Medical Marijuana

"My opponent claims that people can still obtain drugs albeit illegally, but I contend that rate would be much less than right if it was not legal. If it was a normal prescription drug, then people could easily smuggle it or fordoctors into prescribing it for them. Furthermore, they wouldn't need to hide and buy itfrom drug dealers, they could walk into a pharmacy and buy it for a lot cheaper price. " This is in essence a non-argument. You write this paragraph with the assumption that marijuana is inherently wrong and has no useful medical purposes. You could make the same argument for any other drug. It's like saying that Tylenol should not be legal cause then people would be able to take it. You are not pointing out any negative effects of marijuana. Pain Your source saying why we experience pain and why it can be useful does not extend to people who have already been diagnnosed. Pain is used to bring to our attention that there is a problem. However, once the problem is found the doctor figures out how to fix the problem and make the pain go away. What use is pain when we already know the cause? You might as well argue to illegalize all pain relievers. Should Motrin, Tylenol, and Advil be prohibited because pain can at times be good? Smoke You then say that marijuana is illegal because it damages the lungs. "OK, marijuana is ILLEGAL because it damages the lungs ALOT. " If it is really illegal because it damages the lungs as you have just conceded than the fact that you can ingest marijuana through a vaporizer, mouth spray, and in pill form takes away your reasoning as to why medical marijuana should not be legal. We can really end the debate right here but I think I'll refute the rest of your arguments just to make sure. Side Effects Your next point was that marijuana can increase the chances of things like alzheimers and strokes. You fail to mention that smoking and alcohol consumption can also lead to a stroke. "Other modifiable risk factors include high blood cholesterol levels, diabetes, cigarette smoking(active and passive), heavy alcohol consumption" . http://en.wikipedia.org... You seem to have not had any problem earlier as to smoking and alcohol being legal as you pointed out one of the reasons why they were not illegal. You also say marijuana causes mood swings but mood swings can be caused by a chemical imbalance or even hormonal changes(puberty). . http://www.thehealthcenter.info... Most people will go through mood swings at one point or another so not ingesting marijuana is not l likely to shield you completely. As for your argument that marijuana causes depression you also fail to realize what other common legal drugs have been shown to cause depression in patients. Drugs that are used to treat high blood pressure, such as beta-blockers or reserpine can cause depression. . http://www.webmd.com... Now for a list of drugs that can cause seizures. The list is actually very long so I'll only post a few. They can be antibiotics like Amphotec or Cipro. They can be pain relievers like Ultram. They can be drugs used to treat ADHD like Ritalin and Concerta or antihistamines like Benadryl. Here is a longer list if you'd like. . http://www.epilepsy.com... "Cancer and Aids patients die alot, so marijuana doesn't actually help them. " This line here particularly troubles me. True, AIDS and cancer patients die a lot but so has every person who has ever lived. And just because medical cannabis does not cure the disease does not mean that is nnot helpful in that it alleviates patient's suffering while they are alive. You posted certain symptoms and diseases that marijuana can put you at risk for however I showed you that side effects like these are actually quite common and that that does not cancel out the ways in which medical marijuana can help AIDS patients gain weight, helps to help cancer patients who become nautious because of chemotherapy, and how marijuana can be used as a much safer pain reliever than opioids. You tried to counteract this point by saying that pain is good. However the point of pain acording to your source is to point out danger or something wrong with the body. There is no point in pain once the cause of it is known and it is being treated. You also did not adequately show that medical cannabis does not do the things and help patients in the ways in which I described.