Christie Taylor Huisman Marijuana Decriminalization
Learning Experience
Christie Taylor-Huisman
PSY/211
October 12, 2014
Davis
Marijuana: Why It Should Be Decriminalized Nearly twenty thousand people die from prescription medication overdose in the United States each year. By federally decriminalizing medical marijuana, these statistics can be changed. Prescription drugs, and over-the-counter medications are the leading causes of accidental overdose related death in the United States. Logistically speaking, it makes no sense for an ancient herb, with known medical and physiological benefits to be federally criminalized. By legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level, certain crimes have shown a decrease. Similarly, states with medical marijuana legalization have also shown a decrease in prescription pain killer addiction and overdose related deaths. In fact, there have been no known deaths which could be directly contributed to marijuana use. Statistics show that cannabis is a safer and smarter alterative to prescription medications. Maintaining a federal prohibition on marijuana for medical use not only unethical, it is inhumane. Marijuana must be federally decriminalized, not only to improve lives, but to save them as well. The benefits of using medical marijuana are astounding. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC (delta-9-tetracannibidnol) has been proven to slow the growth of tumors in cancer patients. Studies show that tumors found in the lungs, breasts, and brain showed a substantial decrease when treated with marijuana. Traditionally, physicians treat cancerous tumors with chemotherapy, a treatment first discovered in the 1920s, by poisoning people with mustard gas. The side effects of chemotherapy are nothing short of brutal. By treating tumors with medical marijuana, a patient not only avoids the severe nausea, vomiting, pain, cancer patients have been granted a better quality of life. In the same way, THC has also been proven to block deposits of
Christie Taylor-Huisman
PSY/211
October 12, 2014
Davis
Marijuana: Why It Should Be Decriminalized Nearly twenty thousand people die from prescription medication overdose in the United States each year. By federally decriminalizing medical marijuana, these statistics can be changed. Prescription drugs, and over-the-counter medications are the leading causes of accidental overdose related death in the United States. Logistically speaking, it makes no sense for an ancient herb, with known medical and physiological benefits to be federally criminalized. By legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level, certain crimes have shown a decrease. Similarly, states with medical marijuana legalization have also shown a decrease in prescription pain killer addiction and overdose related deaths. In fact, there have been no known deaths which could be directly contributed to marijuana use. Statistics show that cannabis is a safer and smarter alterative to prescription medications. Maintaining a federal prohibition on marijuana for medical use not only unethical, it is inhumane. Marijuana must be federally decriminalized, not only to improve lives, but to save them as well. The benefits of using medical marijuana are astounding. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC (delta-9-tetracannibidnol) has been proven to slow the growth of tumors in cancer patients. Studies show that tumors found in the lungs, breasts, and brain showed a substantial decrease when treated with marijuana. Traditionally, physicians treat cancerous tumors with chemotherapy, a treatment first discovered in the 1920s, by poisoning people with mustard gas. The side effects of chemotherapy are nothing short of brutal. By treating tumors with medical marijuana, a patient not only avoids the severe nausea, vomiting, pain, cancer patients have been granted a better quality of life. In the same way, THC has also been proven to block deposits of
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