Medicinal Marijuana

Kyle Hart

English 103

Bob Mohrbacher

17 March 2006

Medicinal Marijuana

The battle to legalize marijuana has been fought for almost seven decades, rendering one of nature's most useful substances useless. The government's campaign against marijuana has created cultural factors that make the use of marijuana socially unacceptable. Although extensive scientific research has proven that marijuana treats many illnesses, legislation has not allowed the drug to be legalized. If this drug were made legal, it would open a "gateway" of medical marvels nation wide. Marijuana should be legalized for medicinal use.

In the United States, medical interest in cannabis use was found in 1860 by the convening of a Committee on Cannabis Indica of the Ohio State Medical Society, which reported on its therapeutic applications. More than 100 articles were published recommending cannabis for one disorder or another. During the years between 1856 and 1937, cannabis lost its image as a medicine and was left with a disreputable image as an intoxicant (Morgan 22).

There are many different ways and techniques of smoking marijuana and inhaling the drug into your lungs, including rolling a joint (marijuana cigarette), smoking out of a bowl, using a water pipe (or bongs) and a gravity bong. Joints are very common and well known throughout the drug community. Joints are better known for a relaxed atmosphere and typically related to "if you are listening to Bob Marley you are smoking a joint" (Morgan 123). Joints can be made with automatic tobacco rollers, papers and even a dollar bill can be used. It is said that smoking from a bowl is one of the best methods to smoke marijuana. There are many different ways to make a bowl; the simplest is to go out and buy one for an average price of $25. Aluminum cans, apples, and even certain sticks can be used as bowls. Using water pipes, or bongs as they are most commonly known, is a popular bowl smoking method. The smoke is filtered through water to cool down, allowing you to keep it in your lungs longer. Water pipes can be bought and made from a jar, aluminum can and PVC pipe. Water pipes are a more intense version of a bowl and can affect you sooner and harder. Finally, using a Gravity bong you can get an extreme amount of concentrated smoke in your lungs at once. The general purpose of a gravity bong is to fill your lungs with a large amount of smoke and overwhelm the individual.

Ingesting the drug is something that is most commonly accomplished by mixing "pot" in with brownie mix and baking it into the brownies to eat. There are not any other popular ways of Ingesting marijuana other than the most famous pot brownies; people have been known to eat the plant by itself, but has little or no effect.

The last method of using marijuana is vaporization, which is a technique used to avoid irritating respiratory toxins in the smoke by heating Cannabis to a temperature that allows the psychoactive ingredients (THC) to evaporate without using combustion. Vaporization is commonly used with medical patients that rely on marijuana but are concerned about the respiratory hazards of smoking the drug. The method of vaporizing marijuana is by heating the drug to a temperature of 180-200 degrees Celsius. At this point any harmful toxins are cooked out of the drug and the person will only get the affects of the plant without the harmful toxins that are contained in the smoke (Morgan 96).

The legalization of marijuana was strongly debated in the 1920s and 1930s, when it was first recognized as a dangerous drug, and tabloid newspapers published exaggerated stories of violent crimes supposedly committed by immigrants intoxicated by marijuana. In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act was signed to prohibit the use of marijuana because marijuana supposedly caused violent crimes, "sexual excess", addiction, and led to the use of harder drugs. In the 1970s, the government created the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study the effects of marijuana. The NIDA published many claims concerning marijuana use but they did not have evidence to support their claims. This misinformation and the government's campaign against marijuana made the legalization of marijuana impossible.

As of today, marijuana is placed in Schedule I deeming it abusive with no medical value whatsoever. Proponents of medical marijuana were outraged at this decision. As a result they took action in the courtroom to overturn the scheduling of marijuana to a Schedule II drug. Trials continued until March of 1992 with no success for the reclassification of medical marijuana (Weiss). However, the Food and Drug Administration had begun a program commonly known as Compassionate IND, in the mid-1970s, which allowed patients to obtain medical marijuana. A breakthrough for the proponents until the program closed in 1989 because of an enormous increase in applicants. Today, only eight people continue to use marijuana legally through the program (Weiss). For these eight individuals a victory has been won but what of the many millions of anguished patients who could benefit from this drug?

Though proponents of medical marijuana have seen victory for the eight states that have legalized medical marijuana, the laws today still have a long way to go. As of today in Arizona for example, physicians are allowed to recommend marijuana but not able to prescribe it. After evaluation to determine if the patient qualifies for the drug, the patient is given an identification card to protect him or her from prosecution. Laws are being passed to supposedly help patients by legalizing medical marijuana in certain states, yet the physicians are not allowed to prescribe the marijuana which leaves the patient which no other alternative then to venture out into the war zone of drug dealers to obtain their own medical marijuana. Since "marijuana cannot be prescribed because it is a Schedule I drug, a patient may get the recommendation, but procuring the marijuana still requires breaking the law" as quoted by David Fine. As the law stands today, a change is desperately needed.

Unlike the prescriptions that fall under the category of Schedule II drugs, marijuana is relatively safe. There has been no record of overdose due solely to marijuana, yet society has deemed it acceptable to prescribe drugs that may cause serious side effects, up to and including death. This makes no sense to jeopardize the health of seriously ill patients by prescribing narcotics that are proven to be highly addictive and cause much more serious side effects then to give in to the safer alternative being marijuana. The government has led the