imposing a $50-an-ounce sales tax, much like taxes on tobacco and alcohol. The billions in revenue this would generate might be one way for the state to help solve its budget problem." (Anonymous, 2010). It is comical to me that people think that by keeping marijuana illegal they will prevent people from smoking. It simply creates a black market. Our country is based on a very straight-laced Christian ideal and this is just not how the world works anymore. It is so important to adapt and change with the times because without accepting a change in thought society can become stagnant.
Gabe Semenza asks the question, “Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug (in this case, marijuana) the way they can beer or cigarettes?” (Semenza, 2009). My answer is that if I were to have children I would rather they had access to marijuana any day of the week than alcohol or cigarettes. As I do smoke cigarettes I can confidently say that they are highly addictive. They become habitual and I have heard it said it is more difficult to stop smoking cigarettes than to quit a heroin habit. You can overdose from drinking alcohol it is merely called “alcohol poisoning” rather than “overdosing”. Alcoholism runs in families and can destroy lives. Though you can become habitually and mentally addicted to marijuana you cannot become physically addicted.
A petition created to legalize marijuana states, “Regulated, legal market in marijuana would reduce marijuana sales and use among teenagers, as well as reduce their exposure to other drugs in the illegal market. The illegality of marijuana makes it more valuable than if it were legal, providing opportunities for teenagers to make easy money selling it to their friends. If the excessive profits for marijuana sales were ended through legalization there would be less incentive for teens to sell it to one another” (Anonymous, 2010). I could not agree more with these statements. Right now a huge part of the allure of smoking and distributing marijuana is that it is illegal. The black market is everywhere and anyone can easily have access to it. We have to think logically and realize that every demographic smokes marijuana and is not going to stop because people wish it away.
It is completely understandable that some of the public might be hesitant about legalizing marijuana. We have grown accustomed to this law and are relatively comfortable with it, with the exception of those actively fighting. This being said, the alcohol prohibition shows us that some governmental decisions are unnecessary. If alcohol were illegal the public would not stand for it and I feel we should view marijuana in this way. The only difference is that marijuana has been illegal for so long that it has become concrete law and has become taboo because of this law. Why have something in front of us that is so beneficial to the medical world and has no serious side effects and allow it to stay banned? It reminds me of banning books, it is just completely unnecessary. I realize that legalizing marijuana is more than the literal. It symbolizes a shift in tolerance that has progressed throughout our society. I feel that tolerance for homosexuality and different ethnicities falls along the same lines as tolerance for marijuana. It is simply another shift in understanding that should take place.
We now embark on an era where the idea of marijuana is shifting from negative to positive. Many people naively lump it into the same category as heroin and cocaine. I truly believe that if people were more informed there would be a shift in the understanding of not only marijuana in general, but its positive effects on the medical world. It is important for the public to understand that marijuana has been given an unjustifiably negative reputation because people were not as informed as they are now. We now have the information at our disposals and all I would like to see is for people to carry out research before making a choice on whether a plan should be legal or not. It is up to the public and we can influence the government’s decisions. We just have to care enough.
References
Anonymous, (2010). Why Marijuana Should Be Legal. www.petitionsite.com.
Anonymous, (2010). Pro-con: Time for states to legalize marijuana? The Wichita Eagle.
Buchanan, W. & Colliver, V. (2010). Clinical tests cite benefits to pot. San Francisco
Chronicle.
Melamede, Robert, (2010). Don’t believe the lies! The TRUE benefits of Marijuana.
www.squidoo.com.
Ortega, J.R. (2010). CON: Other alternatives available to avoid legalizing medical marijuana.
McClathy-Tribune Business News.
Ortega, J.R. (2010). PRO: Texas should legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. McClathy-
Tribune Business News.
Patterson, J. (2008). Marijuana: For Medical Purposes Only Pt. 2. Youtube.
Semenza, G. (2009). Con: Legalizing marijuana won’t improve society. McClathy- Tribune
Business News.
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