The Real Truth About Marijuana

Marijuana, pot, weed, dope, whatever you want to call it, has a bad rep. Just say the word and we instantly think of peace-loving hippies, or if we are feeling particularly dramatic, drugged up maniacs. Is there any logical explanation for this? Has marijuana been judged unfairly? Could marijuana actually solve some of the world’s most pressing medical problems?

In my opinion, marijuana is the best drug out there compared to other substances that are either prescribed or not. It helps cure many medical conditions, aids in pain, is a non-addictive drug unlike many prescribed drugs which are deemed as good for us, and is also safer than the so-called ‘good’ legal, prescribed drugs. Additionally, marijuana also has the potential to bring Australia millions of needed dollars in tax revenue, should it be made medicinally legal, which, in turn, would benefit us all. Alcohol and tobacco are legal and just take a look at how they affect people. 6 million people per year die from tobacco use and 2.5 million from alcohol. There is not a single documented case of an overdose from marijuana. I mean, honestly, who decided it would be ok for millions and millions of people to die legally while a substance that has never killed anybody and actually helps people, stays illegal. I’m really starting to wonder if the government has any common sense at all.

Cheri O’Connell is a passionate Christian. She is an elder in her church and attends Bible college twice weekly. Would it shock you to know that five times a day, she doses her eight year old daughter, Tara, with a tincture of medical marijuana?

Tara’s parents initiated this treatment as a last resort after a neurologist had given their daughter less than a year to live. Tara, was born with a debilitating and fatal form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome. She was taking five different medications to control her seizures, equalling a total of 18 tablets daily. She was suffering 10 major seizures a day, with smaller episodes every 5 to 10 seconds. At her worst, she was suffering around 500 seizures a day. An electroencephalograph showed that sickly Tara, in fact, did have seizure activity every five seconds. These constant epileptic seizures were beginning to shut down Tara’s brain. Her IQ was dropping, but within hours of her first dose of medicinal marijuana, Tara showed an improvement in alertness and within just 10 days, she was seizure free. Tara’s mum, Cheri states, “I’m not some pothead who wants to get high. I’m a mum whose child is sick. We’d heard stories within the epileptic community that gave us hope. We were nervous, but what choice did we have? Nothing else worked.” Cheri and her family are certain that medical cannabis has saved her daughter’s life. Her family made the decision to try the tincture out of desperation and now believe that if they hadn’t, Tara would be long dead by now. This is just one of many examples of how marijuana can aid people in need of urgent medical attention with no other possible options.

Medicinal marijuana cannot just be used for epilepsy but also for Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, arthritis, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and nausea. Cannabis also unexpectedly improves lung health and capacity, rather than decrease it, as many would believe.

If you think that is amazing, just wait. Marijuana can not only treat the above medical conditions, but it can also stop the spread of cancer. It is just so mind blowing that a substance deemed as so bad and immoral can help cure such a horrible disease that kills over 6.2 million people per year. Millions of people who could be saved by the legalisation of marijuana. Now you must be wondering how cancer can be cured by the use of marijuana. Well, research in molecular cancer therapeutics found that cannabidiol, a cannabinoid found in marijuana, turns off a gene called ‘Id-1’. The gene Id-1 is used by cancer cells to spread. So many patients could be saved by such a simple treatment. Feel bad for judging marijuana now?

I could go on and on about how cannabis can help cure diseases and illnesses, but that doesn’t really help you understand just how it would be for the people suffering to finally have a cure after waiting and being in so much pain for such a long time. I, personally, have a disorder called ‘idiopathic intercranial hypertension disorder’ or ‘IIH’ for short. Having IIH basically means that I have increased pressure around my brain. This disorder causes me to have a constant migraine and partial vision loss. I have had those days when I felt like I was being stabbed in the back of the head by Satan himself. No medication takes away the pain. I’ve tried it all. Ibuprofen, tramadol, oxycodone, oxycontin and even morphine. Nothing stops the pain. If medical marijuana was made legal, I could get the most out of life, like I should be. No words can describe how life changing it would be to be migraine free for just one day, or even just an hour. Being finally able to see with my full vision. I can’t even remember what that’s like, it has been so long. I just want to live a happy life like everyone else. I should have the right to be able to, and so should you.

Now that you know why marijuana should become legal, I’m sure you are wondering how it became illegal in the first place. Well, what led to cannabis becoming banned in Australia, was the 1925 Geneva Convention,organisedby the League of Nations. The meeting was brought together to consider the use of opium and coca (the source of cocaine), but when the delegates arrived, cannabis and its derivatives were added to the agenda. By the end of the meeting, not only had opium and coca become illegal, but marijuana for no reason, whatsoever as well. The prohibition of cannabis would be justified if it had been proved beneficial to society, but in the time that it has been illegal, there has been a large amount of evidence to disprove that the criminalisation of cannabis has been of any use to society.

Many people believe that marijuana is dangerous, but in actuality it is much safer than the prescribed drugs we use today. For example, no one has ever overdosed on marijuana, where as with prescription drugs, one person overdoses every 19 minutes. But actually think. In the 107 billion people who have ever lived on the earth, not one, single person has ever overdosed from marijuana use, and yet, it still remains illegal. I find that, absolutely amazing. Prescribed drugs can have many side effects, such as nausea, loss of appetite, insomnia, lethargy, headaches, hallucinations and many, many more. The side effects of marijuana include, laughter and hunger. Which side effects would you rather go through? Dr. Michael Hart is one of many doctors who have chosen to voice their support for medical marijuana. Dr. Hart states, “I’d feel comfortable prescribing it because it is safer than just about every other medicine I prescribe,” and all of the facts are backing him up.

Now, moving on to the topic of marijuana addiction. Many of you must be thinking, there must a pitfall somewhere, right? Nope. I can assure you that not only is marijuana safer than prescribed drugs, but less addictive too. Prescribed drug users have an addiction rate of 25%, where as marijuana users only have an addiction rate of 9%. In fact cannabis has been used to help fight other drug and alcohol addictions. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, an accredited neurosurgeon makes it evident that marijuana “doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works.”

As previously stated, another legitimate reason for making medical cannabis legal, is that it has the potential to bring Australia millions, and millions of dollars in tax revenue. Sales of medical marijuana are retail sales, therefore medicinal cannabis would be subject to retail sales tax. These millions of dollars would benefit everyone, not just medicinal cannabis users. The government would have more money to spend on health care, education, safety (police force, fire brigade etc.) and the environment. Allowing for a better, caring health system, a smarter education for our children and for future generations, a safer country and a cleaner, more sustainable environment. Who wouldn’t want that?

At the end of the day, the criminalisation of medical marijuana use is hurting and killing sick, innocent people. All of mankind would benefit from its legalisation. So I say, lets do it! The Australian population should have the right to access a substance that medically aids them, including you. Sick and dying people should not have to resort to buying cannabis from a drug dealer down an unsafe alleyway. No human-being should have to suffer when there is a cure out there, and i’m sure you agree. Let’s be the generation remembered for our good decisions.

For more information on medicinal marijuana go to: http://www.medicalcannabis.com.au

To save lives and vote for the legalisation of medicinal marijuana go to: http://change.org/medicinalmarijuana

And to voice your personal opinion on the matter go to: http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-medical-marijuana-be-legalized