Definitions, Classifications and Addictions

Cannabis Sativa, also known as Marijuana, is a green, brown, or grey mixture of dried leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers which come from the hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa). It is used for recreational, medical, and spiritual reasons.

Some of the potential benefits of Cannabis are:

-Convulsion
- Appetite stimulation
- Pain relief
- Improved sleep
- Inflammation
- Anxiety
- Symptoms Caused by Turrets
- Symptoms from Schizophrenia
- ETC.

So with all these benefits why is this drug still illegal and classified as dangerous?

       In 1970, the assistant secretary of health, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg, wrote a letter to recommend that the plant Cannabis be classified as a schedule 1 substance and it has remained this way since. A schedule 1 substance means that it has no accepted medical use and has a high potential for abuse. This classification is far from true. First, look at all the medical benefits I listed above and there is plenty more. Second, research has shown that only about 9% of users become addicted to marijuana. (Addiction being defined as it causing compulsive, uncontrollable drug craving, seeking, and use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences.) Cannabis got this label as a dangerous drug over thirty years ago and by looking into the letter Egeberg wrote you can see a huge flaw in this classification.

"Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marijuana be retained within schedule 1 at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue." - Egeberg

        This small paragraph from Egebergs letter shows two major issues. The first being that the reason he recommended the classification was a lack of information. The second being that he stated that several studies were underway to resolved this "lack of information", however, most studies from that period were dropped. As of this year, there is approximately only 6% of marijuana studies dedicated to the research of the benefits of Cannabis.  This makes an unbalanced scale of research which distorts the picture for society.



If used, what is the best way to use Marijuana?

    According to most doctors the best way to get the benefits of Marijuana is not to smoke it! "Marijuana, he avers to every person who appears before him, turns out to be brimming with healing compounds. It won't get you high eaten raw, but juiced with a handful of carrots to cut the bitter taste, its leaves and buds may well have restored the health of his girlfriend, who had been given a diagnosis of lupus and a butcher's bill of other disorders that lab tests show have subsided." -Vick

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     Vicodin is a doctor prescribed medication used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It contains Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone, both of which are pain relievers. Hydrocodone is an opioid pain medication, also referred to as a narcotic and Acetaminophen is a less potent medication which is used to increase the effects on Hydrocodone. Vicodin has a warning label stating that it has a potential to become habit forming, and not to share with someone who has a history of drug abuse. Vicodin has the potential for overdose as well, if you overdose or think you may have overdosed you should call 911.

      Vicodin is listed as a schedule 3 substance, meaning it has less of a potential for abuse than schedule 1 and 2 substances and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. This classification makes no sense when you look into the most commonly abused drugs. An estimated 2 million individuals across the United States suffers from a Vicodin addictions. That is extremely high for a drug that the government has said has low potential for abuse and physical/ psychological dependence.

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     So with all the worry that people will constantly being high or will get addicted to Marijuana society has not stopped to take a look at the truth. How can we classify as drug as being addictive and useless when in fact study after study has discovered the opposite. This leads me to wonder what is so bad about the drug in the governments mind... Oh well I guess that is a good question for next time!