Should Marijuana Be Legalized for Medicinal Purposes?
Should Marijuana Be Legalized for Medicinal Purposes?
The debate around the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is one that has elicited varied arguments and counter-arguments, some of which are research-based, while others are merely for political correctness. Marijuana is a plant whose use and sale is largely prohibited in many countries since it is regarded as a narcotic drug with adverse health effects. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes due to the limited scientific research done to warrant its use (Bridgeman &Abazia, 2017). That notwithstanding, some medical researchers have found that marijuana contains chemicals called cannabinoids, which have potential medical benefits in treating certain illnesses. At least 25 states in the US have passed legislation legalizing the use of marijuana strictly for medical purposes such as treating multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and chronic muscle spasms, among other diseases (Pacula et al., 2015). However, in as much as these states have legalized medical marijuana, there is a rising concern among public health policymakers about the possible adverse effects due to the legalization of medical marijuana. Marijuana should not be legalized for medical use as doing so would increase the likelihood of abuse of the drug and cause detrimental health effects, especially among youthful populations.
Those who contend that marijuana should be legalized for medical use have several arguments which they put across in a bid to show its potential medical benefits. It is commonly argued that medical marijuana would significantly reduce the use of prescription drugs, which most often than not have many adverse effects on patients (Ghosh et al., 2015). For instance, some studies have shown that marijuana may be used as an effective painkiller with minimal side effects and almost zero risks of addiction or abuse as compared to opioids such as morphine and oxycodone. Many opioids used as painkillers are subject to abuse by patients when their use is prescribed for by a doctor. The implication of this is that marijuana could be an alternative to many prescription drugs (Ammerman et al., 2015). However, this argument does not hold water since the studies on the actual side effects of marijuana when used for purposes of relieving pain are quite scanty. No concrete research has been done by reputable medical organizations such as the FDA, the World Health Organization (WHO), or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) among other agencies to prove the marijuana does not have as many side effects as opioids.
Another common argument supporting the legalization of medical marijuana is that when such legalization is done in a manner that issues stringent regulation and control measures to hospitals and medical practitioners, it will not lead to increased use of the drug among minors. The legalization process should be done concurrently with public education programs that enlighten the public on the adverse effects of the drug when used outside medical purposes (Pacula et al., 2015). It is often cited that states in the US that have legalized medical marijuana have not witnessed a spike in the use of the drug above the national average. Statistics show that a state like Colorado has seen the number of teenagers using marijuana decreased steadily since it was legalized (Kosterman et al., 2016). Therefore, legalizing medical marijuana would not necessarily lead to an increase in its use among minors. However, some studies contradict this assertion since they have shown that states in which marijuana was legalized, its use increased, albeit by a small percentage. Separate studies conducted by Emory University and the RAND Corporation have shown that the legalization of medical marijuana corresponded with an increase in its use and dependence, especially among adults (Mark et al., 2015). This means that even though the use of marijuana may not increase significantly among minors, it could potentially increase among adults. Hence it would be counterproductive to legalize medical marijuana.
Legalizing marijuana for medical use would not have adverse effects on the health of patients to whom it is used, but rather it would help treat many illnesses and health complications. In states where medical marijuana has been legalized, some medical practitioners are strictly licensed and authorized to recommend its use in treating arthritis, cancer, and AIDS among certain patients (Ghosh et al., 2015). In Florida and California, medical marijuana has been used for the good of patients suffering from disease comorbidities, which present unique challenges in administering a wide range of drugs to the patients. The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, therefore, has numerous untold benefits to patients who would otherwise lack suitable medication due to certain health complications or allergies. Marijuana has also been used to successfully treat psychiatric illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and persistent chronic insomnia (Pacula& Smart, 2017). Nevertheless, despite these health benefits, the legalization of medical marijuana could compromise the competence of medical professionals such as physicians since they would be tempted to turn to marijuana for treating most illnesses among their patients (Ammerman et al., 2015). In other words, doctors would not see the need to exhaust all other conventional and medically-proven drugs since they would have the readily available option of prescribing medical marijuana. Hence legalizing marijuana for medical purposes would lead to complacency and unprofessionalism among medical practitioners.
There are several reasons why marijuana should not be legalized for medicinal use, most of which center around lack of sufficient studies supporting its medical benefits and the likelihood of misuse and abuse by medical practitioners and members of the public. The first reason as to why medical marijuana ought not to be legalized is that there is little and insufficient scientific research on the use of marijuana for medical purposes (Ghosh et al., 2015). The few studies that have shown the medical benefits of marijuana have not been subjected to rigorous clinical trials, and neither have they been embraced by the central federal agencies such as FDA, CDC, and WHO, among others. Also, most of the studies that have been conducted to examine the usefulness of marijuana in the medical setting have turned out to be inconclusive (Pacula et al., 2015). However, this is not to refute the fact that some chemical components of cannabis have potential therapeutic effects on certain diseases. There still lacks tangible and concrete evidence justifying the legalization of marijuana for medical use.
The growth of marijuana is not done in controlled environments where the risk of contamination is non-existent. Due to the lack of regulatory standards in the growing of marijuana, there is a high possibility that the plant could easily be contaminated with fungi or other harmful substances. This could be a significant problem for patients with comorbidities and those whose immunity is compromised due to various physiological reasons (Pacula& Smart, 2017). For instance, patients who have HIV/AIDS or certain types of cancer could be easily affected by ingesting drugs with unwanted contaminants. Moreover, those who grow marijuana tend to alter the natural concentrations of certain chemical components within the plant for ulterior motives (Kosterman et al., 2016). For this reason, marijuana may be deleterious when used for purposes of treating certain diseases since the concentrations of the useful chemical components may already be compromised (Bridgeman &Abazia, 2017). There is a need to have extensive and thorough clinical trials showing the relative concentrations of medically useful chemical components in it, to justify its legalization for medical use.
Legalizing marijuana for medical purposes would lead to a diversion of the drug as unscrupulous patients seek to benefit from the drug financially. In this regard, there would be an increase in the abuse of the drug beyond medical use. For instance, in some of the states where medical marijuana has been legalized, patients have been authorized to grow their marijuana to meet the required quantity for the ingestion of the drug to treat specific illnesses (Ammerman et al., 2015). The reason for allowing patients to grow their marijuana is that there are insufficient amounts of the drug in legal supply. However, this has led some patients to exploit the permission to grow the drug by selling some of the marijuana to persons who are not legally allowed to use the drug (Kosterman et al., 2016). This is what is referred to as diversion. Once patients are allowed to grow their marijuana at home, it would create a loophole which could easily be exploited by cartels who deal in hard drugs.
Another reason why it would be counterproductive to legalize marijuana for medical use is that such an action would increase ‘off-label’ use of the drug among persons not granted permission to use it. Several researchers conducted by non-governmental organizations have shown that the majority of the persons to whom qualified physicians prescribe marijuana have been allowed to use the drug after complaining of severe and persistent pain in different parts of their bodies. This has been a common trend among people in the states where medical marijuana is legal (Ghosh et al., 2015). It follows that most patients who purportedly report to experiencing persistent pain do so to have marijuana prescribed to them without being necessarily ill. This shows that there is also some level of laxity among medical practitioners who prescribe medical marijuana to patients just because the state laws allow such prescriptions (Bridgeman &Abazia, 2017). The ripple effect of the legalization of medical marijuana would be an increase in off-label use and abuse of the drug by both ‘patients’ and medical practitioners.
In the same vein, legalizing medical marijuana would mean that other drugs that have been subjected to rigorous clinical tests and trials are rendered useless as marijuana becomes the go-to drug for treating most illnesses. This would be a clear demonstration of a lack of faith in the federal agencies that have been mandated to research and approve the substances that should be used as drugs in the US. Since the FDA has not assented to the use of marijuana medically, legalizing it would, in essence, be a breach of the federal laws that give the FDA the ultimate authority to advise on the drugs that should (or should not) be used in hospitals or prescribed to patients (Pacula& Smart, 2017). Hence marijuana should not be legalized for medical use.
In conclusion, there lacks sufficient scientific evidence to warrant the legalization of marijuana for medical use. The arguments against the legalization of medical marijuana outweigh the arguments supporting its legalization. It is also apparent that there exists little research and inconclusive studies on the medical benefits of using marijuana to treat various diseases. Legalizing medical marijuana would only lead to increased abuse of the drug, thereby causing detrimental health effects, especially among young persons. Indeed, the use of marijuana for medical purposes should not be legalized.
References
Ammerman, S., Ryan, S., Adelman, W. P., & Committee on Substance Abuse. (2015). The impact of marijuana policies on youth: clinical, research, and legal update. Pediatrics, 135(3), e769-e785.
Bridgeman, M. B., &Abazia, D. T. (2017). Medicinal cannabis: history, pharmacology, and implications for the acute care setting. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 42(3), 180.
Ghosh, T. S., Van Dyke, M., Maffey, A., Whitley, E., Erpelding, D., &Wolk, L. (2015). Medical marijuana’s public health lessons—implications for retail marijuana in Colorado. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(11), 991-993.
Kosterman, R., Bailey, J. A., Guttmannova, K., Jones, T. M., Eisenberg, N., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2016). Marijuana legalization and parents’ attitudes, use, and parenting in Washington State. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(4), 450-456.
Mark Anderson, D., Hansen, B., & Rees, D. I. (2015).Medical marijuana laws and teen marijuana use. American Law and Economics Review, 17(2), 495-528.
Pacula, R. L., Powell, D., Heaton, P., &Sevigny, E. L. (2015).Assessing the effects of medical marijuana laws on marijuana use: the devil is in the details. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 34(1), 7-31.
Pacula, R. L., & Smart, R. (2017).Medical marijuana and marijuana legalization. Annual review of clinical psychology, 13, 397-419.