It's not ALL bad

            Contrary to what you have been taught since day one, not all drugs are bad and have no benefits. As a matter of, almost every single one of you has taken a drug in one form or another. The main difference between marijuana (or in the chart, cannabis) and the legal prescription drugs given out at pharmacies is that medical marijuana has no benefit said to be proven 100%. There is mounting evidence that it does but as of today, there is no benefit set in stone. Just because something is illegal, that does not necessarily mean that it has no benefits.

            Marijuana is used to treat many conditions that patients have. For example, medical marijuana supposedly helps treat chronic pain (pain that persists for months or even years) (4).

It is also helps patients who cannot eat much or keep their food down, due to their disease, eat more and keep it down (3). Marijuana could assist thousands of patients across the world through helping their abilities to eat. Marijuana may also be less addictive than painkillers so it could help people with milder forms of pain and not be as likely to cause an addiction (1). An adapted form of marijuana is currently used to help some young children with epilepsy (reoccurring seizures)  (2). These children experience seizures very often and the usage of the drug made from marijuana can stop the them. Marijuana has tons of possible benefits to a wide variety of patients.

            Although, it is not all rainbows and unicorns. Marijuana, even when used properly and by a patient, has consequences. Marijuana alters decision making, effects moods, harms motor skills and reaction time, and causes chronic cough or a cough that lasts a very long time. It could also possibly cause cancer but that still needs to be proven (2). Marijuana, if used irresponsibly, could lead to the death of the user or others. For example, since motor skills are not as good if someone were to be driving under the influence of marijuana, they would be more likely to cause a crash. There is some evidence that smoking marijuana when a woman is pregnant can cause harm to the baby's brain (2). In addition, inhaling smoke of any kind is harmful to humans as our lungs are not built to breathe in smoke. Marijuana does have many disadvantages
as well.

           Even though medical marijuana is illegal in many places, that does not mean that it cannot have benefits. Although, marijuana, like most drugs, when used improperly has costs, it also has many potential benefits for patients in need. All of you have probably only heard in school that marijuana is bad, but it has loads of potential medical uses.

References

(1) Caplan, G. (2012). Medical Marijuana: A Study of Unintended Consequences. McGeorge Law 

                 Review, 43, 127-147. Retrieved from 

                 http://www.mcgeorge.edu/Publications/McGeorge_Law_Review.htm

(2) DrugFacts: Is Marijuana Medicine? (April 2014). Retrieved  October 25, 2014, from 

                 http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine

No, legal pot hasn't turned Colorado into a crime ridden wasteland [Photograph]. (n.y.). Retrieved 

                 December 1, 2014 from: http://www.vox.com/2014/6/3/5770342/no-legal-pot-hasnt-turned-

                 colorado-into-a-crime-ridden-wasteland

No, legal pot hasn't turned Colorado into a crime ridden wasteland [Photograph]. (2010). 

                 Retrieved December 1, 2014 from: http://www.vox.com/2014/6/3/5770342/no-legal-pot-

                 hasnt-turned-colorado-into-a-crime-ridden-wasteland

(3) Vickovic, S. G. (2011). Medical Marijuana in the News. Southwest Journal of Criminal

                  Justice, 8, 67-96. Retrieved from http://www.swacj.org/swjcj/Masthead.htm

(4) Whitman, D. (2014). Political and medical views on medical marijuana and its future. Social Work 

                  in Public Health, 29, 121-131. doi:10.1080/19371918.2013.821351|