It cures more symptoms for more diseases and illnesses than any other medicine on the market today, and it doesn’t come with a host of side effects, like most of the pharmaceuticals advertised on television. It’s all natural and is not chemically altered in a lab by scientists. Any medicine that doesn’t seem to have more side affects than cures should be fairly popular in my eyes.
Unfortunately, it is also illegal under federal law in this country, although more and more states are starting to pass laws every year regarding it. A total of about 20 states, since 1996, are allowing patients to obtain this medicine, but it’s still not good enough. The medicine I’m describing is marijuana.
Medical marijuana is an issue that’s been debated for decades. I don’t believe anything that can be beneficial to a person’s health should be made illegal. A handful of countries, like Canada, the Netherlands and Spain, are starting to pave the way by legalizing the medical use of marijuana. I’m always being told to buy all-natural or organic products because they are better for me, even if they are a lot more expensive. So why should an all natural medicine like marijuana be illegal?
Marijuana is one of those natural products that have been proven to be beneficial in a variety of ways. Marijuana has helped with a wide array of symptoms associated with major medical issues, including eating disorders, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma, an assortment of cancers and HIV.
Marijuana eases mild pains and distresses, including nausea and headaches, which are the results of cancer treatments like chemotherapy. In these cases, the ingestion of marijuana, not limited to smoking, has reduced stomach irritability, regained appetites, and relaxed the muscles to reduce uncontrollable spasms and seizures. Marijuana acts as an appetite stimulant and increases hunger, so patients who refuse to eat, have no appetite or can’t gain weight have all been helped by marijuana.
According to a survey conducted by the “Journal of Palliative Medicine”, a majority of hospice health professionals have found marijuana to be preferred by their terminally-ill patients, over other treatments. They still receive all the medical benefits from marijuana, and it also helps manage their emotions. The patients have expressed how medical marijuana has raised their spirits about the next stage in their lives, made them more accepting of what is to come, and allowed them to have a more positive outlook in these negative times. A state of euphoria engulfs their body allowing them to enjoy the time they have left. Marijuana has been bringing peace to those who are sick for decades. I know I would like to have that option if I was in their position.
Doubters and nonbelievers of the drug wonder how an illegal substance can help in the medical field, but this is because most people are misinformed about marijuana or have negative preconceived notions that prevent them from expanding their knowledge. We all probably know someone who suffers from one or more of the symptoms and diseases that marijuana has the potential to alleviate. It should be given a chance. One natural form of medicine can help with all of those symptoms, rather than multiple expensive prescriptions with endless side effects.
Every year, there are more and more deaths by prescription drug overdose. In 2013, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdoses were up for the 11th straight year with over 35,000 deaths, 60 percent of which were directly linked to prescription pills. It’s difficult to tell what is exactly in the finished product of prescription pills designed in a lab. As a society, we should do more homework on a subject before jumping to a conclusion.
One such misconception about marijuana is that patients have to smoke it to feel the benefits of the Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in marijuana. But this is not true; new products are coming out every year, such as edibles, sprays, and creams, which have been proven to be equally effective.
This brings up the important issue; marijuana is a supposedly addictive substance. Marijuana doesn’t carry the same kind of dependence as narcotic prescription pills. According to “The Journal of the American Medical Association”, only about nine percent of all patients taking medical marijuana suffer from dependence and there has never been a lethal overdose of the drug.
With all these positive outcomes and far less negatives effects, how can marijuana not be the next big answer in medicine?
Hopefully the government and big name pharmaceutical companies, who are controlling what medications go into our bodies, will jump on the bandwagon that they perceive is being driven by a bunch of doped out hippies from Woodstock. It is the right step for this country to take medically. Legalizing medical marijuana will show that we don’t have to be stuck in our stubborn ways and are a nation capable of change.
