Medical Marijuana Essay

For decades, people have argued over the perceived benefits of medical marijuana. In hopes of gaining some clarity, I conducted research on the use and opinions surrounding medical marijuana from 1970-2000s. I used the Academic Search Premier to find primary and secondary sources, and found tertiary sources through the use of the Encyclopedia Britannica. I selected articles filtered through the Academic Search Premier Database due to the fact that this database contains a myriad of reputable sources. I began conducting my research by contacting the librarian assigned to help with this assignment. Upon receiving assistance from the librarian, I began selecting my sources. I conducted all research online and narrowed down my queries by filtering

Medical marijuana was only believed to be beneficial for cancer and glaucoma patients. As far as opinions went, both the government and the public were vastly unsupportive of the idea that marijuana could be used medically. However, there was a small minority who believed that the perceived benefits of marijuana consumption could benefit patients struggling with life threatening diseases. In 1970, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), formed with the objective to reclassify marijuana from its current standing as a schedule-one drug. By the end of the decade, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Florida had legislation permitting the limited use of medical marijuana. However, it was nearly impossible to obtain medicinal marijuana as the government did not support the state-based legislatures.  The 1980s, Multiple Sclerosis was added to the list of ailments that medical professionals believed could benefit from medicinal marijuana treatment, and a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) judge even agreed with the drug’s perceived benefits. Judge Francis Young stated that marijuana is, ''One of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man and should be classified, like morphine and cocaine, as illegal for the general public but available by prescription” (American, Web). Since the government was unwavering in their opinion, doctors began to look for alternative options to marijuana. The use of synthetic cannabinoids, grew in popularity as a way to alleviate the nausea and pain associated with chemotherapy treatment for cancer