Resolved: Medical Marijuana should be legal

And adding those definitions.1. Health BenefitsAlzheimer's Disease - Forget the burnout jokes you've heard about effects of smoking marijuana on the brain. Scripps Research Institute found the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, inhibits the formation amyloid plaque, a primary pathological marker. The report, published in 2006 in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics,said THC is a "considerably superior inhibitor of (amyloid plaque) aggregation" to several currently approved drugs for treating the disease. Brain Cancer - Researchers from Compultense University in Madrid, Spain have found THC promotes the death of brain cancer cells (. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com...) by a process called autophagy. Autophagy essentially causes the cancerous cells to eat itself. Seems that would be a health benefit of medical marijuana that should be investigated further, no? Head and Neck Cancer - The journal Cancer Prevention Research published a study in 2009 that observed 434 subjects with incidents of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) from 9 medical facilities. While the results were far from conclusive, the evidence indicated patients with 10-20 years of marijuana use was associated with the "significantly reduced" (. http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org...) risk of HNSCC. Lung Cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)- Researchers at Harvard University (. http://www.sciencedaily.com...) found THC to reduce tumor growth in common lung cancer by 50% and significantly reduce the ability of the cancer to spread. In 2006 a UCLA researcher found smoking marijuana did not appear to increase the risk of lung cancer or head-and-neck malignancies even among heavy users. However, the study indicated the more tobacco a person smoked, the greater the risk of developing cancer of the lung and head and neck. Note: I am by no means saying the ingestion of combustible smoke of any kind is not without risks, I am merely trying to present information about research conducted and the results that show promising results of the potential health benefits of medical marijuana which warrant further investigation. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - More commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease is a fatal neurodegnerative disorder characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem and motor cortex. Clinical trials have indicated that cannabinoids in mice can delay ALS progression. This supports anecdotal reports from ALS sufferers who found the health benefits, of medical marijuana helpful in relieving certain disease symptoms such as pain, appetite loss and depression. . http://norml.org...Chronic Pain - Chronic pain is a broad category that includes, but is not limited to, arthritis, migraines, back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, phantom limb pain, scoliosis, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis and HIV, The University of California at Davis (. http://www.thirdage.com...) studied the efficacy of inhaled cannabis patients with central or peripheral nerve-related pain in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Results indicated that low levels of THC was equally effective as high levels in resolving pain indicating you don't have to smoke your brains out for the analgesic effects of THC.2. ScienceThe University of California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research has done several studies into the efficacy of marijuana for neuropathic use - especially in pain reduction. They have been done using FDA standardized clinical trials with randomized, placebo-controlled procedures. These studies have clearly shown the positive effects of using marijuana as a pain reliever and medicine for patients with such chronic conditions as HIV, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and sleep disorders. . http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu...A recent review in Germany showed that since 2005, there have been 37 controlled studies assessing the safety and efficacy of marijuana (and its compounds). These involved far more subjects than the average study seeking FDA approval for a prescription drug. . http://www.cannabis-med.org...Many opponents of medical marijuana claim that there is "little evidence" and call for "more research, more science. " These are the more reasonable of the detractors for the medicinal use of marijuana, of course. Yet these reasonable arguments against marijuana as a medicine are pretty hollow given the vast amount of research that's already been done with much more on the way. Proponents of medical marijuana often ignore the research as well. Despite the common claims to the contrary, there is evidence that marijuana also has negative side effects. Most of these center on the physical effects of smoking it as well as proven cognitive negatives. Admittedly, the effects are no worse (and generally better) than the side effects associated with many prescription drugs and accepted non-prescription drugs such as alcohol or tobacco. . http://www.newscientist.com...Most of the arguments for or against the use of medical marijuana seem to center on social rather than science-based concerns. This is rightly so, in some cases, as there are deep social issues involved with marijuana's use (or prohibition). Many communities have benefited from the introduction of medical marijuana, however. . http://cannacentral.com... negative impacts of marijuana, socially, are nearly always associated with its prohibition rather than its allowance.3. Marijuana legalization could save US taxpayers money. Marijuana prohibition currently costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year to enforce, and it accomplishes little or nothing beneficial in terms of economic benefits. On the contrary, legalizing marijuana would not only save taxpayers billions of dollars a year in unnecessary costs, but it would also jumpstart the economy to the tune of $100 billion a year or more, say some economists. In an open letter written to the President, Congress, State Governors, and State Legislators, more than 550 economists, including several nobel laureates, draw attention to a report authored by Professor Jeffrey A. Miron that highlights the potential economic benefits of marijuana decriminalization. Entitled The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition, the report states that legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana would do wonders to reduce inflated budgets and generate new revenue streams. "[R]eplacing prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation [. .. ] would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods," say the economists. "If, however, marijuana were taxed similarly to alcohol or tobacco, it might generate as much as $6.2 billion annually. "As many as 60 million Americans are already estimated to be spending upwards of $110 billion a year on marijuana, the vast majority of which ends up in the hands of organized crime units. If marijuana was legalized, honest citizens could grow and sell it instead, which would inject new life into the flailing economy, and redirect billions of dollars in cash flow from criminals to legitimate growers. "At a minimum, this debate will force advocates of current policy to show that prohibition has benefits sufficient to justify the cost to taxpayers, foregone tax revenues, and numerous ancillary consequences that result from marijuana prohibition," add the economists. . http://www.huffingtonpost.com...http://www.prweb.com...