Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Issues Regarding Establishment Of The Medical Marijuana Pharmacy

By Terrie Joyner


Few issues are as polarizing as the controversy over establishment of the medical marijuana pharmacy. Intelligent arguments have been made on all sides of this very polarizing issue, not just from those who use cannabis, but from doctors, scientists, and lawmakers. What side of this fence one sits on often derives from personal experience with the use of it, not only as medicine but for recreation.

There is some evidence that cannabis is useful in the treatment of several conditions. It has been used to help patients with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and MS. Those patients who have experienced benefits certainly swear by the treatment, and their doctors accept what they have to say about it. Many in the scientific community do believe that further testing and study is warranted.

One of the primary ways that cannabis is used, is to provide ease from stomach problems caused by chemotherapy. A huge recent controversy has arisen by those who claim that hemp oil has cured their cancers where chemo and radiation therapy did not. Those who administered hemp oil were arrested and charged with felonies, and many people are outraged by this.

There are even senators and congresspeople who believe that the laws regarding cannabis should be changed, or even repealed entirely. The other end of the argument claims that it is a dangerous gateway drug. Some users refute that argument as absurd, while lawmakers claim that legalization would only encourage the abuse of the substance to the detriment of society.

Nowhere is the polarization of this issue more dangerous than in the state rights versus Federal regulation argument. Several states in the US have legalized medicinal cannabis, and there are people lawfully engaged in the distribution of it, by prescription. The Federal government has stepped in and raided several of these businesses and put their owners, and sometimes the patients, in prison.

The fact is, hemp was used previously for a number of things including clothing, paper, and medicine. It was a giant cash crop for both North and South America at one time, and was one of the biggest exports in the sixteenth century. There were twentieth century propaganda films released depicting it as dangerous, and those films were released by the pharmaceutical industry, making many question what their agenda really was.

World wide people are also polarized regarding the ongoing war on drugs which has been going since the Nixon Administration. Many people in government, as well as the general public, regard this war as having been a complete failure, having succeeded only in criminalizing citizens and expanding the military industrial complex. This issue becomes even more inflammatory when cancer patients or AIDS patients are put in prison.

The medical marijuana pharmacy has been legalized in many states, and there are others considering following along with their example. In spite of this, the controversy is still a real hot topic. Some claim it is good medicine and others claim it simply turns a blind eye to drug abuse.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment