Taylor Slavin
English 103
Professor Durham
22 February 2014
Why Marijuana Should Be Used For Medical Purposes
Marijuana is a drug that has spurred controversial debates among academic cycles. For instance, some fear is that the drug will have adverse side effects and have long term effects on the user. On the other hand, proponents have argued that it has medicinal value and is instrumental in social recreational activities. So what is this marijuana? Marijuana is an ordinary and entertainment drug that is extracted directly out of a plant called cannabis sativa which has tetra-hydro-cannabinol (THC) (Brown 217). Marijuana is beneficial to those would like to enhance their perception, influence mood for the better, and use for relaxation purposes. However, many people have a delusional assumption regarding this drug. This is because they are under the impression that marijuana is harmless; this is not the case. A research conducted by Boothroyd found that the use of the drug impinges on the brain that is responsible for memory consequently causing memory loss (Boothroyd, 127). The drug also affects learning capabilities of the victim as well as the attention span, and the period a victim takes to respond to a stimulus (128). It is feared that the effects might be evident for a minimum of 29 days since the last time the victim used it. On the other hand, other researchers have found that marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes. They claim that Marijuana has dynamic elements that, in the medical field, are used to assuage pain, queasiness and vomiting, loss of appetite caused by AIDS, and more diagnosable symptoms proved in clinical experiments. More specifically, this paper is going to argue as to why Marijuana should be used for medical purposes. One of the propositions is that Marijuana has been used since medieval ages, a useful and remedial substance that has active substances that give it this property. In Canadian Medical Association Journal, Boothrody argues that marijuana medical use is called “Medicinal Cannabis” and it should be only utilized under the prescription of a trained doctor (Boothrody 122). Further, he warns that the self-administration of the drug could lead to adverse effects on the path of the user. It is frequently referred as an antiemetic (123). As a result, when used under the observation of a doctor, Marijuana can provide medical benefits that most drugs cannot be able to provide. The medical benefit of marijuana is never a discovery that researchers stumbled on in the recent times. Marijuana has existed as medicine for close to 4,000 years (Huff 699). In addition, writings discovered in India, which traces back to ancient India, agrees that the dynamic elements present in this drug were used by doctors in treating their patients who were suffering from various sicknesses and disorders. "Marijuana was used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, lack of sleep and to assuage the pain associated with childbirth." Furthermore, in 1970, scientists manufactured a synthetic form of THC, the key element in marijuana, to make a drug called Marinol (699). Marijuana could be beneficial in boosting the level of appetite in AIDS victims. Therefore, marijuana has improved the lives of patients for many years. In addition, it has been proved that cannabinoids from marijuana help in treating cancer patients (Boothroyd 138). A vital experiment results have demonstrated that cannabinoids wield anti-tumor effects in different representations of cancer, varying from cell cultures to xenografted and genetically modified rats (Boothroyd 122). These compounds, anti-tumor effectiveness are pegged on the obstruction of numerous features of tumor development. They control the stubborn growth of cancer cells and to some extent; it kills the cancerous cells and weaken angiogenesis and metastasis (122). In essence, almost all forms of cancer cells get terminated by the application of these