Medical
Marijuana: Harmful or Helpful?
For thousands of
years, marijuana has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments. Until 1937,
marijuana was legal in the United
States for all purposes. Presently, federal
law only allows seven Americans to use marijuana as a medicine. There are pros
and cons to using this drug but that is common among any medicinal drug. No one
has ever died from an overdose, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic
applications, including relief from nausea and appetite loss, reduction of
intraocular (within the eye) pressure, reduction of muscle spasms, and relief
from chronic pain (“The Need to Change
State and Federal Law”
1). Marijuana, even though it is illegal, has many beneficial medical purposes
and is even safer than other medicinal drugs.
Scientific
data on controversial subjects are commonly misinterpreted; and the medical
marijuana debate is no exception. Research has tried to present the scientific
studies in such a way as to reveal the strengths and limitations. Controversies
concerning non medical use of marijuana spill over onto the medical marijuana
debate and tend to obscure the scientific knowledge (Joy 1).
