Medical Marijuana and its Medicinal Uses
Marijuana also known as pot, weed, and cannabis has proven to be useful in treatments for many illnesses. There have been hundreds of studies for the medicinal uses of marijuana.
These illnesses include glaucoma, cancer, HIV, AIDS, chronic pain, migraines, arthritis, epilepsy, nausea, muscle spasticity, and multiple sclerosis. Studies such as the 1991 Harvard study called "Marijuana as Antiemetic Medicine" by Richard Doblin and Mark A. R. Kleiman and studies done by the U.S. National Institutes of Health Workshop on Medical Marijuana in 1997 can show that medical marijuana is useful.
There have been several studies to find alternatives to smoking because smoking anything does have adverse effects. For example, someone with glaucoma will smoke marijuana to relieve the pressure off the eyes. They made THC eye drops but did not have the same effect. THC pills like Marinol were created but also did not have the same effect as smoking marijuana.
Marijuana was in the United States pharmacopoeia until 1941, removed after congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act that prohibited physicians to prescribe it. It wasn't until 1996 that once again it was allowed for medicinal uses. The first state, California, passed the senate 420 bill that decriminalized the use, possession, and cultivation for medicinal uses. Since 1996 twelve states passed the legalization for medical marijuana. These states include California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine.
Some states allow you to cultivate your own marijuana as long as you possess an identification card that you must qualify for. Otherwise meaning a legitimate medical reason to need marijuana. Each one of these states passed a bill that decriminalizes the use, possession, and the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes recommended by a doctor. Maryland passed a medical marijuana affirmative defense law in 2003. This law states that if someone is caught possessing marijuana but is using it for medical necessity is subject to a maximum penalty of a $100 fine.
The federal government has a different opinion and still effectively continues the federal ban on the medical use of marijuana. Dispensaries in the states that allow medical marijuana can still face criminal penalties but not by the state. These laws do not change the criminal penalties for using, possessing, and cultivating for recreational use. Under physician supervision marijuana can serve many purposes in aiding in the treatment of certain illnesses in moderation, but like anything can have negative effects if used abusively.
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