Task 2

Task 2

Introduction

The following paper is developed on the extra ordinary work by Dale H. Gieringer, Medical Marijuana, which published in the Encyclopedia of Drug Policy by Kleiman and Hawdon in 2011. The author highlighted different aspects of legalizing marijuana and also presented the literature how the medical transformation of marijuana came into being.

Discussion

Highlighted Paragraphs

Marijuana's medical effects were rediscovered serendipitously by young chemotherapy and glaucoma patients in the 1970s. In 1972 the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws filed a petition to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule II prescription drug. After prolonged hearings, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) overruled the recommendation of its own administrative judge that marijuana be rescheduled in 1988, ruling that it must first be proven effective in controlled clinical studies.

In 1976 Robert Randall, a glaucoma patient, successfully sued the government to supply him marijuana from its own research farm through a special “compassionate use” FDA protocol. A few other patients qualified for the program before it was closed to new entrants in 1991 due to a flood of new applications. A synthetic marijuana pill known as Marinol (dronabinol) was approved by the FDA in 1986 as an antinauseant. Marinol differs from marijuana in that it contains only one active ingredient (THC) and must be ingested orally. Oral ingestion acts more slowly and unpredictably than inhalation and delivers a different metabolite of THC to the body (Ruschmann, 2004).

Subsequently, two patients sued to have the federal law declared unconstitutional, claiming that the Congress lacked power to prohibit their personal medical use of marijuana under the interstate commerce clause. In a 6-3 decision, the court upheld the federal ban (Gonzalez v. Raich, 2005). Despite these decisions and DEA efforts to enforce them, dispensaries continued to proliferate. Over 100 federal cases have been filed against medical marijuana providers, prompting complaints of federal interference in state laws (Morgan, 2011).

Gieringer describes another problem of the marijuana industry, which illustrates the extent of the absurdity. Even if the supply of marijuana is allowed under state law but: The banking system is subject to federal legislation. The Federal Government may therefore threaten banks and financial houses, with the withdrawal of their licenses, they should marijuana entrepreneurs also set up bank accounts only, Gieringer explains the bizarre outgrowth of the legislation. The businessmen have to pay their employees without bank accounts or suppliers and in turn can only accept cash from customers. For who has no account can also accept credit cards.

In 1999 the Institute of Medicine reported that marijuana and its ingredients had medical benefits. It recommended further research, with emphasis on non-smoked alternatives. Although no federal research was undertaken, California established a Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, which reported finding marijuana therapeutically effective in five clinical studies by 2010. Since 1975, over 110 controlled studies have been published on cannabis and cannabinoids for a wide range of indications including nausea, appetite loss, chronic pain, spasticity, MS, migraines, gastrointestinal disorders, glaucoma, and mental disorders. However, none have been FDA approval ...