CarolineHarrington

Harrington1

Mr.Starkey
GiftedEnglish8
4/3/16
MedicalMarijuana
Haveyoueverfeltsoillandyoudidntknowwhatwasbesttohealyou?
Doctorsnowwantto
usemarijuanaforamedicalpurposetohealtheirpatients.Usingmarijuanacanmakeyoujustassick.
Doctorsandscientistsaythatmarijuanaissafeandeffectiveformedicaluse,butitcanalsocause
multiple,severeinjuries.Marijuanaisaddictiveandinterfereswithyourbody,whichisthereasonwhy
itsillegal.Thereareothertreatmentsthatcanbeusedinsteadofmarijuanathatwontaffectpatients.
Marijuanashouldnotbeusedforamedicalpurpose.
Marijuanaisnotanecessarymedicationforanyonethatissuffering.
Thereismedicationtohelp
patientsthatisntillegalordangerous.Ifyouhavemajormigrainesorheadtrauma,youcanget
TranscranialMagneticStimulation(TMS).TMSisanondrugtreatmentthatgetsridofheadaches,back
pain,andpainthroughoutyourlegs.Somehospitalsofferapatientcontrolledanalgesia(PCA).The
PCAsystemhasbuiltinsafeguardstopreventyoufromoverdosingonpainmedication.Theysay
marijuanaisaddictive,andleadstoharderdruguse(medical).Tomostusers,marijuanaisaddictive,so
useatreatmentthatwontallowyoutoobsessovermedication.
Medicalmarijuanacanhaveanimpactonpatientswhoareinpain.
Therearereallynoother
medicationsthathavethesamemechanismsofactionasmarijuana.Dronabinol(Marinol)isavailableby
prescriptionincapsules,buthasthedistinctdisadvantageofcontainingonlysynthetic
delta9tetrahydrocannabinol(THC)whichisonlyoneofmanytherapeuticallybeneficialcannabinoidsin
thenaturalplant(Carter).GregoryCarterissayingthatmarijuanaistheonlymedicationthatworksin
thisremarkableway.Marinolissimilar,butitonlycontainssyntheticdelta9tetrahydrocannabinol,

Harrington2
whichisjustoneofthemanybenefitsthatmarijuanahas.Marinoldiffersfromthecrudeplant
marijuanabecauseitconsistsofonepure,wellstudied,FDAapprovedpharmaceuticalinstableknown
dosages.Marijuanaisanunstablemixtureofover400chemicalsincludingmanytoxicpsychoactive
chemicalswhicharelargelyunstudiedandappearinuncontrolledstrengths(CNOA).TheCalifornia
NarcoticsOfficersAssociationmentionhowunsafemarijuanaisandhowitshouldntbeusedformedical
use.
Drugsaffectpatientsinapositiveway,butisthatwhatmarijuanadoes?

AlthoughIunderstand
manybelievemarijuanaisthemosteffectivedrugincombatingtheirmedicalailments,Iwouldcaution
againstthisassumptionduetothelackofconsistent,repeatablescientificdataavailabletoprove
marijuana'smedicalbenefits.Basedoncurrentevidence,Ibelievethatmarijuanaisadangerousdrugand
thattherearelessdangerousmedicinesofferingthesamerelieffrompainandothermedicalsymptoms
(Frist).BillFristsaysthatmarijuana,foramedicalpurpose,isdangerousandunsafebecausethereisnt
enoughinformationtoconfirmthatitwillmakepatientsvigorous.Theeffectsofmarijuanacaninterfere
withattention,judgmentandbalance(Zimmermann).Marijuanacouldbeagoodmedicationifitwas
safeforpatientstouse.
Medicalmarijuanashouldnotbeallowed.
Itisadreadfulmedicationbecauseofitspowerful
effects.Marijuanaisanillegaldrugthatisntsafeforpatients.Ifyouareatahospitalbecauseyouora
relativeisill,rememberthatthereareothermedicationsthatarejustaseffectiveasmarijuana.Encourage
infirmariestonotusemarijuanatohelptheirpatients.Nondrugtreatmentsneedtobemoreknownthan
othermedication,likemarijuana.Scientistandphysiciansshoulddomoreresearchonthemedical
marijuanaeffectandgathermoredatatoproveitscomplicationsandbenefits,sopatientscanuseitto
recoverandstillbesafe.Marijuanaisaddictiveanditinterfereswithyourbody.Marijuanashouldnotbe
usedforamedicalpurpose.


Harrington3
(Medical)"MedicalMarijuanaProCon.org."
ProConorgHeadlines
.Ed.TraceyDefrancesco2014.N.p.,5
June2009.Web.3Mar.2016.
(Carter)"Top10ProsandConsMedicalMarijuanaProCon.org."

ProConorgHeadlines
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Akhavan2011.N.p.,31October2005.Web.03Mar.2016.
(CaliforniaNarcoticsOfficersAssociation)"Top10ProsandConsMedicalMarijuanaProCon.org."
ProConorgHeadlines
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(Frist)"Top10ProsandConsMedicalMarijuanaProCon.org."
ProConorgHeadlines
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Akhavan2011.N.p.,20Oct.2003.Web.03Mar.2016.
(Zimmermann)Zimmermann,ByKimAnn."MedicalMarijuana:Benefits,Risks&StateLaws."
LiveScience
.TechMediaNetwork,14Jan.2015.Web.03Mar.2016.