In recognition and acceptance of the effectiveness of medical marijuana, sixteen states have approved initiatives to make marijuana legal for medicinal purposes, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
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Medical marijuana can be used as a stand-alone treatment for these conditions or as a complement to conventional ones in order to help patients better withstand the conventional treatments’ effects and thereby obtain the full benefit, whether a cure or improvement of their condition. However, proponents in the medical community argue for medical marijuana use based on its effectiveness in managing debilitating pain, nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, as well as its efficacy in treating severe weight loss commonly experienced by AIDS sufferers. A major criticism of alternative therapies like medical marijuana is they have not been scientifically tested, leading many to question their safety and efficacy. Patients have a right to all beneficial treatments and to deny them this right violates their basic human rights.ĭebate about medical marijuana is challenging the basic foundations of the accepted practice in the medical, legal and ethical communities. After reviewing relevant scientific data and grounding the issue in ethical principles like beneficence and nonmaleficence, there is a strong argument for allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana. This is in stark contrast to the federal government’s stance of zero-tolerance, which has led to a heated legal debate in the United States. The use of medical marijuana has continued to gain support among states, and is currently legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.
Despite supporting evidence, the DEA refuses to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug, which would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana to suffering patients. These studies state that the alleviating benefits of marijuana outweigh the negative effects of the drug, and recommend that marijuana be administered to patients who have failed to respond to other therapies. However, recent studies have shown that medical marijuana is effective in controlling chronic non-cancer pain, alleviating nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, treating wasting syndrome associated with AIDS, and controlling muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis. Marijuana is classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as an illegal Schedule I drug which has no accepted medical use.
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