Medical Marijuana Research Paper

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For over five thousand years, marijuana has been used for both medical and recreation use (Haerens 23). Marijuana also known as weed, Ganga, Mary Jane and other various nicknames, ultimately refer to to the dried leaves, flowers, and stems from the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. This plant contains the psychoactive chemical, known as THC (delta-9-tetrehydiscannabinol) which triggers the blood vessels in the lungs and brain to expand causing more oxygen onto the rest of the system. In addition, THC’s similar chemical structure to the brain’s chemical, anandamide allows the drug to be recognized by the body then gives it access to alter brain communication (United). Under those circumstances, THC creates a “high” for smokers (Gross 9). Furthermore, marijuana is usually smoked through hand-rolled cigarettes, blunts, in pipes, or water pipes (United). Alternatively, marijuana can be ingested through food and drinks such as brewed as a tea (United).
To start, the use of medical marijuana originated in China and migrated throughout India, Roman Empire and Europe. Around 65 A.D marijuana was recommended as medicine, but didn’t reach medical recognition in the United States until about 1850s (Haerens 23). Originally, marijuana was used as an analgesic and anesthetic (Haerens 23), over time it has been discovered that THC …show more content…
Marijuana stimulates appetite and food intake to help achieve weight gain. This is critical to cancer patients who lose weight quickly due to uncontrollable sickness. On the other hand, patients affected by the side effects of chemotherapy, smoke medical marijuana to deter emesis. With this, the retching and vomiting episodes, degree and duration of nausea as well as the volume of emesis are reduced due to THC found in marijuana (Haerens 24). Currently, there are no cost effective treatments suiting these issues, so marijuana is found appropriate in these cases (Haerens

Medical Marijuana Research Paper

Medical Marijuana Medical marijuana is a hot button topic, and with good reason. There is lot of conflicting information. One doesn’t have to search very hard to find information supporting the medical use of marijuana. Marijuana has been proven to be beneficial treatment for many conditions such as chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea from chemotherapy, and glaucoma among others. Yet, despite scientific evidence of marijuana’s therapeutic benefit, it remains on the DEA’s list of…

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

Marijuana comes from the plant Cannabis sativa and is used as an illegal drug. In 2700 BCE, marijuana was used in China and India and then spread worldwide to treat pain, seizure, muscle spasms, and nausea. In 2000 BCE Egyptians used marijuana to treat sore eyes. In 200 CE, the Chinese used marijuana as an aesthetic. In twelfth-century Africa, marijuana was used to treat snakebites and malaria. In the eighteenth century, the United States used it to treat sexually transmitted diseases. It was also…

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

Opposing Views on Medicinal Marijuana The legality of medical marijuana possession is as hot a topic as exists in the discussion of possible drug decriminalization in the United States. Some agencies, both federal government and non-governmental advisors, urge continued vigorous prosecution of marijuana offenders because they see medical marijuana as both a gateway to hard drugs like heroin and cocaine and as a smokescreen for an effort to decriminalize marijuana for general use (Marshall, 2005)…

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

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Medical Marijuana Research Paper

Medical Marijuana: Take Two of These and Call Me in the Morning Medicine or Not In 1972, the US Congress placed marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act because they considered it to have "no accepted medical use." Since then, 16 of 50 US states and DC have legalized the medical use of marijuana ("Procon.org", 2012). Medical marijuana dispensaries are popping up all over the country. Cancer patients use marijuana to ease nausea and to stimulate their appetites. It also treats…

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Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Research Paper

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Mean Bad News for Communities Safe communities may be up in smoke if medical marijuana dispensaries continue to open up. Over the past twenty years, controversy has swelled over whether or not medical marijuana dispensaries affect the surrounding community positively or negatively. Almost everyone wants to know if dispensaries create a safe place to live and raise a family. Even though medical marijuana dispensaries increase revenues without increasing taxes, they…

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Essay about Medical Marijuana

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Essay about Marijuana Legalization

Should Marijuana Be Legalized Should Marijuana Be Legalized There are many pros and cons concerning the argument of the legalization of Marijuana. By far, the two biggest pro arguments are the medical benefits along with the tax revenue that legalization could bring. As for the cons, one can argue about the potential increase in crime and the potential spike in dependency issues with other drugs. Other…

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