First Written Record Of Medical Marijuana Use example essay topic

Marijuana Legalization Marijuana is one of the most controversial drugs today. Everyone is talking about it, and the question everyone is asking is why is it not legal? Many studies have been done on this drug for medical uses. Also to find what harm it can do mentally and physically. Marijuana has many different parts that can be used for everything from a medication to a bed sheet. Many countries use marijuana everyday, they use it for medicine, textiles, religious aid, and recreational use.

Scientists are finding use of marijuana in our history. They found evidence that the founding fathers grew marijuana, mostly for hemp (the fiber from the cannabis plant used for textiles, which contains a very low amount of THC, THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol's, the part of marijuana that produces the high). Very few states have passed laws legalizing marijuana; more states should view the benefits of what is said to be the "billion dollar crop", it is not just a used for recreational use it is used for sick and dying people to relieve some of the pain in their last few months here (Pluff 1). As the benefits of this wonder drug become more clear and myth is separated from fact, maybe more states will realize that this is a drug that can be as useful and work than anything tried in the past. More states in the United States have legalization laws that people think. States with legalization laws for medical use are California, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Missouri.

California is the most popular for its medical marijuana laws and the most controversial. The laws of each state differ in amount you can carry and the amount, if permitted to grow. The law in California is "the state can not impose civil or criminal penalties on any patient with "any illness for which marijuana provides relief" if Begley 2 the patient is possessing or growing marijuana for personal use. To verify a medical need the patients must have a recommendation form a physician.

Patients immediate caregiver are also exempt from state-level prosecution for marijuana possession or cultivation" (CAmedmj 1). New Hampshire only has medical marijuana laws for cancer chemotherapy and radiology. New Mexico and Michigan have laws for cancer chemotherapy and glaucoma. In New Mexico other patients with other diseases must get approval from the Patient Qualification Review Board (NMmedmj 1).

The law in Michigan allows patients with other diseases access marijuana if they get an IND permit from the FDA (MImed mj 1). All five states in the U.S. have passed a non-binding resolution that urges the federal government to make medical marijuana available for anyone that has any illness that marijuana provides relief. California uses marijuana from seized or forfeited from drug busts and other sources, if the supply of marijuana is not available from the federal government. Most of the states with medical marijuana laws get their marijuana from the federal government, and distribute it to the patients of that state. The federal government keeps close track of all marijuana to any state; the supply a patient gets is kept on record. The supply is sent every week to every month, and the amount sent is a projected amount that should last till the next shipment (La Fave 2).

When people talk about marijuana or hemp people instantly think about smoking it. What people do not know is hemp is one of the most widely used materials. Before 1883 seventy-five to ninety percent of the worlds paper was made out of hemp. The department of agriculture proposed to make paper out of hemp in 1930, the only problem was separating hemp pulp from the fiber cheaply. Six years later big companies like Begley 3 Dupont, Hearst paper, and Timber were making paper out of trees. Finally when a machine that separated the pulp and fiber came out a lot of money was already invested into tree pulp paper.

The industrial hemp uses part of the cannabis sativa plant that contains less than 1.00-% tetrahydrocannabinol's (THC). Industrial hemp can be grown with out the production of marijuana. Canada made its first harvest in'94 after a fifty-year prohibition law. The fiber is one of the most well known products; it is used for twine, rope, and textiles.

The rope is very resistant to deterioration in salt and fresh water. The fiber also produces the toughest cloth, used for painting canvases, sails, and on covered wagons. Hemp canvas does not rot when it comes in contact with water. The textiles that can be produced are tents, diapers, bed sheets, towels, and rugs.

The hemp clothes are softer, warmer, and more absorbent by three times over cotton. The stalk is perfect for making paper. Hemp makes more paper with less used, one acre of hemp produces as much as four acres of trees. Tree paper uses a lot of chemicals to whiten it; hemp needs less work to produce and is less toxic. Unlike tree paper, hemp paper does not harden, yellow, or crumble with age. The hemp grown for paper and textiles grows in humid climates with temperatures ranging from fourteen to twenty-seven degrees Celsius.

It grows best with maximum amount of rainfall, especially during the first six months of growth. It is planted from early march to late may in the northern latitudes (Pluff 1-2). Medical marijuana has been studied from years, and in some cultures it has been used already. Marijuana has a long medical history; it is the oldest plant living today.

The first written record of medical marijuana use was in china. The Chinese used Ma-Fe-San Begley 4 (Boiled hemp) for an anesthetic for patients, and Ma-Fen (fruit of the hemp plant) for clearing the blood, cooling body temperature, relieving flux er, helping cure rheumatism, and discharging pus from patients. Cambodia uses marijuana for treating malaria, asthma, paralysis, calming nerves, and regulate the heart. Thailand uses marijuana as an official medicine of the country. They use the boiled; sun dried leaves to treat migraines and dizzy spells, also as a relaxant before bed. Vietnam uses marijuana to alleviate memory loss, stop blood loss, and to treat gynecological problems.

America uses it to treat the side effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiology (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn, and ulceration); aids patients use it to stimulate appetite, treats spasms (spasticity), and to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients. The level of THC in the blood must remain at a certain level until the condition passes. Age varies the reaction to marijuana, patients of sixty years of age show very violent and sudden mood swings. Many doctors and scientists do not want to perform expensive and lengthy experiments on what marijuana can do for the body because of the fact that it is illegal in forty-five out of the fifty states. There is a reported seventy million people who have tried marijuana, twenty million of those people in the last year. In many studies there has been no signs of harmful side effects in long term consumption.

Scientists have been studying the effects of marijuana on human and animal cells; the findings have not turned up any conclusive evidence to prove marijuana is harmful. Following along those lines scientists have found no evidence that marijuana contributes to motivational syndrome or brain damage. The synthetic THC pill discovered is not as effective as the actual marijuana or THC. Begley 5 Marijuana also shows no addictive qualities to it, many heavy marijuana smokers have quit with little or no withdraw symptoms. Less than one percent of marijuana smokers smoke daily, and an even less percent have become addicted.

Many people talk about marijuana as a "gate way" drug, but that theory has been proven false. Marijuana is the most popular drug today, so people that have tried or do "harder drugs" have tried marijuana, there is no evidence of marijuana leading to other drugs. After Clinton was elected to office marijuana arrest have doubled, mostly from '91-'95. Eighty-five percent of marijuana related arrests have landed people in jail, while the rest are punished with probation, fines, civil sanctions, property seized, unemployment, and revoked driver's licenses (Zimmer 1-62).

Marijuana's history is long and extensive; marijuana comes from a Mexican word meaning "Mary Jane". Marijuana has been grown for medical use for thousands of years. By 500 a. d. India was the only country using marijuana as an intoxicant, they used it to aid meditation.

China grew marijuana for the fibers, and used it medically too, for constipation, the gout, malaria, and absentmindedness. Egypt grew marijuana also for the fibers and to treat glaucoma. Greece used marijuana for medical reasons only, to treat earache, inflammation, and edema. No records could be found of any other marijuana use in Greece. Africa uses marijuana to treat hemorrhoids (to restore appetite, relieve pain), antiseptic (tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium, tremors), nervous disorders (cholera, menorrhagia, ), and used the fibers.

Some African tribes smoke marijuana to stupefy themselves during childbirth, and a ground up form is fed to babies with bread during weaning. In the 19th century scientists found that tetanus could be cured with Begley 6 large doses of marijuana. In 1860 the Ohio State Medical Society on cannabis indica found new applications of medical marijuana. They discovered it could treat neurological pain, , uterine hemorrhage, hysteria, mania, palsy, whooping cough, asthma, gonorrhea, chronic bronchitis, muscular spasms, and appetite stimulation. The committee also found it prevents insomnia, cholera, and alleviation of hunger.

Research of the benefits of marijuana still continues in the 20th century, even though marijuana was made illegal in 1937. Other findings in the 20th century were marijuana reduces pressure of the eye by 30%, this was found in people with normal and an eye with glaucoma. Antibiotic possibilities were found effective against gram positive organisms, but inactive against plasma. The effectiveness of is confined to ENTS infections (ear, nose, throat, and skin infections). THC was tested on kids with epilepsy and out of the five kids, three turned out as good as a previous therapy, one was close to seizure free, and the last was seizure free. Marijuana has some rehabilitative qualities for alcoholics, although the results are inconclusive, scientists believe that symptoms of withdraw can be eliminated sooner.

Marijuana showed improvement in opiate and morphine abstinence syndrome by improving appetite and restoring regular habits (History of 1-10). Hopefully as the years progress more states will realize the wonders and help marijuana can bring to those in need. Marijuana is not just an intoxicant, but as lo a medical miracle. Maybe one day as more studies are done, and fact is separated from fiction. The benefits will become clearer, and more states will realize this and pass their own legalization laws. If more states could realize what over a hundred medical Begley 7 marijuana groups are fighting for, they might realize that marijuana could help a lot of people that are suffering from modern day medicines side effects.

Bibliography

1. Zimmer, Lynn Ph. D., Morgan, John P.M.D. Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts. New York: Linde smith Center, 1997.
2. Pluff, Courtney. Uses of marijuana. Available: web (19 Dec. 2000).
3. La Fave, Kathi. Marijuana as medicine. 4. History of Marihuana use: medical and intoxicant. 5. Medicinal marijuana laws in all 50 states. Available: web (2 Feb. 2001).