For ameliorations such as nausea, vomiting, chemotherapy, AIDS, and glaucoma, medical marijuana is prescribed. Although it is now classified as an illegal substance, medical marijuana should be legal in all states because many people across the nation are fighting these illnesses everyday without the support of this medical technology. Patients all over the country struggle to find this treatment, but can’t because the use is limited to only a select few states.
Why? The expansion of this medical treatment throughout the U. S. is beneficial to both the patient and the country. Cannabis has been used for medical purposes for thousands of years. However, it wasn’t used in present day America until 1611, when the English arrived in Jamestown, that marijuana was introduced as a crop grown for its fiber. These pilgrims made items such as rope and clothing from this fiber.
Then, in the late 17th century, one of our nation’s founding fathers, George Washington, grew cannabis on his farm, which shows that cannabis was legal for many years in the U. S. Cannabis was legalized chiefly because of its medical aspect. Pharmaceutical use of medical marijuana was first established in the 1800’s, yet shortly after, more consistent drugs replaced marijuana. In 1910, the Mexican Revolution waved immigrants into the U. S. , bringing back marijuana use to America.
Marijuana was used medically or just for relaxing. The Marijuana Tax Act established in 1937 “…made possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses, in which an expensive excise tax was required” (Marijuana Timeline par. ). This act was created to control American society, limit the use of marijuana, and only allow it to industrial companies and medical patients. Chemotherapy patients were the first ever to be prescribed the medical use of marijuana.
Doctors not only believe that using this treatment results in ess nausea, but also know that it relieves symptoms of appetite loss, chronic pain, and asthma. Indeed, Bonnie Pranger explains that “the benefits of medical marijuana for cancer patients are clear when it comes to increased appetite, reduction of pain, wasting, vomiting and nausea, as well as depression. Although its anti-carcinogenic effects aren’t quite as clear, ongoing research further points to the possibility that medical marijuana may actually be what many claim it is – a truly miraculous drug” (Par. ).
This breakthrough led to further experimentation of the medical use of marijuana. For example, HIV/AIDS is another illness most doctors and physicians are quite enthusiastic about when it comes to prescribing medicinal marijuana for their patients. Chronic illness typically results in apathy, and “at least in those states, like California, that have state sanctioned and regulated medicinal cannabis programs, the majority of patients on those programs are HIV positive patients.
They use it primarily for pain relief, but also for the so-called side effects of euphoria” (Ostrow Par. 5). Another illness that usually requires the prescribed medical use of marijuana is Glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease carried throughout the optic nerves in the eye. The reason medical marijuana is prescribed for this disease instead of other topical drugs such as eye drops and other oral prescription medication is because marijuana has been found to lower intraocular pressure in the eyes better than any other medicine (Par 6).
Pot is not only for stoners. With all of the medical treatments that are available in the select few states offering medicinal marijuana use, our economic standpoint and tax revenues could drastically change if it were to become legal throughout the United States. Currently 16 of the 50 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana. If the majority of our country joined this trend, anyone could see the tremendous advantages, since “an enormous amount of money is raised through government taxation of alcohol, cigarettes, and other “sins”.
The legalization of marijuana would create another item that could be taxed… [and] the government would have no problem spending all that extra money” (Legalization par. 6). The surplus dollars could fund worthy programs, such as Habitat for Humanity, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Make a Wish Foundation, and numerous other programs for children and their families. Certainly America’s government would maintain strict control of marijuana tax dollars instead of already rich drug company executives and funnel this money appropriately. Our current national debt stands at $14. rillion, so …if one calculates the economic effect of legally regulating marijuana and taxing it, it becomes apparent that it could ideally get the United States out of debt within a decade.
By federally taxing marijuana, the government would significantly reduce the number of drug dealers on the streets, and deter young people from selling marijuana for personal profit. If marijuana becomes a culturally recognized legal activity, the government would be able to spend more federal funding on improving education, healthcare, and public safety for future generations (Godwin par. . If our country doesn’t come up with a solution to fixing our debt by 2020, we will in essence be owned by China with even further staggering consequences: America’s middle class would suffer a downfall, jobs will become much more unavailable and difficult to find, a decrease in wages, spiked interest rates, Medicare and Social Security payments slashed, touching each and every American (Reimagineamerica par. 7). Without a doubt, money does not grow on trees.