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Kelly Reid

Dean Leonard

English 1201

7 July 2019

Benefits of Medical Marijuana

Marijuana is a heated debate sweeping the nation in the past few years, but lately due to

new legalization people have begun to consider the potential benefits of using this drug. It is a

major shift in culture from, in the past, believing this drug to be dangerous and harmful and

therefore illegal, to present day where people are using marijuana to treat a medical issue. How

did the nation’s norms change so drastically in a couple of years? Has marijuana truly benefited

the lives of Americans? The answer is it has. It is true at first the acceptance of this dramatic

change in discoveries can be difficult to believe or understand, but the truth is the truth. The

benefits of using marijuana in the medical field greatly outweigh the risks; however this

information is not only not spread throughout the nation, but also not usually accepted. Although

many people believe the use of marijuana to be dangerous, recent studies have disproven these

previous beliefs, while revealing new information regarding the benefits of using this drug in the

medical field to treat several diseases.

The illegalization of marijuana started in the early 1900s and since then little has changed

regarding the negative connotation on the drug. However, in recent years more and more people

are learning about the benefits of this drug. The only problem is the research on this drug is so

far very minimal due to the drug being illegalized for such a long period of time. The first state

to allow marijuana to be used for medical use was California and from there many states have

followed. There are only three states, now, that do not allow marijuana to be used for any use.
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These states are Idaho, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In addition to that many states are not

actively funding for more research to be done to determine new benefits of this drug. Therefore

more studies need to be done to understand to what degree marijuana can positively affect the

health of patience and is marijuana should be used recreationally as well. Again, even though

marijuana has been legalized for medical use for many years, there has not been extensive

research to demonstrate a “limit” of this drug, therefore recreational use cannot and should not be

legalized. However, the research of this drug has clearly shown the use of medical marijuana can

greatly benefit the medical field.

For many years, Americans have believed that marijuana is a very dangerous drug

because it impedes brain development and causes memory loss. Because of this theory the entire

nation had strayed away from this drug causing less people to continue research. This paper was

published by Madeline Meir and claimed that the use of marijuana before the brain was fully

developed or before the age of 21, correlated with a decline of an average of 8 IQ points by their

middle-aged years. At first no one questions this study and this information continued to spread

throughout the nation, affecting the opinions of each citizen, causing many people to believe this

drug was extremely detrimental.

However, new research has shown that Meir’s findings to be greatly exaggerated and had

many errors. First, the differences in IQ points found in the study correlated with the difference

in the socioeconomic status of each participant, which as we know, can cause the IQ difference

without any correlation to the use of marijuana. In regards to this the Duke Team continues to

prove disbelief of this study and suggests that not only has this study most likely been greatly

exaggerated, but potentially, the effect the use of marijuana has on IQ could be zero.
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Many researchers since have tried to recreate this study and have not been able to

produce the same results, therefore showing no

correlation between the use of marijuana and IQ

loss. One study held in London with over 2,000

teenage participants found no relationship when

comparing the usage of marijuana before a fully

developed brain and IQ loss in later years. The

variable that makes this study different than the

previous is that the researchers were able to

adjust results to coincide with the participant’s

socioeconomic status and any other potential

outliers. Therefore the reason for why many

people believe marijuana to be a dangerous drug

is essentially baseless and has recently been

proven false. This chart explains which part of the body can be affected my marijuana
and therefore how it can benefit from using this drug.
Marijuana can be used to

benefit patients suffering from many diseases due to the side effects of this drug. At first, the

idea of using this “dangerous” drug to actually help diseases many of us are suffering from was a

very strange and often rejected idea, but after many years marijuana has proven to have many

positive uses in medicine. An article published by the National Institute on Drug abuse titled

Marijuana as Medicine describes the main side effects of THC, the active ingredient in

marijuana, to be “an increase of appetite and reduced nausea” along with “decrease in pain,
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inflammation, and muscle control problems.” These are some of the most common side effects of

diseases that many people suffer from every day that can be treated with marijuana.

Another major disease that may be treated by marijuana is cancer. Many people are using

marijuana to help during chemotherapy to decrease the side effects of the treatment. The

Washington Post published an article, Marijuana Health Claims Lure Patients as Science

Catches Up, which claim many cancer patients who have decided to use marijuana to treat the

disease have reported “improvements in vomiting, pain, disturbed sleep, anxiety, and

depression with a few side effects.” It is not unknown the torture cancer patients must go through

during chemotherapy, as well as many other treatments for this disease. If marijuana could be

used for cancer patients in the future to help with their side effects, the struggles of these patients

can be seriously lifted.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved 3 cannabinoids according to the

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. One of which being Epidiolex

which is derived directly from marijuana. The major use for this drug is the “oral

solution for the treatment of seizures, associated with two rare, severe forms of

epilepsy.” More and more researchers have proven marijuana to be extremely helpful in

a variety of ways in the medical field with treatments ranging from anxiety to epilepsy.

This chart demonstrates the positive effect marijuana

can have on common diseases.
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Not only can marijuana help treat diseases suffered by many people throughout the

nation, but many people are starting to question whether or not marijuana can help solve the

nation’s opioid crisis as well. According to an article published by the New York Times, Can

Marijuana Help Cure the Opioid Crisis, statistics show “opioid misuse has declined in recent

years at the same time that cannabis use has been increasing, with many states liberalizing

marijuana laws.” It is no secret that the nation has struggled with opioid abuse in the past, but

with the use of marijuana brings new hope for the country.

Many people are hoping that the easier access to marijuana will cause less opioid

additions and therefore less overdose deaths. One of the most appealing qualities of marijuana is

that there has been no documentation of any death caused by an overdose of this drug. A journal

titled Clinical Psychology Review, described in an article labeled Marijuana: Good or Bad also

revealed that “using marijuana may help people with alcohol or opioid dependencies to fight

their addictions.’” By allowing marijuana to be more accessible, many lives that were going to

overdose, could potentially be saved.

Marijuana has made a big jump being illegal across the nation to being legal for

recreational use in 10 states. However, marijuana still continues to face discrimination due to its

previous status. For many people, marijuana is still a drug that is considered dangerous and

should not be used, but this is because not everyone is giving all of the information. Not only is a

lot of the information outdated that these people still standby, but many people do like to change.

They do not like to accept change. It is very hard for many citizens to accept that morals and

norms are changing overtime. Because of this, many people will not allow themselves to fully

understand how beneficially marijuana can be. Common incorrect information still controls the
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idea of marijuana for a large amount of the population and sees this drug that is benefitting the

lives of many people as a “bad” drug.

The connotation of marijuana is slowly and slowly changing overtime, but many people

do not see the light this drug can bring into the medical field. If people were able to accept

marijuana as the helpful drug it is, more people could be benefited from it. The people suffering

through chemotherapy, epilepsy, anxiety, and more can all be helped by this drug. This country

is turning towards marijuana and not away from it and slowly but surely learning what exactly

this drug has to offer and what exactly we can take advantage of to positively affect our health.

Some people claim that marijuana is a gateway drug. A gateway drug is practically a

stepping stone for people who do drugs. People argue that if you use marijuana for a while, you

will soon need something else to fill that need for a high, which can lead to opioids like heroin

that
This image shows at which point each state is in the legalization process of
marijuana ranging from completely illegal to legal for recreational use.
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can lead to overdoses. It is true there is no record of overdoses of marijuana, but there are claims

that marijuana can actually lead to other, more dangerous drugs that can in fact cause overdoses.

However, as mentioned earlier, statistics have shown a drop in opioid use as there is an increase

to the accessibility to marijuana. More people are choosing marijuana over opioids, not the other

way around. Like many other arguments against marijuana, this claim potentially makes sense,

but is not supported statistically. Therefore marijuana is still proven to be more beneficial than

harmful.

In conclusion, the benefits of marijuana outweigh any risks of using the drug. The drug is

especially useful in the medical field as it is proven to help treat many torturous diseases.

Marijuana is also helpful to decrease the nation’s opioid abuse crisis because many potential

opioid users are instead using marijuana and therefore are not able to overdose.
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Works Cited

Belville, Russ. “Which States Will Legalize Marijuana Next?” Weed News, 21 May 2017,

www.weednews.co/which-states-will-legalize-marijuana-next/.

“Benefits of Medical Marijuana.” Benefits of Medical Marijuana, Visually,

visual.ly/community/infographic/health/benefits-medical-marijuana.

“Cannabis Health Benefits Infographic.” Experts of Herb,

images.app.goo.gl/Av9b4R94EHnpDEei7.

Frakt, Austin. “Can Marijuana Help Cure the Opioid Crisis?” The New York Times,

www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/upshot/marijuana-opioids-research-

connection.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Marijuana and Medical

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“Benefits of Medical Marijuana.” Benefits of Medical Marijuana, Visually,

visual.ly/community/infographic/health/benefits-medical-marijuana.

Johnson | AP, Carla K. “Marijuana Health Claims Lure Patients as Science Catches Up.” The

Washington Post, WP Company, 11 June 2019,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/promise-of-marijuana-leads-

scientists-on-search-for-evidence/2019/06/07/254d71e2-894c-11e9-9d73-

e2ba6bbf1b9b_story.html?utm_term=.d09cf9adaeb4.

“Marijuana and Cannabinoids.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health,

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 25 Oct. 2018,

nccih.nih.gov/health/marijuana.
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More than half of U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in

some form. “Medical Marijuana FAQ.” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/a-to-z-

guides/medical-marijuana-faq.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Marijuana as Medicine.” NIDA,

www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine.

Railton, David. “What Are the Health Benefits and Risks of Cannabis?” Medical News Today,

MediLexicon International, 2 Aug. 2018,

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320984.php.

Serrano, Nikka, et al. “Latest Science Debunks Claim That Marijuana Significantly Harms

Brain.” Truthout, Truthout, truthout.org/articles/latest-science-debunks-claim-that-

marijuana-significantly-harms-brain/.