Marijuana should only be legalized for medicinal purposes.

The recent legalization of marijuana in California, Nevada, and Massachusetts has set a new precedent for the impact of future approvals on the health of Americans. Marijuana was prohibited at the federal level for a long time before Colorado and Washington became the first of several to legalize it in 2012, albeit for recreational use. According to reports, the medical effects of the contentious drug have led to legal marijuana becoming the fastest-growing sector in the United States based on the most recent trends. In fact, it is affirmed that the new realization of the productive ways of pot will end in sales that amount to $22 billion by 2020 (Horowitz 320). The need for the legalization of the commodity has further been necessitated by the fact that other countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain have made significant advances in the cannabis control policy following the therapeutic effects that are observable from the drug. It is ridiculous that marijuana is yet to be formally legalized at the state and federal level in the United States with the apprehension that it can be used for a vast array of medicinal benefits including pain management in cancer and HIV, epilepsy control, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Background

The challenges in the legalization of marijuana date back to as far as 1937, when the U.S. passed the Marihuana Act that permitted the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The Act was the initial step in the major advances that showed the government’s efforts to counter the dangerous and addictive state that was associated with it. Still, at the federal level, the Controlled Substances Act prompted a new stage for researchers to explore the efficacy and potency of the drug as a medicinal commodity following the outlaw and scheduling of the drug by the fact that there was no acceptable medical use. However, it was not until June 20, 2014, there was state approval of the use of the drug for therapy. Recent statistics have shown that the number of patients authorized for marijuana treatment is approaching more than 2.4 million by the end of 2012 (Horowitz 327). Ever since, a wide array of medical conditions has been treated including Alzheimer’s, gastrointestinal disorders and Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

Benefits of Medicinal Marijuana

One of the advantages that have been highlighted from the use of marijuana is the effect of pain reduction. Studies to describe the efficacy of pot in the reduction of pain have been centered on the role of skimmed cannabis in performing the role. Clinical trials initiated in 1999 a promulgated by the State of California Medical Marijuana involved assigning patients to smoke marijuana weight approximately 4-32 mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The results were astounding after it was found that the two trial conducted on patients, who had pain caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus peripheral neuropathy, showed massive improvement. According to Maule, it was found that the pain reduction on the patients was 34-40 percent while the placebo reported a pain score of 17-20 percent (85). Combined with other related findings, it was summed that marijuana has the capacity of lowering the incidence of pain by as much as 30 percent compared to the rate achieved by prescribed standard non-opioid drugs including anticonvulsants and noradnergenic drugs. In fact, a wide range of studies on other conditions have confirmed that cannabis can be used in palliative care to manage chronic pain in diseases that cause cancerous tissue. Thus, with more possible avenues to describe palliative care as a foundation for the control of pain, it is recommended that marijuana should be approved for use.

Another crucial aspect: Use in cancer patients

Another crucial aspect that constitutes the foundation for the legalization of marijuana is the associated therapeutic effect that has been described in its use in cancer patients. Johannigman and Eschiti affirm that this criterion has for the foundations in the understanding of the legalization of the medicine at the state level is because cancer has always been preferred as a disease indication (361). Other than its use in oncological palliative care, other benefits that scholars have associated with the use of marijuana was increased appetite, and nausea among patients suffering from various types of cancer.

Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS)

It is also stated that the use of the drug can be described in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). The recent revelations that have originated from the studies by the National Academy of Neurology have indicated that there are evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of pain (Horowitz 321). When taken both as a pill and as an oral spray, it has been found that the incidence of pain that is associated with spasticity and tremor, frequent urination, among other related conditions would disappear from the use of the drug (Horowitz 322). There have been advanced studies in other parts of the world that involved randomized oral cannabis extract. The use of marijuana is described to have resulted in twice as effective results as that reported from the use of the placebo with further findings including the reduction in insomnia, pain and muscle spasms. However, like other drugs, there is a need to ensure that the results are not used as an extrapolation but only as a foundation for the understanding of other better ways that pot can be used for therapy purposes.

Improvement in outcomes among epileptic patients

Furthermore, the positive assessments of the therapeutic effects of marijuana have established the correlation between its use and improvement in outcomes among epileptic patients. It is stated that the use of cannabis accounts for about 70 percent of the patients who were considering the complementary and alternative guideline, a majority of these patients stated that were using marijuana for medical objectives. Despite the fact that four randomized trials have since been described, there has been inconsistency in the reporting of the results especially following the realization that the efficacy of marijuana could not be drawn. However, it is argued that those who used 200-300 mg daily were perceived to be classed in the safe category, at least for short periods of time (Maule 85). The research on the use of marijuana for medical reasons is one among the many that have since been described yield inconclusive but promising results especially with the call for increased research into the drug by the Epilepsy Foundation.

The Use of Marijuana in the Philosophical Sense

The subject of medical legalization of marijuana can also be interpreted in the context of philosophical ethics to determine whether it is justified to use by the public. The principles of utilitarianism acknowledge that an acts can only be perceived to be morally right when its outcomes bring the balance of utility so that there is a balance between the benefits and the harms (Bailey and Porter 24). From the context of its use for recreational purposes, it is noted that the smoking pots results in more adverse health outcomes on the user and the society than the possible benefiting effects. However, its use for medicinal purposes is justified because of the positive effect of having therapeutic effects and it is thus appropriate to affirm its used for medicinal reasons. Nevertheless, it is advised that the prospect should be educated on the usage of the drugs with both the adverse and the beneficial effects that are anticipated being described for them to make informed choices because based on the utilitarian theory, the use of marijuana only needs to have more positive effects to be warranted.

Conclusion

In summary, it is critical to affirm that with the realization that marijuana as the capacity to yield therapeutic effect there is a need for a change in the legislation that determines the policy on its usage among the public and should only be legalized for medicinal use. From the foundation of the processes that have been used to justify its usage that date centuries ago, and with the widespread consensus in the understanding of the array of medical benefits, the US should follow suit and legalize the drugs for use among those who need it. A wide variety of conditions have been identified to progress positively following the initiation of medicinal doses of cannabis with the most common examples including the effects noted in palliative care pain reduction, the management of epilepsy and in the countering of cancerous tissue. It is noted, however, that some have still yielded inconclusive results. Thus, there is a need for more research into the subject, with patients under prescription advises adhering to the implications for practice for marijuana use.

Works Cited

Horowitz, Sala. “The Medical Use of Marijuana.” Alternative and Complementary Therapies, vol.20, no. 6, 2014 pp. 320-328.

Bailey, Jeffrey J. and Jason C. Porter. “Utilitarian Ethics and the Purposeful Creation of Dissatisfaction.” Journal of Global Business Issues, vol. 2, no. 1, 2008, pp. 23-30.

Johannigman, Suzanne, and Valerie Eschiti. “Medical Use of Marijuana in Palliative Care.” Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, vol. 17, no. 4, 2013, pp. 360-362.

Maule, Warren J. “Medical Uses of Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa): Fact or Fallacy?” British Journal of Biomedical Science, vol. 72, no. 2, 2015, p. 85.