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Persuasive Essay On Medical Marijuana

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Medical Marijuana
“For all of life's discontents, according to the pharmaceutical industry, there is a drug and you should take it. Then for the side effects of that drug, then there's another drug, and so on. So we're all taking more drugs, and more expensive drugs” (Angell, n.d.). Becoming a rotation of pills, the side effects caused by medications are often worse than the symptoms they treat. Now imagine a drug that has minimal side effects, yet is effective at treating multiple conditions? Marijuana, or cannabis, is a plant that contains more than 100 different components which were utilized for centuries across the world for medicinal purposes (Russo, 2007). The United States enacted various laws towards criminalizing marijuana during …show more content…

Opioid abuse frequently begins with a prescription for chronic or neuropathic pain, and the patient builds up a tolerance over time. Once the prescribed opioids are no longer sufficient, patients often turn to the use of illegal forms of drugs, and this occasionally results in an overdose. Statistics from the DEA and DOJ (2017), state no known cases of overdoses from the use of marijuana. Therefore, medical marijuana is a viable substitute for opioid prescriptions. In a study conducted by Bachhuber, Saloner, Cunningham, and Barry (2014), “[M]edical cannabis laws were associated with a mean 24.8% lower annual rate of opioid analgesic overdose deaths. . . compared with states without laws” (p.1670). Additionally, a recent study done by Powell, Pacula, and Jacobson (2015) concludes that in states that have legalized medical marijuana, Medicare Part-D patients filled less narcotic prescriptions. Given that medical marijuana can help treat symptoms of chronic pain, glaucoma, seizures, PTSD, increases appetite and reduces nausea, and helps prevent opioid abuse, the United States should legalize medical

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