Katelyn Smith

Practical Law

Mrs. Wolf

3/16/18

Medical Marijuana

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, or pot is a drug that not only gets people high, but it

is proven to have many medicinal purposes as well. Starting with California in 1996 the amount

of states legalizing medical marijuana has skyrocketed to 29/50 states of America. The debate

over whether or not medical marijuana should be legalized has been around for centuries.

Medical marijuana should be legalized in all 50 states of America, as long as it has limitations

because it provides income and more jobs, provides relief to patients diagnosed with an illness,

and marijuana is known to be safer than other painkillers.

​Marijuana should be legalized for a variety of reasons the first one being that legalizing

medical marijuana could help boost our economy, and perhaps even help get us out of debt.

According to Statistica 283,422 new jobs could be created by 2020 if medical marijuana is

legalized in all 50 states (Statistica). With all of these new jobs available some of the 7.4 million

people unemployed in America could get jobs initially reducing poverty. With all the positives

involved, the government should legalize marijuana to benefit individuals with terminal and

debilitating medical problems, to help positively stimulate the United States economy. Legalizing

medical marijuana would also impact the economy by decreasing government spending.

According to a Harvard economist, Jeffrey Miron “estimates that state and federal governments

spend an excess of $20 billion per year fighting this little green plant” (Economic Benefits of…).

Not only does legalizing medical marijuana provide more money, which is essential to stabilize a

society but it also ultimately weakens criminal organizations. “Because selling illicit drugs is a
wildly lucrative and untaxed business. Legalizing and regulating medical cannabis will take this

profit center away from murderous criminals and transfer it to licensed and regulated

businesses. By taking these revenues from organized crime, we can significantly weaken them

financially” (Economic Benefits of…). Thus meaning that since criminal organizations are

weakened there is more room in prison for more serious crimes such as murder.

Not only would legalizing medical marijuana have a positive impact on our economy but

studies have shown that medical marijuana has many benefits to relieving pain. It has been

proven that medical marijuana reduces the negative effects associated with illnesses including,

seizures, nausea, appetite loss, and vomiting. By legalizing medical marijuana people

diagnosed with diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, or sexually transmitted diseases such as

HIV, will be able to live the rest of their lives almost pain-free. For these patients, marijuana

gives them relief and helps them to live a normal and happy life without worrying about their

illness. Robin Few, a terminal cancer patient is a regular marijuana user, Few says that smoking

cannabis has many positive effects on her. By smoking cannabis, she is able to sleep better, eat

more, and is relieved of her intense stomach pains. Not only does her use of cannabis make her

feel better but her friends say that she “looks better than she has in years” although she is dying

(Marijuana Nation). Another little girl was having up to 200 seizures per day when her parents

heard that research had been done proving that marijuana could reduce or even stop her

seizures. “Since beginning her marijuana oil regimen earlier this year, the girl’s episodes are

down to 30 per day at most” (Pickert). According to her father, the use of the medical marijuana

oil has initially saved her life. Legalizing the use of marijuana as a medical treatment not only

provides relief for patients but can even reduce or even cure their symptoms and their illness

altogether.
 Using marijuana for medicinal purposes, is proven to be a lot healthier and even safer

than other over the counter painkillers, that patients may be prescribed. Unlike tobacco and

alcohol a marijuana addiction rate is only a mere 9% at most. Medicine such as Tylenol, Advil,

Ibuprofen, and other over the counter pain relievers are commonly misused and abused which

can lead to more pain and even death. Not to mention that these drugs can very easily end up

in the hands of children who can eat, and overdose on these drugs. Whereas there are no

cases of death that were directly related to the use of marijuana. Thus making it safer to get the

same amount, if not more relief. “Marijuana is safer than some other medications prescribed to

treat the same symptoms. For example, it may be used instead of opioids for pain management.

Opioids are highly addictive and are typically not recommended for long-term use in treating

chronic pain” (Morrow). Most people believe that smoking marijuana is the only way to get it into

your body and people believe that that can harm your lungs, however, studies have also been

shown that smoking marijuana alone does not increase the risk of lung disease. “Also cannabis

does not need to be smoked to be medically beneficial” (Morrow). Cannabis can be vaporized,

made into edible goods such as chocolate, and butter, and it can be used as a skin oil

(Michael).

Some people may say that medical marijuana should not be legalized in all 50 states

because if medicinal marijuana is given to children it could lead to future problems because their

brains aren’t fully developed. However, there are no documented cases in which a low, medical

use amount of marijuana has caused problems in the child, or their development. In fact,

medical marijuana is known to actually help and even heal these children who are suffering.

Marijuana is used in children with a variety of illnesses including cancer, epilepsy, seizures, and

even children diagnosed with autism. For example the story of 10-year-old Zaki Jackson who

has suffered from a rare form of epilepsy that causes him to have thousands of seizures a day.
These terrible and unpredictable seizures would initially leave him unable to talk or walk, and

sometimes cause him to stop breathing (Schwartz). Over the past few years, Zaki and his family

have tried to fight his syndrome with approximately 17 different medications. In the past, the

medications have caused him to gain weight, experience extreme cramping and even caused

him to experience insomnia, but none of the medications stopped the seizures (Schwartz).

Zaki’s family was then recommended that Zaki should start taking a strain of medical marijuana

and since the medical marijuana treatment, which was more than a year afterwards, Zaki has

been seizure-free. After witnessing the remarkable story of young Zaki, Gedde describes the

drug saying “It’s amazing; it’s completely remarkable...It does stop seizures. It doesn’t hurt

them.” Gedde also states “He had 10 years of nonstop seizures and sedating medication...He’s

now able to start developing as a normal child. He’s a delightful, charming kid. Before that he

couldn’t even be in contact with people. It was a dramatic, complete change” (Schwartz). The

use of medical marijuana ultimately saved the life of Zaki and made him “normal” and carefree

again, making his seizures disappear completely with no negative side effects in a way that no

other prescribed medication could.

Therefore based on the many benefits medical marijuana provides, the government

should legalize medicinal marijuana in all 50 states with strict limitations. By legalizing marijuana

for medicinal purposes the poverty, and debt rate could be decreased because it not only would

make an immense amount of income but it would provide thousands of jobs. Medical marijuana

also is used to relieve pain including seizures, nausea, appetite loss, etc, for people who have

pain from bad accidents to patients diagnosed with terminal illnesses. The use of medical

marijuana also is far less dangerous than normal over the counter drugs such as

Acetaminophen, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Motrin, etc. Due to its low addiction rate, and its inability to

overdose and die from.

 Works Cited

"Economic Benefits of Medical Marijuana Regulation | Atlanta." ​Halcyon Organics.​ N.p., n.d.

Web.21 Mar. 2018.

Marijuana Nation​. National Geographic, 2010. DVD.

Michael. "15 Ways to Consume Marijuana." ​Alpha-cat​. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2018.

Morrow, Angela. "What Is the Debate Over Medical Marijuana?" ​Verywell Health.​ N.p., 23

Feb. 2018. Web. 20 Mar. 2018.

Pickert, Kate. "Medical Marijuana: Parents of Kids with Epilepsy Search for Cure." ​Time.​

Time, 2018. Web. 20 Mar. 2018.

Schwartz, Carly. "Meet The Children Who Rely On Marijuana To Survive." ​The Huffington Post​.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2018.