TBD: To Be decided by Con.

I negate: Cancer patients should not be allowed to smoke marijuana to relieve their symptoms. In other words, I intend to show that cancer patients /should/ be allowed to smoke marijuana to relieve their symptoms. First I will refute my opponent's case then I will present my own. I accept all definitions exactly as written. Pro Said: Cancer patients have the right to take marijuana in the form of a pill rather then the right to smoke." CON: Sure they have that right, but they have the right also to the better and less expensive cigarette version of marijuana. One right does not cancel out the other in this case. Pro claimed: A)Effective Rebut: "Marinol, a pill made up of marijuana's most psychoactive ingredient, THC, is available by prescription. For some patients, Marinol works. But for others, this highly potent synthetic drug is too much, "knocking out" many patients shortly after taking the pill. Marinol also does not stimulate appetite as well as whole marijuana commonly does. Marinol is also expensive -- as much as $30,000 a year for one patient's prescription!" http://www.wamm.org... As we can see from this source, THC in the form of a pill is not as effective as you would hope for cancer patients in need of anti-nausea treatment. Furthermore, this story shows this form of marijuana is not always effective for cancer patients. http://articles.latimes.com... Further, it takes significantly longer to feel the benefits as a pill than it does to smoke. It is simple; it takes longer to digest than to breathe. I could go on and on; as soon as I began searching for "medical marijuana pill" I found link after link of sites dedicated to describing the Ineffectiveness of Marinol. Clearly the pill form of THC is not as effective as my opponent would like you to believe. Pro Claimed: B) No negative side effects - Rebut: According to the Mayo Clinic "The prescription form, dronabinol (The active ingredient in Marinol), also may produce psychological side effects that make it inappropriate for some older people." Marinol is More Psychoactive Than Natural Cannabis http://norml.org... Marinol is a synthetic creation of pure THC. Marijuana has over 400 chemical components to it. THC is the one that is psychotropic, or mind altering. The drug companies failed. They confused the beneficial properties with the feel good properties. What they gave our ill citizens? A drug that does little of what it should, while needlessly altering the mind of the patient. This clearly refutes my opponent's stance that there are NO negative side effects. Obviously there are psychological side effects, which are clearly negative. My opponent also mentioned lung damage. Studies have shown that smoking marijuana does not in fact lead to lung cancer. There is no need to fear. http://www.washingtonpost.com... Pro Claimed: C) Crime Prevention - According to the FBI, making marijuana in the form of a smoke for cancer patients would increase the amount of illegal weed on the streets. Therefore, keeping the marijuana in the form of a pill would reduce the amount of illegal weed on the streets. Rebut: I'm just copying this one straight from the source, because there is no way I could word it better. "The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on medical marijuana examined the question whether the medical use of marijuana would lead to an increase of marijuana use in the general population and concluded that, "At this point there are no convincing data to support this concern. The existing data are consistent with the idea that this would not be a problem if the medical use of marijuana were as closely regulated as other medications with abuse potential." The report also noted that, "this question is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids." http://www.drugwarfacts.org... Further, I would like to see some proof that allowing cancer patients to have marijuana cigarettes will increase the street supply? The fact is, marijuana is one of the simplest drugs to get on the street. I'm not sure it /can/ be made easier to get short of tossing out the windows like tickers in a ticker tape parade. My case: It is important to recall the main use of marijuana in cancer patients- to relieve nausea and vomiting. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience nausea and vomiting. http://www.thecancerblog.com.... It is somewhat counter productive to give a pill that will decrease the likelihood of vomiting to someone that is likely to vomit it up before it can be effective! Additionally, one of the most prohibitive factors to patients purchasing manufactured marijuana pills: the cost http://www.drugstore.com... With so many of my previous sources explaining the need to take anywhere from 2-5 at a time to get any relief, a months supply could cost as much as $3500. That would buy 150 10mg capsules that's 1500 mg or 1.5 grams total. Even in its illegal state, one can purchase marijuana for smoking at $288 an ounce http://norml.org... which is 28 grams. That is 18 times more, for less than 1/10 the cost! Cancer is a horrible illness. In many cases the treatments cause more harm than help. Some of that harm is nausea and vomiting. There is a natural plant that will relieve those symptoms. My opponent is proposing that rather than aid the patient, we should charge him or her more than ten times as much to get him/her high and leave him/her nauseated. I say no, make them better. http://marijuana-as-medicine.org... Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen.