Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana: For

Legalization of Medicinal Marijuana: For

In the U.S., cannabis sativa, also known as marijuana, is illegal for medicinal purposes only because the federal law places it in Schedule I, a category for drugs that have been deemed unsafe, highly subject to abuse, and possessing no medicinal value. After much scientific research, and investigations of evidence, this has been proven to be quite inaccurate. First of all, Judge Francis L. Young, concluded not only that marijuana's medical utility had been adequately demonstrated, but also that marijuana had been shown to be "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" ("Medical Marijuana Briefing..). He also ruled that marijuana has legitimate medical applications and should be available to doctors.

Only eight people today receive marijuana through a federal "compassionate use" program which stopped admitting new patients in 1992, after the number of applications, mostly from AIDS patients, increased dramatically. Young also ruled that "Ð'...the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II" ("Medical Marijuana BriefingÐ'...). As a Schedule II drug, marijuana would be allowed to be prescribed to patients by physicians, but only under highly regulated conditions.

Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. No one has ever died from an overdose, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications such

as: relief from nausea and increase of appetite, reduction of intraocular ("within the eye") pressure, reduction of muscle spasms, and relief from chronic pain. Marijuana is frequently favorable in the treatment of the following conditions: AIDS, Glaucoma, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Chronic Pain, and Arthritis. In some cases, marijuana has appeared to be better than the commercially available drugs it replaces. For many patients, smoked marijuana proved to be more effective than both conventional prescription anti-nauseants and oral THC, which is marketed today as the synthetic pill, Marinol. Marinol and other drugs may be satisfactory substitutes for some people, but definitely not for all people.

There are others who disagree. These people feel that legalization would lead to the formation of other habits and to health problems, such as, the