Unpacking The Debate: The Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

Cities like Delhi and Mumbai are positioned among the globes top 10 cities with the most increased rates of cannabis (marijuana or weed) consumption every year , according to a study by Seedo, an Israel-based firm that sells such technology which help people grow marijuana plant at home. In order to develop a basic understanding of the topic question ‘Should Marijuana be legalized? It is important to clarify the meaning of its keywords. The National Institute of Drug Abuse states that marijuana — also called weed, herb etc. “is a greenish-gray mixture of the dried flowers of Cannabis sativa”. “Mostly people smoke cannabis in hand-rolled cigarettes called joints”. Cannabinoids is the term given to the approximately 100 different chemicals found in the marijuana plant, with each chemical having its own specific effect. The main chemicals are “Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) which are used in the medicine”. The 'high' that people strive for when ingesting marijuana comes from one of these chemicals, THC. Marijuana is used for recreational/medical purposes and is banned in many places globally for various reasons. The word ‘legalization’ holds great importance in this topic question because if marijuana is considered unlawful, its consumption would be a crime, whatever the reason may be or how much benefit it does.

The legalization of marijuana has been an issue of debate from the contemporary societies for a long time now. Many countries such as Germany and Australia have already legalized medical marijuana and now are in favor to validate the use of recreational marijuana. But in several places medical marijuana is legalized. The Spanish Medical Agency (AEMPS) is held responsible for authorizing cannabis products, but only for clients in countries where it is prescribed. Canada, Colombia and Uruguay.

Having understood that why marijuana should be legalized is a topic for debate in several countries worldwide, I derive two contrasting perspectives regarding whether or not marijuana should be legalized. My Initial view is that weed should be legal as it is used for medical purposes and for anxiety issues or to ease off stress and frustration. As part of this essay I will first present arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana which will look at aspects of legalizing cannabis, which has the potential to help treat different kinds of diseases such as epilepsy and schizophrenia. Opposing this view I will analyze and evaluate arguments that state marijuana should not be legalized.

Let us first look into the perspective which Dr. John Collins, executive director of the international drugs policy unit at London School of Economics and political science opposed, he first points out the eight and more states and Washington DC who are supporting the legalization of recreational cannabis but the juries is still out of legalization on the community and one individual health, which indicates that the author is not at biased and is shedding light upon the both side of the debate. To add depth to his argument he explained, UK doctors have been allowed to prescribe cannabis products applied to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which makes whole of the United Kingdom, the medicines which contain cannabis are impactful to people who are suffering from diseases such as epilepsy which is one of many. A study in this article narrated that there were two young children who suffered from epilepsy and helped them control their seizures. Both of the children parents were convinced by the results and further they quoted in the article that marijuana should be legal so it can help tens of thousands of people who are in urgent need of help. Firstly the source is credible enough to rely on because the writer contains all those qualities which a writer would be acquiring according to the topic of the question. Secondly the author had a clear understanding about what he was talking about and was easy to follow which means it was structured properly. This means that the author isn’t unaware of the problem since he knows the both side of the argument. But Dr. John Collins wasn’t able to stick to one perspective of his tangent, he kept on discussing all the other possible effects due to which he wasn’t able to add some of the statistical information which would’ve increased the validity of the findings in this article.

On the same argument another source which supported Dr. John Collins article in more detail was what importance medical cannabis has and how it is proved effective which John wasn’t able to do so. Medical cannabis has, through a number of studies, proved to be an effective treatment for anorexia, weight loss, severe nausea and other HIV/AIDS related symptoms. Using statistics one particular study published in Journal of Pain and Symptom Management showed that through the use of medical cannabis 94% of participants had less muscle pain, 97% claimed to have an improved appetite and 93% of the participants found relief from nausea and anxiety. All of these figures represent how reliable and credible this source can be since this is an internationally peer-reviewed journal by providing the best clinical research related to relied and illness burdens, moreover it clear cut points out that how HIVS/AIDS were treated through cannabis which turned out to be effective and reliable and not only does cannabis reduce HIVS/AIDS but also other mental illness such as depression, anxiety, memory loss and many more but due to the word limit it is difficult to be comprehensive and explain each and every sub issue related to the argument.

In support of these articles above there are several countries like India who are also planning to legalize marijuana since their nation also deprive some medical benefits from it and is a great healer, it helps treat a number of medical conditions like epilepsy, insomnia, HIV/AIDS and cancer treatment. In fact HIV/AIDS patients have find some relief through cannabis treatment.

Another study which was conducted in Pakistan showed some similar results. Research suggested that cannabidiol has therapeutic prospective it showed reductions in anxiety and improvement in the bipolar disorder and many other mental conditions. Some other studies have also indicted that cannabidiol may be a treatment for the disease epilepsy specifically. “Patients who consumed 20 mg daily experienced a reduction in seizures about 42%”.

First moving onto to the second perspective of the argument, we need to know that marijuana for medical purposes aren’t always beneficial. A newspaper which made a headline of first ever baby who dies because of marijuana overdose, who was 11 month years of age. According to Nappe, the report had outlined an unusual way of events and wrote that physicians believed it was a compulsion to study the possible relationship between the child’s death (due to myocarditis which is inflammation of the heart muscle) and cannabis.

Now coming onto the second argument from which we perceive several reasons as to why marijuana should be illegitimate, marijuana consumption effects individual or personal side of the debate. First let us look upon the individual side of the debate first.

More than 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the country in 2017, over 47,000 involved the use of opioids. We know that no one has ever died directly from a marijuana overdose. Due to this huge number of deaths that took place by marijuana overdose clearly identifies how perilous this drug can be but there are still many people who still consume the drug and know the possible harms such as mental illness and early deaths. And almost always, they started smoking well before they hit the age at which they could legally buy cigarettes. To prove these statistics virtuous, A study found that an 19 year old boy” Thamba” who bought an marijuana cookie with a bunch of his friends from a store called Native Root Apothecary that group of friends were told to cut the cookie into six pieces and only to consume one piece at a time. When they returned to their hotel, all of the group ate a slice of the cookie, which contained a total of 65 mg of THC, apiece. Thamba was unhappy at the lack of effect caused by the 10mg. He was impatient and ate the rest of the cookie at once. Next morning when he woke up he was shivering and started to act very weirdly, started destroying the room, smashing lamps, the television, and furniture. He fell over the railing which was on an elevated hallway overlooking the hotel’s lobby, and plunged to his death. The coroner said that weed intoxication was a major factor in his death. The autopsy report stated that there were 7.2 nanograms of active THC per ml of blood. This incident of Thamba could validate the statistics discussed above and makes the argument more substantiate and reliable. By this incident quoted by author which is highly statistical and clear cut it forces us to believe that author isn’t unaware about the problem. But this does not represents the credibility of the source since the authors name wasn’t cited in this article which weakens the argument against the question. This argument helps us indicate that marijuana overdose can cause death and shouldn’t be legal since it causes early death and might be impactful to the community living in any particular area especially the teenagers.

Upon probing all the arguments, I wasn’t convinced enough to change my initial view that marijuana should be legalized. I’ve extensively researched upon the question and have noticed how the authors proposing marijuana to be legal are much more qualified and credible than those who say that it should remain unlawful. The case studies provided in the second argument of the author wasn’t supported enough because the baby who died due to the overdose, it wasn’t investigated whether he specifically died because of cannabis, which makes it difficult to conclude a conclusion or to give a statement which isn’t reliable or valid. Dr. John is a highly qualified writer which increases the validity of his arguments and opinions on the other hand the writer of the second perspective wasn’t cited in the article, this makes it extremely difficult to pass a judgment on this article.

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