Marijuana goes by several names such as “weed”, “pot” or “bud”. It is the third most common recreational drug in America behind alcohol and tobacco which are legal substances. Marijuana comes from the leaves of a hemp plant known as Cannabis Sativa. The drug has a high concentration of the tetrahydrocannabinol also known as THC. While some users of the drug smoke it so that they can get high, studies have shown that marijuana could have legitimate medical uses. The uses of marijuana include alleviating nausea as a result of chemotherapy, an improvement of weight loss, and treatment of pain that may not respond to other drugs. Recent research on the benefits of Marijuana has made the drug become a topic for various ethical considerations. This paper will outline some of the ethics that outline the use of medical marijuana.
Technical Aspects of the use of Medical Marijuana
Throughout history, Marijuana has been used for both spiritual and medical purposes. The drug has been used for several purposes such as reducing pain, curing fatigue, and relieving stress. However, the United States Federal Law has classified marijuana as a schedule I substance through the Controlled Substances Act. The act classifies schedule I drug through three traits. The drug should have a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use, and there is a lack of safety in the use of the drug under medical supervision (Chemerinsky, 2017) Through the act, Tetrahydrocannabinols can be defined as a schedule I drug making its possession illegal through the federal law.
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While the use of Marijuana is illegal under federal law, there have been several states that have gone against the federal precedent and legalized marijuana for medical purposes. The topic of the use of Marijuana for medical purposes remains a hotly debated topic. Some individuals advocate for the medical use of Marijuana while others strongly oppose it. There are ethical considerations that should be made in order to determine whether Marijuana should be allowed and legalized for medical issues. Ethical issues that can be put into consideration is the utilitarianism where the drug is analyzed for its benefits to doing a potential good for the society.
Public Debates
Arguments in Favor of the Use of Medical Marijuana
Utilitarianism is a classical theory which argues that when given a set of choices, one should act in a way that produces the best results for the greater number. The utilitarianism follows that human beings can solve their ethical questions by choosing to maximize the amount of pleasure while minimizing the amount of pain that they experience. The use of marijuana for medicinal use would be beneficial for a large number of people for many reasons.
The use of Marijuana creates multiple health benefits for different individuals and this makes it ethical according to the utilitarian view. One of the main reasons why people use marijuana is that it is used to solve appetite loss, pain, insomnia, glaucoma, cancer, and it helps with relaxation. Considering that there is an increasingly huge number of individuals that suffer from such diagnosis, the utilitarian approach shows that legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes would result in a greater benefit in terms of better health outcomes for a larger number of people.
The comparison of marijuana to other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco creates a case for marijuana. Substances such as alcohol and tobacco do not have any medicinal purposes but have been legalized. However, a drug like marijuana that has several advantages and few disadvantages is illegal for medical use. Marijuana does lesser harm and is lesser destructive compared to alcohol and tobacco since it can be used to treat medical conditions. This shows that state legislatures have been blind to the potential medical benefits and advantages regarding the use of marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco have been legalized without showing any advantages of the substances towards improvements in medical care. The ethical argument is that marijuana does lesser harm compared to other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco and should thus be legalized.
By legalizing marijuana, there will be a reduction in crime and violence which creates a good for everyone. Crime and violence are usually associated with the illegal buying and selling of marijuana. Legalizing and allowing the use of marijuana would eliminate any such forms of criminal behavior that come about through the smuggling, distribution, possession, usage, and sales of marijuana.
The use of marijuana is accepted by the larger population due to the potential positive effects of the drug. A study by Keyhani et al. (2018) analyzed the potential risks and benefits that are associated with the use of marijuana. The study indicated that 81 percent of the United States adults believed that marijuana could have at least 1 benefit. The most common benefit associated with the drug was pain management, treatment of anxiety, stress, and depression, and treatment of other diseases such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. The study analyzed a large percent of the American population and showed that most Americans view marijuana as favorable.
Opposing Arguments
One of the leading arguments that go against the use of marijuana is the fact that it can lead to increased addiction and abuse by the larger population. The consequences of the legalization of marijuana for the general public was studied by Davis et al. (2016). The study identified changes in public health indicators due to the policy change in the state of Colorado that took place in 2009. The study showed that hospital discharges due to marijuana dependence increases by 1% per month between 2007 and 2013. Poison center calls further increased by 0.8% per month after the policy change. The results of the study showed that there is an increasing dependence and misuse of medical marijuana after its legalization.
Those that oppose efforts to make marijuana legal note that it can lead to an increase in its consumption as a result of negative health risks of smoking. There is a belief that the legalization and the use of medical marijuana will result in its spread to other groups such as teens who will start smoking. A study by Paschall et al. (2017) examined the association between medical marijuana patients and marijuana use among youth throughout the same period. The results of the study showed that the mean rate of marijuana patients per 1000 population increased from 2.9 percent in the year 2006 to 18.3 percent in 2015. The results of the study showed a positive correlation between the legalization and use of medical marijuana and increased abuse among the youth. The implication of the study showed that there is a need to have strict measures to prevent access to marijuana among the youth.
Personal Opinion
The arguments of the use of marijuana for medical purposes indicate that there is an increasingly huge amount of potential benefits compared to disadvantages. In my opinion, the benefits of using the drug outweigh all the disadvantages. States and countries that have made it legal to use medical marijuana have benefited from some of its advantages. There is no need to prohibit the use of a drug that could be used to realize several health benefits for a large percent of the population. I find that the fact that drugs that have been associated with multiple negative health outcomes such as alcohol are legal. Marijuana is associated with several positive health outcomes and lesser negative outcomes and this presents a case for its legalization. Based on the utilitarian view, the medical use of Marijuana will lead to several health benefits for the larger population.
The analysis of the ethical use of marijuana also reveals that there are potential disadvantages associated with the drug. Some of the cons include an increased dependence on marijuana by the larger population, increased poisoning, and an increase in marijuana use among adolescents. In order to curb these disadvantages, the use of medical marijuana should be highly regulated just like alcohol. There should be restrictions regarding its purchase and use for individuals that are over the age of 21 years. Restrictions should be made to control whether marijuana can be smoked with a prohibition on smoking in public places and schools.
In conclusion, based on the utilitarian ethical view, the use of medical marijuana should be legalized since it creates better health outcomes for the larger population. Marijuana is associated with potential health benefits such as treatment of anxiety, stress, and depression and treatment of other conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, appetite loss, and insomnia. All these benefits create a greater good for the larger population. There are potential negative effects of the use of medical marijuana such as an increased dependency on the drug and increased use among adolescents. This can be prevented by ensuring that there is controlled use of the drug. Various restrictions should be made regarding the use of medical marijuana where it should be provided to patients above 21 years old.
References
Chemerinsky, E. (2017). Marijuana Laws and Federalism. BCL Rev. , 58 , 857.
Davis, J. M., Mendelson, B., Berkes, J. J., Suleta, K., Corsi, K. F., & Booth, R. E. (2016). Public health effects of medical marijuana legalization in Colorado. American journal of preventive medicine , 50 (3), 373-379.
Keyhani, S., Steigerwald, S., Ishida, J., Vali, M., Cerdá, M., Hasin, D., ... & Cohen, B. (2018). Risks and benefits of marijuana use. Ann Intern Med , 169 , 282-290.
Paschall, M. J., Grube, J. W., & Biglan, A. (2017). Medical marijuana legalization and marijuana use among youth in Oregon. The journal of primary prevention , 38 (3), 329-341.
