Marijuana Should Be Legal For Medicinal Purposes

While I agree with my opponent that there are a number of potential benefits of legalizing marijuana, it is my intention to argue that the negative impacts outweigh the benefits. Furthermore as this is a debate concerning the medical benefit of marijuana, we must only deal with marijuana on a medical level. First; Marijuana is harmful and dangerous- Making this claim almost seems like a cliche when proponents tend to advocate how 'safe and nonaddictive' marijuana is in the first place, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. According to the Heritage foundation while citing senior research fellow Charles Stimson "The scientific literature is clear that marijuana is addictive and that its use significantly impairs bodily and mental functions. Marijuana use is associated with memory loss, cancer, immune system deficiencies, heart disease, and birth defects, among other conditions. "[1] But in a liberal society harms to individual health shouldn't be grounds to make something illegal right? Well as it turns out marijuana is a gateway drug, but not in the stereotypical sense. From the Rand Foundation[2] ". .. marijuana trafficking is linked to a variety of crimes, from assault and murder to money laundering and smuggling. Legalization of marijuana would increase demand for the drug and almost certainly exacerbate drug-related crime. " [1] . http://www.heritage.org... [2] . http://www.rand.org... There is no medical benefit to benefit to marijuana, it's only topical. Marijuana is only an anesthetic[3][4]. It numbs a person's pain while doing relatively little to help cure the disease itself. There are other drugs which can serve this same purpose while maintaining a lower risk level of the drug being stolen or sold. Alternatives include; Propofol[5], Halothane[6] and Enflurane[7]. None of which have the same judgement impairing effects of marijuana [3] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] . http://health.howstuffworks.com... [5] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [6] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [7] . http://en.wikipedia.org... Second; Marijuana is not a long term solution- Long term usage of marijuana impairs the body's ability to fight off infections in the lungs by debilitating the body's Lymphocytes (White Blood Cells)[8]. At this realization, one can only see the irony of advocating marijuana as a solution for those suffering from lymphoma who are suffering from the loss of their white blood cells in the first place. [8] . http://www.drugabuse.gov... The long-term use of marijuana also has substantial negative impacts on education. Studies[9][10] have shown that long-term marijuana usage harms user's short term memory, making it difficult to retain information and perform complex tasks. They also found the long term use resulted in lower scores when taking tests or other academic assessments. The reason behind this was because unlike alcohol, whose debilitating effects go away after the period of intoxication has passed, marijuana usage has residual effect on cognitive abilities [9] . http://www.drugabuse.gov... [10] M. T. Lynskey [11] Harrison G. Pope and Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, The Residual Cognitive Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use in College Students, 275 jama 521"27 (1996). Marijuana has even been linked with paranoia and schizophrenia[12][13], sometimes irreversibly so. Researchers declared that ". .. The primary psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, known as THC, activates cannabinoid receptors, which are found in many brain areas. .. ." ". .. the effects on individual brain regions were subtle, but brain waves across the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were completely disrupted. These two brain areas are vital for memory and decision-making. .. " "More recent studies suggest that THC given intravenously to healthy volunteers can induce several psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, so the authors believe that THC studies be used to model broader aspects of the disease, not just cognitive dysfunction. " [12] . http://www.drugabuse.gov... [13] . http://psychcentral.com... The conclusion here, is that marijuana is neither a sustainable treatment for any disease nor is it a particularly ethical prescription for any physician to give their patients. The only recognized medical benefit of marijuana is pain reduction and there are better (cheaper too) alternatives there.