Marijuana essy compare and contrast essay help a+ essay writing

It was once thought to be one of the most dangerous illegal drugs on the planet, polarizing the public’s opinion. In todays world people’s opinion have swayed a bit for medical reasons specifically. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug used on the planet. For decades the global supply of the marijuana was controlled by criminals, but now it has become a legal industry worth billions of dollars. It is roughly a 120 billion dollar industry, used by 167 million people worldwide.

Marijuana is a psychoactive plant commonly known as pot, grass, weed or cannabis o a variety of different people. Many people have their different views about the worth of the plant in society, one side trying to legitimize the drug and the others want to get rid of it all together. In 1970 the U. S Federal Government passed the controlled substance act, classifying marijuana as a schedule 1 drug like heroin. This designates the drug as having a high potential of abuse with no additional value. But not everyone agrees with that notion, now 14 U.

S states are violating the federal law by allowing people to grow or purchase marijuana on a doctor’s recommendation. Chief among these rebel states is California. California’s tolerance toward medical marijuana dates back to the early 1980’s. San Francisco’s dermatologist Dr. Coronet is one of the world’s leading Aids expert. He’s been at the forefront of the fight against HIV since 1981, the treatments on his patients such as chemo therapy caused nausea and lots of vomiting. So they had a hard time keeping any of the medicine down. Dr.

Coronet says some of his patients told him that they had heard people saying marijuana will stop the nausea and other different aliments caused by the chemo treatment. Dr. Coronet says that the benefits of medical marijuana are undeniable, it relieves patients pain, stimulates appetite etc. Also Dr. Coronet says his patients themselves discovered that smoking marijuana was much more effective than any of the drugs the doctor prescribed them. One of the doctor’s patients who was first diagnosed with HIV in 1987, says his health was rapidly declining he was very sick with stage four terminal aids.

In 1993 the patient’s weight drops due to the medication he takes to stay alive. He wasted away to 120 pounds he has a rare form of anorexia known as HIV wasting syndrome. Meaning he was dying from starvation, he begins to smoke marijuana which is known to stimulate appetite giving users a term called the “The Munches”. The marijuana keeps the patient Greg eating while better life saving drugs where being developed. In 1996 California passed proposition 21 5, a state law allowing doctors to recommend marijuana to patients.

Now the doctor can’t dispense it, he can’t write a prescription for it because the pharmacy doesn’t carry it. All the doctor can do is indicate that in his or her considered opinion this patient would profit from using marijuana. Once the patient has a doctor’s recommendation they can legally grow their own or purchase marijuana from a dispensary. Also like everything else marijuana is subject to a sales tax. California has up to 400 thousand medical marijuana patients and growing every day.

Serving these patients are about 2100 dispensarys, that’s more medical marijuana dispensaries than the states Starbucks, Mc Donald’s and Seven Elevens marijuana to see if it meets the high standards needed to qualify it as medicine. They use very powerful microscopes to examine all of the medical marijuana that hey grow at the dispensary or receive from patients, they check it looking for mold or tiny little bugs that like the plant called (spider mites). The last fifth teen years have seen a medical revolution across America; doctors are recommending medical marijuana for everything.

From cancer to stress, despite being legal under state law dispensary owners risk prosecution under federal drug laws. Which do not recognize medical marijuana? The California medical revolution is powered by advances in horticultural science; by growing marijuana indoors it can be cultivated anywhere on he planet. Holland has legalized marijuana more than a million tourist come to Amsterdam to smoke weed every year in the citys 234 coffee shops. The Dutch police think they can keep marijuana from becoming a gateway to harder drugs by decriminalizing it and controlling its distribution.

It seems to be working to; Holland has around 85% fewer harder drug overdoses than the United States and the lowest rate in Europe. Although Dutch authorities tolerate the sale of small amounts of marijuana, production on a large scale remains illegal. Coffee shops are only allowed o have 500 grams of marijuana on the premise at any given time. Since the 1970’s the war on drugs has cost more than 2 trillion tax payer dollars but it hasn’t eliminated marijuana. In fact marijuana is so widespread that 41% of Americans have admitted too trying marijuana at least once including the president of the United States.

People that are in favor of legalizing medical marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, aids, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and lots of other conditions. Opponents of medical arijuana argue that it is too dangerous to use, it lacks FDA approval and that various other legal drugs make marijuana use unnecessary. They say marijuana is highly addictive leads to harder drug use, interferes with fertility, impairs driving ability, and injures the lungs, immune system and brain.

They also say that medical marijuana is a front for drug legalization and recreational use. There is a group out called MAPS, who are currently seeking regulatory approval to conduct a study of smoked and/or vaporized marijuana for symptoms of PTSD in veterans of war. MAPS n conjunction with the California branch of National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, worked between 1993 and 2009 to sponsor or research into the effects of vaporizers and water-pipes in filtering the fumes of inhaled marijuana.

Their goal was to determine if water-pipes or vaporizers could reduce the health risk of smoking marijuana. MAPS is currently the only organization working to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of botanical marijuana as a prescription medicine for specific medical uses to the satisfaction of the U. S Food and Administration. MAPS’ efforts to initiate medical marijuana research have been indered by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) since its inception in 1986.

NIDA’s monopoly on the supply of marijuana for research and the DEA’s refusal to allow researchers to grow their own has effectively paralyzed medical marijuana research, and for over ten years MAPS has been involved in legal struggles against the DEA to end this situation. Between National Institute on Drug Abuse for more research with vaporized marijuana. Due to excessive delays and frustration, in August 2009, the laboratory MAPS’ was working ith on the project withdrew its efforts.

There is much evidence largely anecdotal, that marijuana is useful as an anti-convulsion for spinal injuries, epilepsy, and many other diseases. Similar evidence suggests marijuana may be useful as an analgesic for chronic pain from cancer and migraine as well as for rheumatism and a variety of auto-immune diseases. Canabidiol, a constituent of natural marijuana not found in Marinol appears to have distinctive therapeutic value as an anti-convulsant and hypnotic, and to have counteracted acute anxiety reactions caused by THC.

It has een established that marijuana reduces intra-ocular pressure, the primary object of (Glaucoma) therapy. Due to its psych activity, however, marijuana has not gained widespread acceptance in this application. Many patients report using marijuana as a substitute for more addictive and harmful psychoactive drugs, including prescription painkillers, opiates, and alcohol. Marijuana and Marirol have also been found useful as a treatment for depression and mood disorders in Alzheimer’s and other patients. CITED CITATION www. maos. org/mm]l norml. org/component/zoo/category/recent-research-on-medicalomari]uana