The Legalizing of Marijuana
Recently, both California and Arizona took the long needed initiative
and approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The California bill
says that patients may use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It does
not, however, allow doctors to prescribe the drug. Arizona voters passed a bill
that swings out even further to the left than California's. Voters in Arizona
think that people should be able to use any illicit drug for bona fide medical
purposes. A recommendation by two doctors is enough to warrant a prescription.
Unfortunately, the bills passed in both states are terribly vague and are
destined to be abused.
Legalization of marijuana for medical purposes is a step in the right
direction, but California and Arizona are going about it the wrong way. The
chemical in marijuana that has medicinal benefits
is delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Studies have shown that marijuana can ease pain,
relieve nausea, and generally relax a person. Marijuana is cheap and easy to
produce, so if legalized, it would be plentiful and probably widely used. The
problem is that there are as many harmful effects from smoking marijuana as
there are benefits. It slows reflexes, dulls the brain, and sometimes causes
hallucinations and/or cancer. There's no mystery about why it is illegal in
most parts of the world including the U.S.
There is a simple solution that is not being discussed by the hard-
headed bureaucracy. THC is easily removed from the plant and could be
administered as medicine in pill form. What a novel idea! No actually it
isn't novel at all. Many other forms of illegal drugs are dispensed as medicine
is this manner. Steroids (Cortizone, Prednizone and others) and opiates, namely
codeine and morphine, are prescribed regularly to patients for pain relief. Of
course the doctors don't dispense poppy seeds or cocaine, the drug comes in a
pill. The amount of the drug is carefully regulated to prevent most... [continues]
Recently, both California and Arizona took the long needed initiative
and approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The California bill
says that patients may use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It does
not, however, allow doctors to prescribe the drug. Arizona voters passed a bill
that swings out even further to the left than California's. Voters in Arizona
think that people should be able to use any illicit drug for bona fide medical
purposes. A recommendation by two doctors is enough to warrant a prescription.
Unfortunately, the bills passed in both states are terribly vague and are
destined to be abused.
Legalization of marijuana for medical purposes is a step in the right
direction, but California and Arizona are going about it the wrong way. The
chemical in marijuana that has medicinal benefits
is delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Studies have shown that marijuana can ease pain,
relieve nausea, and generally relax a person. Marijuana is cheap and easy to
produce, so if legalized, it would be plentiful and probably widely used. The
problem is that there are as many harmful effects from smoking marijuana as
there are benefits. It slows reflexes, dulls the brain, and sometimes causes
hallucinations and/or cancer. There's no mystery about why it is illegal in
most parts of the world including the U.S.
There is a simple solution that is not being discussed by the hard-
headed bureaucracy. THC is easily removed from the plant and could be
administered as medicine in pill form. What a novel idea! No actually it
isn't novel at all. Many other forms of illegal drugs are dispensed as medicine
is this manner. Steroids (Cortizone, Prednizone and others) and opiates, namely
codeine and morphine, are prescribed regularly to patients for pain relief. Of
course the doctors don't dispense poppy seeds or cocaine, the drug comes in a
pill. The amount of the drug is carefully regulated to prevent most... [continues]
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