From a study[1] done by McGill University, research
found that "Smoking cannabis from a pipe can significantly reduce chronic
pain in patients with damaged nerves". Consequently, those who lobby
for the continued criminalization of medical marijuana are preventing access to
patients who are in need of the drug.
Therefore the lack of access to the drug averts people with conditions
such as multiple sclerosis[2],
cancer[3] and spinal cord disease[4] from alleviating chronic discomfort.
Using
the link below, it can be seen how the use of medical marijuana can make
drastic improvements in people’s
conditions.
Drastic Improvements in People’s
Conditions
Misconceptions about Pharmaceuticals versus Medical
Marijuana
The video below introduces common misconceptions
people have about drugs such as marijuana:
One of the concerns lobbyists for the continuation of
the criminalization of marijuana have is that people will fake symptoms for the
use of medical marijuana. Sociologist
Craig Reinarman, in his report for the Journal of Psychoactive Studies[5], shows
that what some people consider “faking” symptoms for medical marijuana is equivalent
to, if not better than, the government giving doctors consent to “commonly prescribe
psychoactive pharmaceuticals to treat not only paint but also sleep disorders,
anxiety, and depression”.
Economy on the Rise Due to Medical Marijuana
The regulation[6] of medical marijuana is required to keep an inventory
of the distribution of the drug.
Consequently, since the government knows how much marijuana is being
produced it can be prohibited from being sold on the black market. Thusly, since its not being sold on the black
market, all of the sold marijuana is being taxed. Cooper, in his article Struggling Cities Turn to a Crop for Cash[7], states “The
city [California] has raised taxes on marijuana dispensaries several times in
the past few years, and last year it collected $1.4 million in taxes from them —
nearly 3 percent of all the business taxes it collected”. Thusly, the higher the consumption of medical
marijuana, the more tax money that can be collected.
[1] http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/08August/Pages/cannabis-and-chronic-nerve-pain.aspx -Oct 23, 2012
[2] http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/can_cannabis_help_ms.htm -Oct 23, 2012
[3] http://www.articlesbase.com/cancer-articles/the-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-for-cancer-patients-1581285.html -Oct 23, 2012
[4] http://medicalmarijuana.ca/learning-center/conditions/spinal-cord-disease- Oct 23, 2012
[5] http://reason.com/blog/2011/08/05/how-many-medical-marijuana-pat- Oct 23, 2012
[6] http://medicalmarijuana.ca/for-growers/grow-marijuana-legally- Oct 23, 2012
[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/cities-turn-to-a-crop-for-cash-medical-marijuana.html?_r=2&- Oct 23, 2012
