   In recent years, many people have assumed marijuana is for recreational purposes, giving people the mind-altering effects, or high, after smoking or ingesting marijuana. However, marijuana possess medical properties that can contribute to the cure for certain medical conditions or contribute to maintaining its particular state. When it comes to the topic of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, most of us will readily agree that marijuana does contain medical components that will possibly treat or maintain a medical condition or offer a natural alternative to the pharmaceutical drugs on the market today. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes. Whereas some are convinced that marijuana offers a safe alternative to those who are battling certain medical conditions, other maintain that the the cost of legalizing medical marijuana will outweigh it’s benefits of legalizing. In my opinion, I believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal use, even when considering the health risks of using marijuana as a drug. 

In Lester Grinspoon’s article, “History of Cannabis as a Medicine”,   he claims the first proven evidence of marijuana being used as medical practice dates back 5000 years ago to the period of Chinese Emperor, Chen Nung. In China and the surrounding western counties marijuana was considered extremely valuable in the treatment of psychological disorders, naseua, malaria, pain relief, and constipation (Grinspoon 2-3).  During the 1890’s, JR Reynolds, a British physician found valuable evidence pointing  to the benefits marijuana has on neurological disorders, epilepsy and depression(Grinspoon 3). In America, during the 1930’s the Marijuana Tax Act was placed on prescription marijuana due to the federal government finding it addictive and leading to crimes(Grinspoon 7). They placed the tax in hopes of deterring citizens from using it as medicine since they started to believe marijuana did more harm than good. A few years later,  the United States Government removed marijuana from the United States Pharmacopeia, due to them believing marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and addictive(Grinspoon 7-8).  Eventually the U.S. government placed marijuana under the classification of a Schedule I drug, considering it a dangerous Drug. “According to the legal definition, Schedule I drugs have no medical use and a high potential for abuse, and they cannot be used safely even under a doctor's supervision”(Grinspoon, 8). The history of marijuana as medicine is important since it has been around so long and is continued to be used as medicine, because it proves it is an effective form of medicine. Also, since marijuana was classified as a Schedule I drug, it hinders scientist’s ability to study marijuana in depth, preventing the advancement of marijuana in the medical field. 

Marijuna consists of the dried leaves, flowers, stem and seeds of the Asian native plant Cannabis sativa . According to the Mayo Clinic marijuana consists of over 60 cannabinoids, the chemical compounds that are in the plant that reacts with receptors found in the human body, mainly focuses on the nervous system and immune system. According to Cavalet, there are two main cannabinoids found in marijuana that have the most health benefits. The first one being Delta-9-tetrahydrocannaboid, commonly known as THC. The contributes to the mind altering effects. However, THC does contribute to relieving nausea and increasing appetite(Cavalet). The second compound is cannabidiol, also known as CBD, which does not cause the mind-altering effects like THC does(Cavalet). The benefits of CBD includes anti-inflammatory agents, nausea easing and anti-aniexty properties.  Laura Connor briefly brings up the medical conditions that marijuana can cure or maintain. Those conditions include sclerosis, glaucoma, epilepsy, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, inflammatory bowel diseases, stroke and cancers. Chemicals in marijuana triggered reactions within receptor found in the body, but mainly focused around the immune system and the nervous system(Cavalet). By gaining the information about two major chemical compounds that make up marijuana, scientist are able to gain a more extensive understanding of how the chemicals in marijuana works in the body along with being able to  extract those for specific uses, or to attempt to make synthetic compounds of them. 

According to Kathy Koch, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug because the government believes marijuana is a “drug with no medicinal value and a high potential for abuse”.  Marijuana is in the same classification as heroin and LSD, posing it as a dangerous drug. As result of this classification, doctors cannot prescribe marijuana to their patients without committing a federal offense, even in the states that have legalized it. Marijuana is not allowed to be used in extensive clinical trials where humans are the test subjects, limiting the degree of knowledge that is obtained and viable for medical benefit in people from the study(Koch). Although doctors cannot prescribe marijuana, patients can still receive marijuana for medical uses. However, they must obtain an ID card.  According to Mary Clarkin, a bill has been passed in Kansas,  allowing individuals, under certain circumstances, to be able to use medical marijuana, while it is in consideration for the FDA approval process. The individuals who meet these conditions would be the ones who have tried countless medications, only to have their  bodies reject them. By allowing this to happen, consideration for FDA approval is more likely. According to Malcolm Ritter,  since the medical professionals lack the necessary information needed,  it creates a problem for  professionals when it comes to dosage or efficiency. Professionals face a difficulty in gaining scientifically backed information because “a lot of the literature is based off of self-reporting — and there was no standarizatinos”(Ritter). Since the government still considers marijuana illegal, addictive and harmful, they hinder scientists ability to do research by placing restrictions on the studies. Even though the government has approved a handful of medicines that contain certain ingredients found in marijuana.  Due to this restriction, the ability to study and make adjustments to medical marijuana, they still disapprove full marijuana as a legal drug. Since it is nearly impossible to gain the necessary information pertaining to dosage, safety, and what health conditions actually benefit from the use of marijuana; I believe the government should allow scientist to explore marijuana at a greater amount, allowing them to gain the necessary information to make safe calls when it comes to dosage and what it can be used for. Once scientist are able to do this, I think the legalization process will move forward at a faster past, due to the available information and information supporting the findings. 

Countless studies have been performed at universities across the world, gaining evidence of marijuana's medical benefits ranging from depression to glaucoma. While there is not exactly scientific evidence to back up each of these claims, there has been numerous encounters with people who have has success with their practice of using marijuana as treatment. 

Among the possible conditions that cannabis can help cure is epilepsy, a seizure disorder that affects millions of people. The seizure is caused by a group of brain cells, initiating the convulsating movements, staring episode or other similar attacks caused by epislepsy( Joy et al. 16).  A study performed at New York University School of Medicine by Katherine Mortati, Barbara Dworetzky, and Orrin Devinsky, involved a 45-year-old who suffers from epilepsy. He ran out of options in the medical world for his condition, until he came across this study, which used medical marijuana as a treatment regimen for him. After a certain amount of time, the number and intensity of his seizures decreased. They discovered “Marijuana may alter seizure threshold probably via cannabinoid receptors that are present in the brainstem and limbic and neocortical areas” (Mortati et al. 105). The essence of Martini's argument is that by finding this valuable information, they can help urge the government to remove marijuana from a Schedule I drug since there has been actual proof of the outcomes of marijuana. Also, this will guide scientists and physicians on a new route of medicine for epilepsy and encouraging them to look into the more natural alternative of cannabis.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is also commonly thought of as a condition marijuana could ease or cure.  A Time Magazine article published by Mark Thompson emphasizes the effects marijuana has on war veterans who are suffering from PTSD.  Mark Thompson explicitly notes that while there is not a therapy available that would work for all PTSD suffers, cannabis has been proven to work in an acceptable way for the majority of PTSD suffers who have attempted it, gaining positive results. Marijuana can positively affect anxiety, depression and restless minds and marijuana can also help those fighting phantom limb, which is the pain that continues even after an individual has had their limb amputated (Thompson). Even though there have only been anecdotal reports, it is leading to the first FDA-approval of a  clinical study of the effects marijuana has on individuals who have PTSD. The positive impact marijuana has on PTSD suffers is leading scientists to further studying these findings, gaining a greater amount of scientific evidence to back these conclusions up. 

In the 1970’s marijuana was found to be an effective treatment for glaucoma. Since then numerous studies reinforced these findings. As stated in David Turbet’s article, glaucoma is a medical condition that leads to eventual blindness due to the continual damage of the optic nerve. Studies were performed to find support of these findings, concluding,  marijuana use can help lower the IOP levels, due to the compound THC which is found in marijuana (Turbet).  However, according to Jill Cavalet, the relieve from marijuana does not last long, therefore the patient would have to have numerous doses throughout the day to have continuous relief.

Along with these major breakthroughs, marijuana can help elevate the pain and inflammation of arthritis. Laura Connor discusses the medical benefits of marijuana in their article “Could Cannabis be a Cure?". There have been proven cases where marijuana has soothed  arthritis pain and inflammation. A study performed at the University of Nottingham found cannabinoids can help arthritis without the mind-altering effects(Connor). Marijuana also has the ability to help those suffering from Alzheimer’sdisease. In 2014, Ohio State University held a study to see the effects marijuana has on individual who are affected by Alzheimer’s.Their findings found that marijuana does help slow the progression of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases(Connor). Laura Connor also includes in her article that marijuana can help “ reduce the size of the brain area affected by a stroke and other neurological conditions” when the drug is administered immediately (Conor).  Along with the positive effects marijuana has on neurodegenerative dieseases, it also helps prevent damage from things like concussions. The importance of this finding is it can prevent further  permanent damage to the brain and possibly reverse some damage. Marijuana has also been found useful in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Marijuana helps by relieving the symptoms of muscle tightening, spasms, pain and to help keep them moving.(Connor)

 According to Jeremy Hsu, over 150,000 Americans have died from painkiller overdose between the years of 1999 and 2014(Hsu). Urging physicians to look for safer alternatives for pain relieving medications, which gives marijuana the possibility to be the safe alternative to pain killers.  Hsu points out a study conducted by Montefiore Medical Center in New York City found states who do allow media marijuana had fewer overdose deaths than those states who still consider marijuana illegal. Hsu still points out that medical marijuana could not have been the exact cause for the results of the study. Hsu claims this gives a researcher a valid reason to investigate medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids in hopes of lowering some overdose deaths. A study was conducted at Washington University Pain Center proving medical cannabis does have a positive effect on chronic pain, over 44%  of individuals participation eventually stopped taking the painkiller(Hsu). This finding could lead to less painkiller  overdose deaths in the United States, which has become an epidemic among people in the U.S. 

    Though I concede that marijuana should be used for medical purposes for those individuals who suffer from certain medical conditions, I still insist that there is a downside to legalizing medical marijuana.  Since marijuana is a Schedule I drug, there is not a vast amount of scientific knowledge about marijuana; it could pose potential health risks for patients (Ritter). 

According to Malcolm Ritter’s article, “The good, bad, and unknown about marijuana's health effects,” marijuana could cause respiratory problems. This can happen because marijuana is filled with carcinogens, which, if smoked, can enter the lungs just like smoking cigarettes(Nemko). Since marijuana affects the system which deals with neurotransmission and regulating sleep, cognition and emotion, the use of marijuana could increase an individual's chances of developing schizophrenia(Ritter). Marijuana can suppress the immune system, leaving it more vulnerable than before, if an individual who has a disease that also suppresses the immune system, it can be fatal (Tashkin).  The THC marijuana contains binds to the cannabinoid receptors within the nervous system, causing cognitive impairment with thinking, judgement, concentration and coordination (Cavalet). 

Marijuana is not as addictive and many perceive, it has been proven it is only as addictive as caffeine, which is an everyday thing many people face. Marijuana can also be viewed as a gateway drug, leading the user to begin the use of harder drugs like heroin and LSD. Marijuana can also become addictive, with the individual experiences withdrawal side-effects to those similar to nicotine withdraw, showing through restlessness, irritability, weight loss, aggression,  and the craving for more(Budney et al.). In may cases, however, there has not been a significant amount of addiction, with many claiming it was just like withdrawal from caffeine. 

Medical marijuana would benefit the medical world in countless ways, from providing pain and inflammation relief, to relieving PTSD, and even to providing relief to the pressure associated with glaucoma. Even while there are health risks associated with marijuana for medical purposes, the benefits outweigh the risks associated.  I do believe marijuana should be legalized for medicinal uses in the United States, but only if there are restrictions placed on the medicine such as ID cards, who can prescribe it and obtain it, where they get it from, etc.
