The Medicinal Marijuana Debate Essay -- Medicinal Marijuana Essays

The Medicinal Marijuana takeFor years research groups, certain state governments, pharmaceutical companies and even both(prenominal) physicians spend a penny battled with the federal government over the legalization of the marijuana whole works for medicinal purposes. Large amounts of research have been devoted to both sides of the crease however, legion(predicate) of the studies contradict each other when naming the benefits and risks of marijuana. How can we influence whether the therapeutic values of marijuana outweigh the hazards of the drug when there have been no definitive findings? First we must review what is known or so marijuana, such as how the chemicals in it affect the body, and then pick which contemplate results seem more scientific each(prenominal)y sound.For over 4000 years and in many different cultures, marijuana has been used medicinally for pain relief and intervention of many ailments. These ailments include digestive disorders, hemorrhaging, congestio n, asthma and insomnia. The drug has been administered orally, topically and by means of inhalation. It was not until 1937 that using marijuana became a federal offense with the entranceway of the Marijuana Tax Act ((6)). Today, marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, which defines it as highly addictive with no aesculapian usefulness-the same definition given to diacetylmorphine ((4)). The opioids in heroin and the cannabinoids in marijuana are used similarly by the brain. They both bridge synapses in the brain so that messages can be transmitted, in which case they are acting as agonists, or they block the agonists salad dressing site so that messages cannot be transmitted across synapses. In the latter(prenominal) case, the cannabinoids or opioids are acting as antagonists ((3)).Cannabinoids and opioids do not energise identica... ...dicine but with severe restrictions. Why deny ill people just about definite relief? References1) Marijuana and Medicine Assessing the Science Basehttp//www.nap.edu/hypertext markup language/marimed/es.html2) Medical Marijuana full analysis of the Institute of Medicines commissioned newspaperhttp//www.360marijuana.com/marijuana/articles/041999.html3) Scientific American Healing Haze?http//www.sciam.com/missing.cfm4) Drug Enforcement ecesis The Medical Myths of Marijuanahttp//www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/sayit/myths.htm5) ARDPArk, Inc. Synthetic THC/ Marinolhttp//www.ardpark.org/reference/marinol.htm6) Why all the controversy? What does the research actually show?http//www.medmjscience.org/Pages/history/chapter.bhtml7) New, Emerging enjoin of Marijuanas Medical Efficacy http//www.medmjscience.org/Pages/science/emerging.html