Research Assignment on Advocacy Paper for Medical Marijuana

Advocacy for Medical Marijuana
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Introduction
Medical marijuana refers to an extract of marijuana plant that is unprocessed and is used to treat a given disease or deviate given symptoms. Marijuana contains a chemical referred to as cannabinoids, which is an FDA-approved medication that contain cannabinoid chemical in pill form. Marijuana is used to treat various diseases and conditions such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation, pain, seizures, substance use disorders and mental disorders. Marijuana with medical value is usually sold legally, although medical marijuana has fewer chemicals that cause feelings of euphoria. In the United States of America, the current health policy is about legalization of marijuana on medical grounds. Legalization of medical marijuana means that people with chronic and serious illnesses will easily gain access to medicinal cannabis. The health policy ensures that the supply of medicinal cannabis is constant and the importation laws are adjusted to facilitate fast movement of medical cannabis (NORMLand the NORML Foundation, 2017). This paper advocates for the legalization and use of medical marijuana due o it major benefits and capacity to offer remedy to diseases which other convectional medicines have failed.
Medical uses of marijuana
Marijuana contains potential therapeutic uses that have medical benefits to certain conditions and illnesses. According to scientific research, marijuana has potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, mainly THC that acts as a pain reliever, control nausea and vomiting and stimulation of appetite. However, smoked marijuana is not a recommended THC delivery system as it also delivers harmful substances. Cannabinoids have the potential psychological effects such as anxiety reduction, euphoria and sedation and these can compromise marijuana’s potential therapeutic value. Marijuana is also effective in relieving some of the major symptoms of cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis (National Institute on Drug abuse, 2015).
Legalization of medical marijuana
According to the federal government, marijuana is classified as a schedule I substance in the Controlled Substance Act. Schedule I substances have a high potential for dependency and have no any legal medical use and this means marijuana is illegal. However, in October 2009, the federal prosecutors were urged not to prosecute people who distribute medical marijuana in accordance to the state law. Medical marijuana is legally available in the states that have established an elaborate medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana treatment varies in relation to conditions and ailments approved by the respective states. However, the requirements for accessing legal medical marijuana fluctuate widely between each individual, state and territory. In order to access medical marijuana, in some states such as California an individual is required to have assigned doctor’s recommendation and a state photo ID. However, in some states an individual is issued with a medical marijuana card that is placed in the state’s respective record system (Drug Policy Alliance, 2017).
The U.S Department of Justice States that marijuana remains illegal federally and the states such as Colorado and Washington are expected to create strong state-based enforcement efforts. Therefore, the U.S Department of Justice reserves the right challenge the legalization of medical marijuana at the state level. Arizona and the District of Columbia passed laws to legalize the use of medical marijuana, but later overturned the laws as they required some modifications. Prescriptions for medical marijuana are commonly referred to as “recommendations or referrals” because of federal prescription prohibition. Therefore, states that allow the use of medical marijuana have an elaborate patient registry in order to protect the patients from arrest and prosectution for possession of the recommended amount of marijuana for personal medical use. However, the major policy issues regarding medical marijuana legalization is how to regulate its recommendation, regislation of the right patients and how to dispense it to the patients. Therefore, states that lack dispensing regulations need to formulate strict regulations to control dispensing of medical marijuana. The regulations on the use of medical marijuana can be drafted at the state level in regard to any state regulation (Drug Policy Alliance, 2017).
California State passed Proposition 215 in 1996 and became the first state to legalize the use of marijuana. However, since then, 27 states and the district of Guam, Columbia and Puerto Rico have approved use public medical marijuana and cannabis programs. Currently, 17 states have approved the use of low THC and high cannabidol (CBD) products on medical grounds as a legal defense. The medical marijuana programs are comprehensive and they offer protection from criminal penalties for use of marijuana on medical grounds and marijuana access through cultivation and dispensaries. The programs also allow variety of medical marijuana strains and allow smoking or vaporation of specific marijuana products, plant or marijuana extracts. However, the legalization of medical marijuana varies from state to state as some states legalize it for both adults and minors such as California while other states exclude minors under the age of eighteen from accessing medical marijuana. The District of Columbia and the other seven states have resulted into adapting more expansive laws as they have legalized marijuana for recreational use. However, some medical marijuana laws are broader than others in some states with some states allowing residents to possess cannabis oil as long as they have some specific medical conditions. Some states have allowed a CBD-only law and this means that they only legalize marijuana that has a high cannadidiol level to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (TCH) (Drug Policy Alliance, 20...