Medical Marijuana: The Pros and Cons of Legal Cannabis

[Tuesday Afternoon]

Larry Malerba, D.O. Practicioner, educator and leader in the field of holistic medicine
Posted: October 25, 2010 10:06 AM

With eight states looking to legalize medical marijuana through legislative initiatives or ballot measures this November (Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota)(1), I wanted to review some of the pros and cons, as I see them, of marijuana use and abuse.

I've considered myself particularly qualified to weigh in on the subject ever since my philosophy professor pointed out to me as a college freshman that the Italian derivation of my name, Mal-erb-a, can be interpreted to mean "bad weed." I'd like to think that my medical degree and some experience in the field of psychiatry help a little bit, too. To sum up my argument I'll need to borrow a line from Eric Clapton, "It's in the way that you use it."

Medical Marijuana:
The medical benefits of marijuana (cannabis) are pretty well established. There is voluminous scientific research on the subject(2) that verifies its efficacy when applied to a variety of medical conditions, and plenty of first-hand evidence that it works for those who use it for their own health problems. While this first-hand testimony that comes from real patients is usually the type of evidence that scientific purists disparage as "anecdotal," it is, in my opinion, the type of real-life experiential information that we should trust at least as much as the abstract statistical analyses of scientific studies.

The medicinal use of marijuana is well known to be of benefit in the treatment of nausea and other side effects from chemotherapy. It also helps improve the diminished appetite that patients undergoing cancer treatment can experience. It lowers intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients, decreases spasticity and other neurologic symptoms in multiple sclerosis, and there is evidence that it is useful in a variety of additional medical conditions.

more at link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-malerba/marijuana-healing-herb-or_b_765531.html

[kentuck]

1. There are some problems.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/zoning-108502-dispensaries-established.html

[Swampguana]

8. I don't agree with this article

The problem with it is the people who don't want the dispensaries giving the new businesses a hard time and over reacting. They need to be somewhere and from the sounds of the article the owners are trying very hard to comply with the situation.

[ixion]

2. The Biggest Pro of all for legalization is that we stop jailing non-violent offenders

for smoking pot. The good that will do far outweighs any cons, in my opinion.

[NightWatcher]

3. "medical" marijuana is a slippery slope that will lead to further prohibitions

see New Jersey:
tougher rules for getting "medical" marijuana
only three locations statewide
only three strains permitted to be grown
inhumane number of hoops to jump through for patients
increased penalties for violating these rules....

The prohibitionists will allow limited "medical" marijuana and then heap tons more penalties and prohibitions.

Legalize Pot-For-All and let people decide. smoke up on a friday night at a party or smoke up so that they can survive the day and fight their disease and treatments.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. I've seen New Jersey

That's why I live in Oregon.

[tridim]

4. One con that I've noticed. If you live in a legal state..

and are forced via one reason or another to move to a non-legal state, you are instantly denied your medicine at risk of many years in prison.

That aint right.

[Swampguana]

5. I don't see any cons

with the medical use of Marijuana. There will always be those who oppose recreational use but we're a long long way from recreational use being the main issue. The only thing being considered is Medical Marijuana and it seemed in the article that there are no cons when used medically. The only cons were focused on recreational use. please correct me if I'm wrong.

My mother has MS and have seen her improvements since she started using Marijuana.

[Nikia]

6. I don't know why it is even contraversial for medical use

It is useful for a number of conditions and is less addictive and harmful than many other medications. It also makes sense to legalize it for any use because it is not as harmful as the legal drug alcohol. Prohibition is costly and ruined people's lives. There are some people who may develop problems from marijuana abuse, but I think if it were legal, people would actually be more likely to get help.