Medical Marijuana: Providing Care without Judgement

Samara Smith

ENG 138T – Section 005

Professor Babcock

4/29/22

Cover Image: Wikipedia

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Introduction

Over 5 million people in the United States have a medical marijuana prescription and

there are a variety of reasons as to why people seek this medication out.1 Medical Marijuana can

be dated back to around 2800 BC in Central Asia and Western China when the emperor of the

time used it for its well-known healing properties.2 Although it has been used for centuries, there

is still a stigma surrounding medical marijuana’s use because it also has a history of being a

recreational drug. The practice of implementing it into medicine has sparked continuous

controversy, especially on the political scene, because some people believe that if a patient is

requesting it, they do not actually have a medical reason, they simply want to get high. However,

this invalidates the pain of every single person that has received a prescription for medical

marijuana because it reduces them to the image of someone that uses drugs. The legalization of

cannabis being used in the medical sense has been long debated by politicians, but people with

degrees in different areas of research and medicine have continuously showed their support of

the drug’s use. Medical marijuana should be recognized as a legitimate treatment to a variety of

disorders, both mental and physical, and it should be legalized nationwide.

The Racist-Driven Background

In the 1900’s, there was a large migration from Mexico to the United States following the

Mexican Revolution.3 These immigrants of course introduced their culture to the Americans in

this time and one custom commonly practiced was the use of marijuana as a medicine and as a

way to unwind.4 Americans at the time referred to this as “cannabis” while the Mexican

immigrants called it “marihuana”. 5 Although they had the same overall purpose, because the

immigrants brought in the new terminology, the media portrayed the immigrants as “disruptive
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Mexicans” and outlaws cannabis so that the government would be able to illegally “search,

detain, and deport Mexican immigrants.”6 It was claimed that the cannabis was the cause of

insanity and therefore many violent crimes that the Mexican immigrants had committed. 7 Even

though there was no actual evidence of marijuana having this vicious and uncontrollable effect,

29 states had decided to outlaw it between the years of 1916 and 1931 and in 1937, it became a

national ban with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.8 When pursuing this bill, it was found that the

witnesses that reported the effects of marijuana did not actually complete significant research. 9

The fact that marijuana became illegal in the first place due to racist biases show that there was

no real merit behind the ban. This was a drug that was used in the medicinal sense and then

perceived as a dangerous and violence-evoking because of discrimination.

Image source: Image source: Staples, Brent. “The Federal Marijuana Ban Is Rooted in Myth and
Xenophobia.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 July 2014,
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/high-time-federal-marijuana-ban-is-rooted-in-
myth.html.
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The Legal History

Despite the laws having the racist background, the United States upheld this ideal for

many years. In the year 1951, Dr. Harris Isbell argued to Congress that marijuana did not cause

the insanity or violence that was previously thought. 10 As the director of research at the Public

Health Service Hospital, Dr. Isbell believed that the politicians would listen to his reasoning as to

why marijuana was not the cause of these negative effects, but the federal and state governments

continued to punish anyone possession, sale, and use of marijuana. 11 The sentences ranged

depending on the state. For example, Louisiana had people facing sentences from five years to

almost 100 years.12 This was because the government saw marijuana as a gateway drug for

narcotics, specifically heroin. 13 Unfortunately, this belief continued on for many years and there

were no comments as to the credibility of punishing marijuana users because it would lead to an

addiction of worse substances. This pattern of arresting and sentencing poor people and people

of color continued until the well-known “hippie” era. In the 1960’s and into the 1970’s,

marijuana, commonly referred to as weed at this time, became a popular pastime for white

college students and people in the upper and middle classes.14 Because this suddenly started

affecting white people and people of a higher class, the National Commission on Marihuana and

Drug Abuse released a report in 1972 that challenged the criminalization, but President Nixon

and his administration dismissed the report.15 Following this report however, state governments

began relaxing on their punishments.16

Many people forgot or either chose to ignore that these laws came from the deep-rooted

racism in the 1900’s and it was not until white people were facing harsh punishments and long

criminal sentences, that people began to make the motion to be more lenient with marijuana.
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However, it took another twenty years until 1996 when the state of California because the first to

legalize the medicinal aspect of marijuana. 17 The image below shows only up until 2018 where

29 states and the District of Columbia had legalized medical marijuana, but as of now, it is up to

37 states as well as the District of Columbia. 18 With only 13 states still holding strong on the

opposition of marijuana, it begs the question as to why it has not yet been federally approved.

Again, this is where the political scene enters and the differences in opinions on marijuana are

prevalent. Starting in 2012, states like Washington and Colorado have even legalized the

recreational use of marijuana, showing the initial thoughts that it caused insanity and violence

were unfounded. With this current split ideal of both medical and recreational marijuana, people

are wondering whether or not the final 13 states will continue to hold their ground, or if they will

finally vote for the legalization.

The Common Misconception

There are many people that adopt the opinion that medical marijuana doesn’t actually

exist, but that legalizing it is simply an excuse to let patients feel the high that is associated with

smoking. One of the most common points that people make in opposition to medical marijuana is

that marijuana is a gateway drug. Although the willingness to try other drugs may come to those

that use marijuana, one cannot say that correlation is causation. Every scientist and statistician

knows that one relationship does not imply the other, so the argument that it is a gateway drug is

not statistically supported. It has been found that the majority of people who use marijuana have

never tried illicit drugs such as cocaine and opiates, but people that have used cocaine and

opiates are much more likely to have tried marijuana.19 In the United States, the generalization of
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a population is very common, and this is no different with people that have used marijuana. The

conclusions that are drawn about these people are just a stereotype. It can be suggested that users

are typically lazy and unintelligent, but this belief is not supported by any evidence. Even

alcohol is a legalized “drug” that has been proven to cause more issues than marijuana. The US

Drug Enforcement Administration has released a fact sheet on marijuana that clearly states that

“no death from overdose of marijuana has been reported”.20

Another misconception is that medical marijuana will lead to an addiction. Although

marijuana itself does have addictive properties, it has been reported that it is “generally not

physically addictive.”21 That means that the compounds within cannabis do not cause the human

body to rely on the drug, unlike many other prescription medications such as opioids. The

difference in the compounds between medical and recreational, such as the amounts of THC and

CBD that is contained, serve to reason as to why one is perhaps less addictive than the other.22

THC is the ingredient that induces the well-known “high”, while CBD is the main ingredient that

is linked with the overall health benefits.23 In typical medical marijuana prescriptions, there is a

higher amount of CBD than THC which shows that medical marijuana cannot be fully compared

to recreational.24 What many people seem to not understand is that each strain of marijuana has

different properties certain types can be legalized without leading to a addiction crisis. Each

state, or the country as a whole, can make a decision based on research to allow the strains with

higher levels of CBD and lower levels of THC to be legalized while not approving of the high

levels of THC and low levels of CBD. If it is CBD that is the ingredient that has been shown to

be the medicinal part, why can the government not agree to allow strains with high

concentrations of it?
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The Different Forms of Medicinal Marijuana

As for the argument that marijuana will lead to problems with the patients’ lungs, there is

a simple solution. Medical marijuana can be found in a variety of forms, such as “pills, extracts,

liquids, topicals, patches, and flower.”25 These other forms can provide relief while also showing

that marijuana is not only a drug that can be smoked. Allowing these other forms to be

prescribed to patients can offer a more natural option than many other prescription drugs are.

Some people prefer to take the natural approach rather than the synthetic one and this belief has

been around for centuries with the concept of homeopathy. These alternative methods of

consumption provide various benefits. For example, taking medical marijuana in a pill or capsule

can exhibit longer lasting effects, more effective pain relief, and safer.26 Taking it in this form

prevents the patient from needing to smoke it because it is absorbed into the body in a different

way. Ingesting it allows it to stay in the blood stream longer because it cannot be broken down

until in the stomach acid.

Another popular form that marijuana can be found in is a liquid. The plant is soaked in

liquid so that the active ingredients, THC and CBD, are extracted and then bottled. 27 This takes a

similar approach to cough syrup. It can be easily given to children or adults that are unable to

swallow the capsulated form. As mentioned earlier, it depends on the strain of cannabis that is

used and legalizing one that is aimed at providing maximum health benefits would be the best

option. If these alternative forms can be provided, why can the medical field not prescribe them

for their intended use?

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Who it Impacts and What it Can Treat

The main reason people are prescribed medical marijuana is for pain relief. Chronic pain

affects about 50 million adults in the United States alone.28 The Cleveland Clinic reports that

“chronic pain can interfere with your daily activities, such as working, having a social life and

taking care of yourself or others. It can lead to depression, anxiety and trouble sleeping, which

can make your pain worse. This response creates a cycle that’s difficult to break.”29 The adverse

effects brought on by chronic pain are incredibly difficult to live with and it can, unfortunately,

start to seriously impact your daily life in terms of work and social aspects. An adult living with

chronic pain already has to struggle with so much, and medical marijuana could provide that

relief that would later be seen in the other parts of their life.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in the United States,

every single year, about 1.6 million people are unfortunately diagnose with cancer.30 Cancer does

not care about age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, financial situation, etc. It can happen to

anyone at any time and there are several options to begin treating cancer. It depends on the type

and the severity of the cancer, but a common one is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is well-known

for its adverse effects such as vomiting, fatigue, sores, pain, and hair loss.31 Fortunately, studies

have found that marijuana can be beneficial is subduing some of the various side effects such as

nausea and vomiting.32 The number of people that face treatments like chemotherapy can be

aided with the legalization of medical marijuana and 37 of the states in the US understand that.

Now, the other 13 states should catch up.

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Image source: “About Us - Lifecannmd Medical Marijuana Doctors in Miami Florida.”

LifeCannMD, 21 Oct. 2020, https://lifecannmd.com/about-us/.

The Issue with the FDA

One of the main issues that is withholding the complete legalization of medical marijuana

is the fact that it is not technically approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 33

Although the FDA understands that the compounds in cannabis have been shown to have

positive effects on both mental and physical health, they have not approved it for official

treatment use because they have not approved a “marketing application”. 34 Without the

marketing application, the FDA is unable to determine the safety of cannabis and how effective it
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is on a variety of disorders. They have, however, approved “one cannabis-derived and three

cannabis-related drug products.”35 This shows that the organization understands the compounds

such as THC and CBD within the cannabis and they are continually allowing companies to

research its effects. It will simply take time because of the large variety of medical and

recreational marijuana strains that are available. Not every strain will result in an FDA approval,

but they should prioritize the ones with the higher concentrations of CBD because that is the

active ingredient that is accredited for its health benefits.

Recommendation and Implementation

It is recommended that either the United States government as a whole legalizes the use

of medical marijuana, or that the rest of the 13 states legalize it individually. As previously

discussed, there is a wide range of options for the strains of cannabis used and the form in which

it is taken. This should allow every state to legalize at least one option. Research about cannabis

will continue for many years and with every finding, the country is closer to a unified

legalization of medical marijuana. The best course of action would be Congress taking the lead

and making it a nationwide law in support of medical marijuana, but if they are unable to come

to a single consensus on the strains and forms to allow, the states should handle it on their own.

Either way, medical marijuana has proven to be effective for a variety of mental and physical

disorders and it should be nationally recognized as a legitimate treatment.

Conclusion
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Medical marijuana is a safe and controlled substance that has already been approved by

the majority of individual states. It has had a complicated and unfortunate history because of its

ties to racism and xenophobia, but as a nation, we should recognize the benefits and legalize its

use. Everyone deserves to have relief, both mentally and physically, and there are only a few

states that still have not fully come to that realization. Medical professionals have spent their life

studying the human body and the effects that a variety of drugs have on it, and if they trust using

marijuana as a medical treatment, so should everyone.

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Endnotes

1
Project, Marijuana Policy. “Medical Marijuana Patient Numbers.” MPP,
https://www.mpp.org/issues/medical-marijuana/state-by-state-medical-marijuana-laws/medical-
marijuana-patient-numbers/.
2
“History of Cannabis.” The University of Sydney,
https://www.sydney.edu.au/lambert/medicinal-cannabis/history-of-
cannabis.html#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20cannabis%20originated,father%20of%20Chinese%
20medicine)%20pharmacopoeia.
3
“How Did Marijuana Become Illegal in the First Place?” Drug Policy Alliance,
https://drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.

7
Little, Becky. “Why the US Made Marijuana Illegal.” History.com, A&E Television Networks,
4 Aug. 2017, https://www.history.com/news/why-the-u-s-made-marijuana-illegal.

8
Ibid.

9
Staples, Brent. “The Federal Marijuana Ban Is Rooted in Myth and Xenophobia.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 29 July 2014,
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/high-time-federal-marijuana-ban-is-rooted-
in-myth.html.

10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid.
17
“Timeline of State Marijuana Legalization Laws – Third Way.” – Third Way,
https://www.thirdway.org/infographic/timeline-of-state-marijuana-legalization-laws.
18
Ibid.
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19
Wpengine. “6 Misconceptions about Marijuana.” Recovery Ways, 29 Nov. 2018,
https://www.recoveryways.com/rehab-blog/6-misconceptions-about-marijuana/.

20
Carcadea, Elena, et al. “Effects of Geometrical Dimensions of Flow Channels of a Large-
Active-Area PEM Fuel Cell: A CFD Study.” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy,
Pergamon, 9 Sept. 2020,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319920331542.

21
15, Eliaspress.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=naturesboostcbdgummies.org July, et
al. “Is Medical Marijuana Addictive?” Use vs Misuse - Opus Health, 12 Apr. 2022,
https://opustreatment.com/substance-abuse/is-medical-marijuana-addictive/.

22
Ibid.

23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association. 2022. PPA Medical Cannabis. [online] Available at:
<https://www.papharmacists.com/page/medicalcannabisdosageforms#:~:text=Currently%2C%20
under%20Pennsylvania%20law%2C%20six,topicals%2C%20patches%2C%20and%20flower.>
[Accessed 25 April 2022].
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.

28
Smith, Samara. “Medical Marijuana.” Civic Issues Blog,
https://sites.psu.edu/smithcivicissues/2022/02/18/medical-marijuana/.

29
Ibid.

30
“Cancer.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 16 Dec. 2020,
https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/cancer.htm#:~:text=
Each%20year%20in%20the%20United,almost%20%24174%20billion%20by%202020.

31
“Chemotherapy.” Side Effects of Chemotherapy - Cancer Council Victoria,
https://www.cancervic.org.au/cancer-information/treatments/treatments-
types/chemotherapy/side_effects_of_chemotherapy.html.
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32
“Marijuana and Cancer.” American Cancer Society,
https://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatments-and-side-effects/treatment-
types/complementary-and-integrative-medicine/marijuana-and-
cancer.html#:~:text=A%20number%20of%20small%20studies,pain%20caused%20by%20
damaged%20nerves).

33
Public Health Focus FDA and Marijuana ... - Purdue University.
https://oisc.purdue.edu/seed/hemp/fda_cbd.pdf.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.