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Prescription Pot You smoke a joint and youre likely to kill your brother Harry J. Anslinger, the big man behind marijuana prohibition (Guither, n.d.). Government leaders changing the laws and policies around cannabis over the years, scientists providing evidence to clear the herbs name, and what the general population says about marijuana is all very complex. The realm that is marijuana is vast and often times confusing. To fully understand the atmosphere of medical marijuana, one must look at the benefits and harm, the history, and the laws and politics surrounding the herb. Derived from the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa, marijuana is the most abused illicit drug in the world (Top 10, 2009). Tetrahyrdocannabinol (THC), the main ingredient in the herb, is the most psychoactive component, but it does not work alone. There are over 400 different chemicals in marijuana, with 66 of them being unique to the herb (called cannabinoids), that cause the effects of the plant (What Chemicals, 2009). In addition to the high people receive, proponents of medical marijuana claim that it also provides many treatments for different conditions. Among the symptoms that can be treated are chemotherapy side effects, loss of appetite from AIDS, eye pain due to glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis spasms and seizures (Medical Marijuana, 2010, para. 1). Opponents of the herb use the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not screened marijuana for safety and effectiveness. Along with that, challengers of the medicinal use of the plant claim that the harms of smoking the cannabis can be avoided with safer pills and sprays that replicate or synthesize the THC (Medical Marijuana, 2010, para. 1). While there is plenty of evidence to back up the claims that marijuana has numerous medical benefits, there is still controversy around the issue due to the lack of FDA screening and testing.

Adverse health effects from the smoking of marijuana are of constant debate. In November of 2002, the British Lung Foundation stated that smoking 3-4 marijuana cigarettes a day are as dangerous to the lungs as 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day (Medical Marijuana Infographic, 2011). However, in May of 2006, a UCLA study found no association between marijuana and lung cancer, and it suggested that marijuana may even have some protective effect (Medical Marijuana Infographic, 2011). Also, for how long marijuana has been smoked, there have been no reported cases of lung cancer in direct result of cannabis smoking (Grinspoon, 2006, para. 5). Lester Grinspoon (2006), a former professor at Harvard Medical School, states a day's breathing in any city with poor air quality poses more of a threat than inhaling a day's dose [of marijuana] (para. 4). Medical marijuana patients who are concerned about the smoke can either swallow the marijuana (in teas, brownies, etc.) or can use a vaporizer, which frees the cannabinoid molecules from the plant material without burning it and producing smoke (Grinspoon, 2006, para. 5). In terms of death, marijuana was not reported as a primary cause of death at all in a study of prescription drug deaths taken place between the years of 1997 and 2005 (Medical Marijuana Infographic, 2011). Marijuana has been prescribed and used as medicine throughout all of history, all around the world. The US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse describes many uses of the herb over time: Dated back to 2000 BC, cannabis was used to treat sore eyes in Egypt. During the Bronze Age, marijuana was used in the Eastern Mediterranean for both diseases and the pains of child birth. Starting around 1000 BC, a mixed drink involving cannabis was used as an anesthetic in India. Also around 1000 BC, cannabis was starting to be used as a remedy for a myriad of ailments in India and is still used by some practitioners there today. Cannabis was used to treat earache, swelling, and inflammation in ancient Greece. In Africa, during the late

17th century, marijuana was used to restore appetite along with relieving pain from hemorrhoids (as cited in History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). In the early years of the United States, cannabis was also regularly used as medicine. According to The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a marijuana history book by Jack Herer (2000), various marijuana and hashish extracts are the first, second or third most prescribed medicines in the United States from 1842 until the 1890s (p.3). In 1870, cannabis gets listed in the US Pharmacopoeia as a medicine, the first official recognition as medicine it receives (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). Although, due to the high people receive when consuming marijuana, in the late 1800s to the early 1900s it was losing its reputation as medicine and became more of an intoxicant. Along with that, the FDA was formed in 1906, having power to regulate foods and drugs, and requiring labeling of contents on foods and drugs (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). In 1915, the first ant-marijuana law was passed in Utah, with Texas and California following in the same year. In the subsequent years, several states followed suit and outlawed marijuana. The southwest states were specifically using the anti-marijuana law "as part of a move to oust Mexican immigrants" (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). Contrary to their previous release, in 1930 the US Pharmacopoeia denoted marijuana as a narcotic poison (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). After years of political debate, The Marijuana Tax Act passes in 1937 which makes the possession or exchange of cannabis illegal. 33 years later in 1970, the US Controlled Substances Act is passed by congress which effectively removes The Marijuana Tax Act and lists marijuana as a schedule 1 drug (with heroin, lsd, etc.) which means it has a high risk for abuse and no medical value (Medical Marijuana Infographic, 2011). Due to the schedule 1 label, the FDA has very limited availability for testing.

Starting in 1937 and up until 1976, marijuana use, cultivation, and trade was illegal under all circumstances. 1976 was a pivotal year for medical marijuana. In that year, glaucoma victim Robert Randall was arrested for the growing of marijuana. He used the defense Doctrine of Necessity to prove he needed the herb to treat his glaucoma, and he won (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). Following his case, in 1978 the US government set up the Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program, which was devised to provide medical marijuana to patients who qualify for the herb. It successfully catered to the needs of medical marijuana patients up until 1992, when the program was cancelled due to a flood of new applicants from AIDS sufferers resulting in only the remaining patients from the previous years being supplied with continuous medical marijuana (Federal Govt., 2011). Currently there are only four original patients remaining from IND who receive a monthly supply, usually between eight and nine cured ounces (320 360 joints), of medical marijuana (Federal Govt., 2011). The modern day medical marijuana laws originated on November 5, 1996, when Californias Proposition 215 was approved, which permits the legal use of marijuana under a doctors supervision (History of Marijuana as Medicine, 2011). Over the next several years, 15 more states, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and DC have passed similar laws in direct contradiction with federal laws (16 Legal, 2011). In addition to these states, as of August 4, 2011, six more states, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have pending legislation to legalize medical marijuana (6 States, 2011). The federal government has not done too much in terms of prosecuting dispensaries or shutting them down since the beginning of these laws. However, on October 7, 2011, the feds declared war on dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries in California. They

threatened the dispensaries to shut down within 45 days or they would have to face criminal charges and prosecution (Medina, 2011, para. 1). There have been some insignificant raids of dispensaries over the years, but this is the first real step the federal government has taken against medical marijuana in the states since 1996. Contradictory to the idea that marijuana has no medical benefits is the fact that pharmaceutical companies have been trying for years to produce pills and different sprays that would safely replicate the effects of the natural plant. Marinol is a pill manufactured by Unimed Pharmaceuticals which is a synthetic version of Delta-9-THC (Pharmaceutical Drugs, 2011). It was approved by the FDA in 1985 to treat nausea and in 1992 it was approved to increase appetite. Because it lacks many of the therapeutic compounds found naturally in cannabis sativa, the efficacy of the drug is not nearly as high as the efficacy of marijuana (Armentano, 2005, para. 4). Marinol was the primary suspect of a total of four deaths between the years of 1997 and 2005, while marijuana was the primary suspect of zero deaths (Deaths from Marijuana, 2009). Another recent pharmaceutical drug based off of cannabis is Sativex, a mouth spray which contains chemical extract naturally derived from cannabis, developed by GW Pharmaceuticals. It was approved and available for patients on June 21, 2010, resulting in it being the first cannabis-based prescription in the world (Pharmaceutical Drugs, 2011). In addition to the UK, it has been approved in Spain, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark and Germany. Sativex is used to treat spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis and, unlike Marinol, has thus far been very successful (Pharmaceutical Drugs, 2011). So far, there has only been one recorded death from Sativex, and zero from marijuana (Coroner Says, 2005, para. 2). To demonstrate the effectiveness of medicinal marijuana use, many proponents have brought case studies into the forefront. One prominent case study is as follows. A seven year old

boy, JJ, lives with his mother in California and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and impulse control disorder. The boy has been prescribed over 19 medications from 16 different physicians in the past four years. JJ has been hospitalized multiple times from the medications and has been immobilized a number of times as well. In 2001, instead of JJ going through another round of medications, his mother looked into medical marijuana and tried it with him, even though she was against the movement. JJs behavior since using marijuana medicinally has changed radically. JJ is now enthusiastic and polite, he uses words more effectively now when he gets angry opposed to lashing out (Mother and Son, 2002). JJs case is an example on how medicinal marijuana use has succeeded where all other approved treatments have failed. Marijuana is a naturally occurring herb which provides many medical benefits which may or may not include minimal risk. The controversy over medicinally using the drug is surrounded by restrictive laws and policies and conflicting evidence of the governments claims. A question to further look into is how can the U.S. government continue to support its stance that marijuana has no medical benefits when there is case studies that say otherwise and that many nations have approved Sativex, which is composed of chemicals directly derived from cannabis? Is it hypocritical of the government to deny the majority of the country access to medical marijuana under the claim that marijuana has no positive effects while supplying four people 360 joints a month? To dig deeper one must ask, why does the DEA refuse to move marijuana out of the schedule one drug category and into the schedule two category, which would allow for further FDA and government research? Regardless, marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing Harry J. Anslinger, the big man behind marijuana prohibition (Guither, n.d.).

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Pharmaceutical drugs based on cannabis. (2011). Retrieved from http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000883 Top 10 most popular recreational drugs. (2009). Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2009/08/12/top-10-most-popular-recreational-drugs/ What Chemicals are in marijuana and its byproducts? (2009). Retrieved from http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000636