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We Need Federal Funding for Medical Marijuana Research Essay

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We Need Federal Funding for Medical Marijuana Research

Many people suffer unbearable pain and discomfort from their illnesses and seek any method that might bring relief. Many suffer from chemotherapy treatment, HIV infection related wasting, glaucoma, or other serious ailments that carry an unbearable amount of pain. They first try the drugs that their doctors have prescribed. These prescribed legal drugs seem to have some benefits, but often carry with them many side effects that may be more harmful than helpful. Many patients give the legal drugs a try and find that they are not effective in relieving them of their symptoms. As a result, many turn to marijuana for its medicinal use. Because it is an effective treatment, …show more content…

Although these laws were passed without proper voter knowledge of the nature of the qualifications for marijuana prescriptions, they are the first steps into the realization that marijuana may actually have a medicinal use. This evocation could lead to more funding for research for marijuana's medicinal value and could lead to a possible reclassification of the currently rated schedule I drug, a term reserved for substances with no apparent medical value.

Many opponents of medical marijuana claim that synthetic substances, such as Marinol (a synthetic THC derivative) are safer and more effective than marijuana. Current trends set by the National Institutes of Health claim that there is "no scientific justification that smoked marijuana is effective in treating glaucoma or multiple sclerosis and new drugs, such as Zofran, surpass THC's (the main active ingredient in marijuana) therapeutic value in calming cancer patient's chemotherapy-induced nausea" (Rebecca, 1645). However, these drugs may not always work for those who are suffering. For many patients, the drugs are hard to swallow, slow working, and difficult to dose.

James Canter who suffers from testicular cancer illustrates marijuana's efficacy over Marinol, a synthetic THC derivative. Undergoing enormous amounts of chemotherapy

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