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Jack Meeks
ENGL 1010-010
Dr. Jeffrey Greenwell
April 20, 2015
A Review of the Efficacy of Medical Marijuana
In America, our public schools have two main jobs. The first is to teach us the basics of
math, English, history, and other typical subjects. The second is keep our kids away from drugs.
It seems our youth nowadays are able to name off all the street names of drugs, but they still
struggle with long division. Good for them. They have to be able to know what to stay away
from, right? The last thing we want for children is for them to be taking mysterious substances
from dirty, scary strangers in an alley. At least thats how we all have been taught to picture what
a drug dealer looks like. Instead of purchasing illegal substances from a clich stranger in an
alley, picture purchasing legal drugs from a legitimate pharmacist from a respectable pharmacy
to fill your prescription prescribed to you by an actual doctor to alleviate the symptoms of a
serious condition. Im talking about medical marijuana.
In most states, marijuana has been categorized as a schedule 1 controlled substance. That
is the highest level of control, and marijuana is in that category along with crack cocaine,
methamphetamine, heroine, etc. However, 23 states have recognized marijuana to have medical,
and therapeutic uses for people with certain ailments and conditions. These states have legalized
medical marijuana use for these patients. With a little research, a recommendation from a doctor,
and if they live in a medical marijuana state such as California, Washington, and Colorado,
people can legally purchase medical marijuana. Medical marijuana should be legalized

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nationwide because it is effective in treating pain and relieving symptoms of certain conditions,
the negative side effects arent bad and blown out of proportion, and a partial legalization will
only cause problems for America.
Marijuana is very well known for sending its user into a very mellow, unmotivated, and
poorly functioning state. At first glance, that sounds like a very irresponsible activity to take part
in. However, recreational marijuana use is a subject for a different time. There are legitimate
medical uses for marijuana. It is most popularly used for nausea, anxiety, depression, and for
general pain. Medical marijuana has been increasingly popular for patients of chemotherapy
treatments. Patients of chemotherapy experience extreme nausea and vomiting so much that it
has been named CINV. A series of experiments and studies performed across the country, and
Jayme Cotter of the Oncology Nursing Forum reviewed the results of these experiments. In a
certain experiment, twenty chemotherapy patients received a capsule of THC, the chemical
compound in marijuana responsible for the high, while twenty-two different patients received a
capsule. Upon reviewing the results, patients assessed whether the medication they received had
antiemetic properties. Fourteen of 20 patients who received the THC capsule reported an
antiemetic effect, whereas 0 of 22 patients receiving the placebo capsule reported an antiemetic
effect (Cotter 346). You cannot argue with the results. There are self-proclaimed medical
experts out there who will tell you that marijuana can and will cure whatever ails you. That is
obviously not the case. However, because marijuana is so effective at relieving symptoms, it is
understandable that people would make such extraordinary claims. The antiemetic effects and
euphoric experience is brought on mostly because of THCs main effects on the body. THC
improves mood, reduces anxiety and relaxes the user (Harvard Mental Health Letter 2). Those
effects are so pleasant that it does a fantastic job of taking your mind off of the pain.

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Marijuana relieves symptoms of serious conditions, but what about the negative effects?
It is very acceptable to believe that marijuana can lead to a life of addiction. All the antimarijuana ads depict young teenagers with no communication or motor skills. One of the most
famous shows a young woman sitting on the couch with no bones with her friend saying Shes
been like that ever since she tried marijuana. As of right now, the only provable side effect of
marijuana is mild short-term memory loss. Daily injections with 9-THC reduced both
hippocampal long-term potentiation and performance on hippocampus-dependent memory tasks
in mice (Welberg 2). Thats not ideal, but acceptable. In relation to other popular painkillers,
THC does not seem bad at all. The most popular alternative to chronic pain relief would be the
use of opioid painkillers. Opioids are effective but bring on a large risk of addiction and
overdose. One large, fair-quality retrospective cohort study (n = 9940) found that, compared
with nonuse, recent opioid use was associated with an increased risk for any overdose events
(Chou 278). Marijuana is a safer and just as effective painkiller. But what about lung capacity?
It is only common sense to realize that smoking anything is bad for your lungs. After all, we
have seen countless commercials of the blackened, diseased lung with nothing else to blame but
smoking. Do not be fooled. Over the course of a twenty year study, shocking results were
discovered. Volunteers were surveyed periodically throughout the twenty year trial. They were
asked if they smoked marijuana. Those who answered yes also had to tell how much. Some
volunteers reported smoking marijuana only a few times per month. These light marijuana users
had above-average scores for their ages on lung function tests. People averaging somewhat
higher use fared no better or worse than peers their age (Seppa 14). If we were to compare
results like that to those who smoke regular tobacco cigarettes, there would hardly be any
comparison. The fact that marijuana has slight to no effect on lung capacity and function is

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definitely shocking to some people. It doesnt stop there, however. No one would give you a
second glance if you were to claim that smoking anything, including marijuana, could lead to
diseases like emphysema. That is yet another common misconception. The data also suggest
that marijuana is not a significant risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which
includes emphysema. COPD is typically caused by tobacco smoking (Seppa 14). As you can
see, marijuana has a lot of misconceptions that are popular among those who are not properly
informed on the topic.
Weve covered the fact that marijuana is perfectly suitable for medical use. However, it
is still illegal in most states. Colorado and Washington have gone all out and legalized marijuana
for recreational use, and 21 other states are good to go for medical use. This fact introduces a
few problem. There are still states that do not allow it. Because marijuana is so popular, people
will try to get their hands on it by any means. These means often include illegal activity. It is not
uncommon for medical marijuana to cross state lines for the purpose of re-sale and distribution.
It doesnt even have to be across state lines. People take advantage of medical marijuana to sell
to others for recreational use. With all the laws that accompany medical marijuana, it is still very
easy for crimes to happen. Crime rate will decrease and tax revenue for the state will increase
when medical marijuana is legalized for all 50 states. In the periodical Planning, a review of
the tax revenue of medical marijuana described the tax revenues of medical marijuana. In 2012,
five of the eight dispensaries allowed under the law opened in Maine, producing $265,655 in
sales taxes. The state also collected an addiction $488,700 in regulatory fees (Malinowski 9).
That is just one year of data collected from Maine. There is data stating that states like Nevada,
Montana, and New Mexico bring in upwards of $700,000 dollars annually in tax revenue
(Malinowski 9). This is money that can easily go to fund public schools, improve roads,

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building parks, etc. Take your pick. It is a lot more ideal than making the common citizen pay
more taxes to get these tasks accomplished. There are even people who are in jail because of
petty marijuana possession charges. These criminals are in jails and prisons that receive some
of their funding from tax-payer money. With a full medical marijuana legalization, tax revenue
will increase, and those prisoners will decrease in number. That in turn will decrease taxes.
There are those who will argue that marijuana is immoral. It is also popular to say that
marijuana is a gateway drug that will influence its users to try harder and more dangerous drugs.
Whether something is immoral or not is all in the point of view of the person making the
claim. Measuring somethings morality is difficult. However, it is undeniable that marijuana can
possibly lead to harder and more dangerous drugs. This isnt a deal breaker, though. Just like
how tobacco companies today are required to print a label warning the buyer of health hazards, it
would be a good idea to do the same with medical marijuana. Instead of warning people of
practically non-existent health hazards, the same could be done to warn people of the dangers of
trying something harder. For example, When used as directed, marijuana poses no threat to
your health. However, cocaine kills x amount of people per year. Besides, there isnt a side
effect of marijuana that forces you to go try meth or heroine. It is a conscious decision of the
user to put his or her life at risk.
I leave you with this information in hopes that you make your own well-educated
decision. There should only be two courses of action America should take. Either a full ban on
medical and recreational marijuana takes place, or a full medical legalization. Of the two, a full
medical legalization is more logically sound. Medical marijuana is effective in relieving pain
and symptoms of various conditions. The placebo effect had no place in the study of the
chemotherapy patients described in the third paragraph. It was clear that medical marijuana

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worked in relieving nausea and vomiting. When compared to other hard drugs and alternative
opioid painkillers, it is obvious as to which one is less damaging to your body. And when we
evaluate the state tax revenue from medical marijuana dispensaries, the final decision should be
an easy pick. A full medical marijuana legalization is beneficial to America.

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Works Cited

Cotter, Jayme. Efficacy Of Crude Marijuana And Synthetic Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol As

Treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea And Vomitting: A Systematic Literature
Review. Oncology Nursing Forum 36.3 (2009): 345-352. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Welberg, Leonie. Memory: A Boost For Medical Marijuana? Nature Reviews Neuroscience
15.1 (2014): 2-3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Medical Marijuana And The Mind. Harvard Mental Health Letter 26.10 (2010): 1-3.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Chou, Roger, et al. The Effectiveness And Risks OF Long-term Opioid Therapy for Chronic
Pain: A Systematic Review for a National Institutes Of Health Pathways To Prevention
WorkShop. Annals Of Internal Medicine 162.4 (2015): 276-286. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Seppa, Nathan. Pot Not Harsh On Lung Capacity. Science News 181.3 (2012): 14. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Malinowski, W. Zachary. Revenues High On Marijuana. Planning 79.4 (2013): 9. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 27 Apr. 2015

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