Legalizing Medical Marijuana

Regardless of ongoing clinical research into the risks and benefits of marijuana, the debate in America has been surpassed by expanded recreational access to medical marijuana (Nussbaum et al. 168). According to Nussbaum et al. (168), more than 20 states in the United States have long regulated marijuana, including Colorado and the District of Columbia; for example, medicinal marijuana was approved in Colorado in 2000, while recreational use was approved in 2014, with a population of not less than 2% registered to use marijuana for medical purposes. Despite the fact that several states have already legalized access to marijuana, state laws still prohibit its possession and usage; they have not outlined how it should be accessed or its potency and quality. The proponents of cannabis use attribute it to several medical benefits including pain relief, reduction of nausea, and vomiting while the opponents argue that legalization of marijuana will increase dependency, lung cancer, and other criminal activities (Johannigman, Suzanne and Valerie Eschiti 361). Gaining an insightful inquiry into the legalization of marijuana demands answers to: 1) What are the effects of allowing access and use of medical marijuana? 2) What are the economic gains of allowing the possession and use of medical marijuana? In so doing, this inquiry uses exclusively peer reviewed articles to gain an understanding of allowing access and use of medical marijuana among the American populace, provide a critical evaluation to guide the public debate, and foster formulation and implementation of respective policies.

Effects of access to and use of medical marijuana

According to Johannigman, Suzanne, and Eschiti (360), marijuana or cannabis is the most common drug and has been used for centuries. Johannigman, Suzanne, and Eschiti (360) ascertain that marijuana seeds have a nutritional value while smoking helps in relieving pain, convulsions, vomiting, spasticity, and nausea. Further, cancer has been approved as a qualifying indicator for medical marijuana to control appetite and pain while reducing vomiting and nausea. In essence, Johannigman, Suzanne, and Eschiti (360) depict an explicit indication that legalizing marijuana will have more positive health effects as opposed to criminalizing it and prohibit usage for medical purposes. A study by Ryan-Ibarra, Suzanne, et al. (141) indicate that 66 out of 400 marijuana compounds are cannabinoids, which have significant pharmacological effects including stimulation of appetite, anti-inflammatory effects, and muscle relaxation. In fact, Ryan-Ibarra, Suzanne, et al. (141) ascertain that cannabinoids have the potential to improve sleep, increase appetite, and reduce chronic pain among patients that fail to respond to several conventional treatments; therefore, as a healthcare intervention, it is critical to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

Legalizing marijuana has also been found to decline the rate of suicides observed among men (Anderson, Rees, and Sabia 2369). In their study, Anderson, Rees, and Sabia (2369) concluded that suicide rates amongst men of ages 20 to 39 fell after legalization of medical marijuana as opposed to those states that criminalized its use. Anderson, Rees, and Sabia (2373) argue that suicides among the young adults and adolescents are often mediated by stressful events in life including conflicts, abortions, financial difficulties, work problems, divorce, and unemployment. In their study, Anderson, Rees, and Sabia (2373) claim that marijuana use aids the individuals to manage stressful events; hence, it is important to legalize marijuana and avert the rates of suicides as it is an effective anti-depressant and medicine to panic attacks. Moreover, a study conducted by Palamar et al. (438) suggested that alcohol consumption has adverse effects when compared to marijuana use; use of alcohol leads to compromised relationships, regret, and unsafe driving.

Additionally, legalizing medical marijuana has been associated with a reduced rate of traffic fatalities contrary to the expectation (Santaella-Tenorio et al. 336). Accordingly, Santaella-Tenorio et al. (336) connote that enactment of medical marijuana lowered the traffic fatalities by 10.4% due to the consequential reduction of alcohol-related fatalities on the roads. In fact, enactment of the medical marijuana laws might have led to increased usage of cannabis and decreased consumption of alcohol, explaining the decline in alcohol-related incidents. As denoted by Joffe and Yancy (632), the population that advocates legalization of medical marijuana indicates that the mortality, morbidity, and economic costs of tobacco and alcohol usage dwarf those linked to utilization of marijuana in the US.

Economic effects of legalizing medical marijuana

Branon (16) argues that with the lurch towards public acceptance regarding gay marriages, it is almost natural that the libertarians will turn their eyes towards marijuana legalization. Although this aspect does not have the rights cachet cognizant of gay marriages, legalizing marijuana resonates with the population beyond the stoner crowds that see cannabis as being harmful than tobacco and alcohol whose prohibition has cost resulted to jailing of millions of persons and wasted billions of monies to ensure prohibition. In this regard, Branon (16) suggests that rather than concentrating on prohibiting marijuana, the government should focus on legalizing it and mint tax from it. Several people have been jailed due to possessing or using marijuana while dozens of others are put in rehabilitation centers and use billions of dollars to prohibit the drug; it is vital for the government to devise policies to allow possession and use of the drug while creating novel avenue streams, lower tax, and reduce deficits (Branon 16).

The official reasons to criminalize marijuana surrounding undue health hazards, public welfare, and safety have remained unproven (Galbraith 58). Galbraith (58) argues that the government has categorically failed to detect the valid reasons to continue criminalizing marijuana regardless of the use of millions of dollars from the state coffers. This has become dogmatic and catastrophic costing billions of dollars criminalizing the plant; besides, over 40 million smokers exist in Canada and US who send a lot of money to the farmers in South American farmers. It is, therefore, illogical to preclude the farmers from a continued supply of cannabis to the extant multi-billion-dollar market (Galbraith 58).

However, despite the medical and economic effects outlined pertinent to legalization of medical marijuana, Anderson, Hansen, and Rees (495) ascertain that permitting the use of marijuana will lead to increased abuse among the youth. Anderson, Hansen, and Rees (495) argue that legalizing marijuana paves way for abuse among youths, which might lead to increased crime and illnesses associated with its usage.

As denoted, legalizing medical marijuana brings on-board several health benefits including reduction of pain among cancer patients, controlling nausea, and vomiting. Further, cannabinoids incorporated in the plant boost appetite, induce pharmacological effects, bolster muscle relaxation, and act as anti-inflammatory; moreover, use of medical marijuana improves sleep. Additionally, use of marijuana has lesser effects when compared to other drugs such as alcohol, which has increased traffic fatalities. Using marijuana hampers the population from driving while drunk; hence, reducing the alcohol-related accidents. Similarly, economists argue that using legalizing cannabis will stabilize the US economy by creating avenue streams through introduction of laws to tax traffickers and those found in possession. Further, it is not worth to preclude the marijuana farmers who supply the multi-billion-dollar market with such an important plant. However, this legalization should be accompanied with care to ensure that the youths do not abuse the drug.

Works Cited

Anderson, D. Mark, Benjamin Hansen, and Daniel I. Rees. “Medical Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use.” American Jaw and Economics Review 17.2 (2015): 495-528. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Anderson, D. Mark, Daniel I. Rees, and Joseph J. Sabia. “Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicides by Gender and Age.” American Journal of Public Health 104.12 (2014): 2369-2376. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Galbraith, Gatewood. “The Economic Necessity of Marijuana.” Business & Society Review (00453609), no. 27, Fall78. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=4647780&site=ehost-live.

Joffe, Alain and W. Samuel Yancy. “Legalization of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth.” Pediatrics, vol. 113, no. 6, June 2004, pp. e632-e638. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hch&AN=13164462&site=ehost-live.

Johannigman, Suzanne and Valerie Eschiti. “Medical Use of Marijuana in Palliative Care.” Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, vol. 17, no. 4, Aug. 2013, pp. 360-362. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1188/13.CJON.360-362.

Nussbaum, Abraham M., et al. “Use and Diversion of Medical Marijuana among Adults Admitted to Inpatient Psychiatry.” American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse, vol. 41, no. 2, Mar. 2015, pp. 166-172. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3109/00952990.2014.949727.

Palamar, Joseph J, et al. “Adverse Psychosocial Outcomes Associated with Drug Use among US High School Seniors: A Comparison of Alcohol and Marijuana.” The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, vol. 40, no. 6, Nov. 2014, pp. 438-446. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3109/00952990.2014.943371.

Ryan-Ibarra, Suzanne, et al. “Prevalence of Medical Marijuana Use in California, 2012.” Drug and Alcohol Review, vol. 34, no. 2, Mar. 2015, pp. 141-146. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/dar.12207.

Santaella-Tenorio, Julian, et al. “US Traffic Fatalities, 1985-2014, and Their Relationship to Medical Marijuana Laws.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 2, Feb. 2017, pp. 336-342. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303577.