April 8, 2008
America’s drug war is in full swing, putting 60,000 people in jail per year for possessing and selling marijuana.
After a year of throwing citizens in prison for making use of one of nature’s gifts, the government is $1.6 billion poorer than they were at the beginning of the year.
Seems a little silly, doesn’t it?
Incarceration of well-intentioned citizens, however, is far from the biggest mistake the government has made in its “war on drugs.”
Citizens and political representatives alike are so focused on the negative affects of smoking marijuana recreationally that they cannot seem to understand that marijuana has numerous medical benefits – and is, often, a far safer treatment than physically and mentally harmful prescription drugs such as morphine and OxyContin.
Marijuana is addictive, they say. Is it really?
Thus far, such claims remain entirely unproven. There are absolutely no noticeable withdrawal symptoms in marijuana users.
Marijuana causes lung cancer, they protest. Does it now?
Of all reported cases of lung cancer in the United States, not one has been directly connected to the sufferer’s smoking of marijuana; though smoking any substance weakens a person’s lungs, evidence that marijuana smoking can cause serious health problems is inconclusive.
Marijuana weakens the immune system, they argue.
For this claim, evidence is significant; however, if a person’s incredible pain and discomfort from chronic illnesses can be reduced, are a few extra bouts of the common cold really such an awful consequence?
Though the government denies it, marijuana’s medical benefits are obvious to the most casual observer. AIDS sufferers, for example, are plagued by frequent nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite from both the disease and its various treatments. Using marijuana can reduce these symptoms significantly, making the disease much more bearable.
Glaucoma, the leading cause of blindness in the United States, increases the interlobular pressure in the eye, causing vision to suffer. Use of marijuana, however, can decrease this pressure so effectively that the progress of the disease is virtually halted.
Marijuana also has the power to prevent epileptic seizures, as well as to alleviate the muscle pain and tremors of those who suffer from multiple sclerosis.
The country, and even the world, has been quick to cover up the fact that we even have a possible cure for cancer growing on our earth at this very moment.
Many people accept that marijuana can reduce the nausea and pain that come along with chemotherapy.
However, research also suggests that the plant can actually cure cancer.
The cannabinoids, or active components in the cannabis plant, have been proven to stop the growth of tumor cells. They also detain many forms of cancer growths, including those of brain cancer and leukemia.
How is that possible? Simply put, cannabinoids promote the death of cancer cells.
Although, according to the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, "cannabis smoke has been shown to have precancerous-causing effects in animal tissue," the alliance also notes that "epidemiological studies have failed to link cannabis smoking with cancer."
Deterioration of lung health can be easily avoided by using cannabis with a vaporizer, mixing it in baked goods or rubbing its oil (known as hemp oil) on one’s skin.
We have a method of reducing the pain of countless American citizens who suffer horribly on a daily basis.
We have a drug at our fingertips that has the ability to virtually cure anxiety, depression and panic attacks.
And, most importantly, we may have a natural cure for one of the nation’s most deadly diseases in the palm of our hands.
It does not give you cancer, it does not cause dependence, and it does not have significant adverse side affects – marijuana has the power to save lives naturally.
It’s about time this country makes the right decision and decriminalizes the saving of lives.
