McLaughlin 1

Jared McLaughlin
Professor Moore
Literature and the Healing Arts
13 December 2016
The Problems with Medical Marijuana in the Medical Field
Cancer can be defined as the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells within the body.
Depending on the type of cancer, one of the treatment options given by an oncologist may be
chemotherapy. Although chemotherapy has been proven to be an effective treatment method, the
side effects that come with the treatment often scare patients. Stomach pain and nausea are
among the most common side effects and can be extremely severe. Watching someone go
through chemotherapy treatment can be difficult and I know this first hand. My great-aunt was
diagnosed with breast cancer when I was just a young boy but the hardships she went through
were enormous. Chemotherapy sucked the life right out of her and she often was sick after
receiving her treatment. Thankfully for her, the medical field has advanced so much since early
times and the drugs she was given could counter act the side effects caused by chemotherapy.
Without the medications, her life could have easily been taken by either the cancer, the
chemotherapy, or even a combination of both. The Food and Drug Administration has done
tremendous work approving only medications that treat nausea and vomiting in a healthy
manner.
An eye-opening forty percent of both men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at
some point in their lives. Around five hundred thousand deaths are caused by various types of
cancer each year (Thielmann). The battle with cancer drains a person both mentally and
physically. The struggle of numerous health problems and harsh treatments is sometimes too

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much to bear for cancer patients. One of the most prevalent side effects from cancer treatments,
specifically chemotherapy treatment, is nausea and vomiting. Medical marijuana is a
controversial advancement in the medical field that has been a suggested solution in controlling
or even eliminating nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. Marijuana is not a legal drug in all
states of the United States and the government has classified it as a Schedule I drug. According
to the United States Federal Law, a Schedule I drug possess no currently accepted medical use in
treatment. Studies have been repeated again and again in order to fully understand the medical
benefits and the harmful side effects of medical marijuana. The studies have increased the
controversy over whether medical marijuana should be legalized or not. Medical marijuana
contains an extremely dark side that scares many medical researchers away from classifying it as
medically safe. The side effects from medical marijuana are jaw dropping and effect the entire
body, both mentally and physically. The Food and Drug Administration has approved medically
safe drugs that alleviate nausea and vomiting in cancer patients with little to no side effects.
While some people advocate for the use of medical marijuana, it can cause harmful side effects
and can even cause a severe dependency in patients. Therefore, medical marijuana should not be
used in the medical field and already approved drugs should continue to be prescribed.
Marijuana was first declared illegal in the United States during the early 1900s
(Thielmann). Yet, marijuana has still been used for thousands of years for both medical and
recreational purposes. Over the past ten to twenty years, controversy has been stirred up
regarding the use of medical marijuana. Studies have been conducted by many scientists to try
and find any medical benefits of marijuana. Medical marijuana has been proven to reduce both
nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. The unknown severity of medical marijuanas side
effects is what keeps the drug from being used in ever day oncology treatment. According to the

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federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug (Hoffman and
Weber). A Schedule I drug is defined as a drug that currently has no medical use and carries a
high substance abuse risk. For that reason, medical marijuana remains illegal in half of the states
in the United States. Some countries, like Canada, permit the use of marijuana under certain
circumstances (Thielmann). Taking the ideas of Canada, California wrote up a proposal to
legalize medical marijuana. The California Proposition 215 allows terminally ill patients to
legally use medical marijuana with the approval from a physician (Chapman). A court case that
dealt with the California Proposition 215 was Gonzales v. Raich. Terminally ill patients, in
California, received approval from physicians to use medical marijuana as a part of their
treatments. The Supreme Court declined to allow the medical necessity defense that the State
of California tried to use. The Supreme Court followed suit with the Federal Governments
stance on medical marijuana. The Federal Government is against the use of medical marijuana
because there is not a discovered medical use. From the results of this court case, the
International Narcotics Control Board issued a statement to fellow countries warning them of
marijuanas hidden dangers (Gillard). New side effects and dangers are constantly being
discovered as more experiments and trials are conducted in the medical field. The Food and
Drug Administration has already legalized drugs that treat nausea and vomiting in cancer patient
without the side effects medical marijuana causes.
Medical marijuana has been proven to cause both short and long term side effects. All
the severities of this drug have not been discovered which leaves marijuana classified as a
Schedule I drug. Studies have shown that medical marijuana increases a persons abuse
potential, has adverse effects, and causes both physical and psychological effects. Some of the
side effects linked to medical marijuana include psychosis, anger attacks, dizziness, and fainting

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events (Bar-Sela). The list of side effects continues to grow but the unknown dangers present a
dark side. The Food and Drug Administration issued a report in January of 2011 clarifying their
stance on medical marijuana. The DEA Position on Marijuana classified marijuana as a
dangerous drug with no medical utility (Gillard). The report did note that in order for medical
marijuana to ever become in consideration for legalization, modern medicine would have to meet
strict criteria set by the Food and Drug Administration. A 1999 study by The Institute of
Medicine reviewed the idea of medical marijuana use. The study issued a statement saying,
Smoked marijuanais a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances
(Gillard). Marijuana delivers unsafe amounts of THC, along with other substances, directly into
the bloodstream. Therefore, the study concluded that there should be no future in medical
marijuana used in cancer treatment although it seemed to help treat nausea and vomiting
(Gillard). Medical scientists continue to debate exactly what ingredients cause harmful effects
inside the body. One thing is for sure, the medical community realizes there are many dangerous
and some unknown side effects of medical marijuana.
The argument heard throughout the medical field states that studies have shown medical
marijuana can be effective and has benefits for cancer patients. Medical marijuana has been
proven to treat nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. Marijuana is a dangerous drug with side
effects that outweigh the benefits. Medical marijuana hinders the bodys ability to think clearly
and even causes memory lessening. In a study done at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa,
Israel, medical marijuanas side effects and benefits were evaluated. Patients were given medical
marijuana to use during their cancer treatments. One significant side effect of the patients who
used the medical marijuana was noted by the physicians. Memory loss appeared in one hundred
and six out of two hundred and eleven of the patients (Bar-Sela). The battle with cancer is

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difficult and comes with plenty of side effects from chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
Cancer treatments lead to pain, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and can even cause depression in
cancer patients. Medical marijuana only adds to the battle and increases the number of side
effects. In 2009, there were 376,467 emergency department visits that involved the use of
marijuana (Gillard). This statistic is clear and shows marijuana is an extremely dangerous drug.
A teenage girl from California decided to use ecstasy at the age of fourteen. According to a
firsthand account from two of Miss Perezs acquaintances, In the throes of her first experience
with the drug ecstasywhen, after taking one ecstasy tablet, she became ill Miss Perez
decided to smoke marijuana to help alleviate the uneasy feeling from the ecstasy. After smoking,
Miss Perez began to have seizures and eventually died a few days later in the hospital (Gillard).
The combination of ecstasy and marijuana left a young teen dead. For that reason, why would
cancer patients want to use medical marijuana? The effects of medical marijuana are far too
potent to outweigh the few benefits. Supporters of medical marijuana can say it has been proven
that marijuana helps to treat nausea, pain, and vomiting in cancer patients. Yet, marijuana can
cause increased heart rate, mood changes, suppression of the immune system and brain injury.
Suppression of the immune system would only allow a cancer patient to become more
susceptible to becoming sick. With all of the known side effects and horrific stories of medical
marijuana, it is safe to stay marijuana is not a liable medical drug.
Most, if not all, illegal drugs are known to cause dependency and addiction in their
abusers. Medical marijuana is no different from the other illegal drugs. Tetrahydrocannabinol,
THC, is the main ingredient in marijuana that treats nausea and vomiting. THC also carries
adverse effects like myocardial infarctions, known as a heart attack. The harmful effects of
marijuana are usually caused because the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol in marijuana is

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at a higher amount than normal. In the 1960s and 1970s the average concentration of
tetrahydrocannabinol in marijuana was as low as one percent. Todays marijuana can have a
THC potency of twenty percent (Kleber). Tetrahydrocannabinol potency is almost never
consistent in marijuana. Therefore, marijuana users cannot predict the effects they will feel from
the drug. The fluctuating levels of THC cause a variety of effects from a headache to a seizure,
depending on the concentration. The numbers are eye opening and make the argument for
legalizing medical marijuana even more difficult. Controlling the concentration of
tetrahydrocannabinol in medical marijuana would be almost impossible considering there is no
accurate way of knowing the purity and potency of the marijuana. The unknown potency of
marijuana does not seem to scare away any current or future users. In 2011, daily twelfth grade
marijuana use was at an all time in over 30 years (Kleber). Medical marijuana would only add to
this up and coming drug use. Controlling both illegal marijuana use and legal medical marijuana
use would be nearly impossible. The effects of both medical marijuana and marijuana on society
would be astronomical. It is estimated that nine percent of all marijuana users will become
dependent at some point in their lives (Kleber). Not only would medical marijuana have an
unknown potency issue but it would also carry a high risk of dependency. Legalized
pharmaceutical drugs are available for cancer patients that do not carry the chance of causing
dependency.
The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for protecting and promoting public
health. One of the federal agencys primary focuses is on prescription and over-the-counter
drugs. The FDA released a statement that read, no sound scientific studies support medical
use of marijuana (Gillard). However, the Food and Drug Administration has approved other
drugs that deal with pain, nausea, and vomiting that are considerably safer than marijuana. One

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of the drugs that have been approved by the FDA is called Marinol. Marinol comes in a pill form
and is a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol (Gillard). Marinol is commonly prescribed to
cancer patients, specifically those who have nausea from chemotherapy treatments. Another
drug that is used in Canada and in the United Kingdom that works similar to medical marijuana
is Sativex. Sativex is an oral spray used in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (Gillard). The FDA
still has to work out certain dosage requirements before medically approving Sativex for
prescription use. Both medical marijuana and Marinol treat the same side effects effectively.
The major difference between the two drugs is that Marinol is safer and FDA approved. The
Food and Drug Administration looks out for the health of the United States, meaning Marinol is
the best medically safe option available.
A group of medical marijuana supporters argue the fact that the Food and Drug
Administration should realize the medical benefits of marijuana. Specifically, the group of
supporters wants the legalization of medical marijuana for terminally ill patients. California
Proposition 215, for example, advocated for legally allowing terminally ill patients to use
medical marijuana (Chapman). The proposition did not come into effect in California and
medical marijuana remains illegal. Court cases, such as Gonzales v. Raich and Conant v.
Waiters, did not help the California Proposition 215 cause. In both court cases, the court ruled
that physicians cannot legally prescribe medical marijuana to any of their patients (Hoffmann
and Weber). The Supreme Court, along with many other federal agencies, has ruled against the
use of medical marijuana for all patients. The American Society of Addiction Medicines, The
American Cancer Society, The British Medical Association, and American Medical Association
are all against medical marijuana and find no benefits of marijuana in the medical field. Along
with the major associations and societies that discount the benefits of medical marijuana comes

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the United States Government. The United States Government classifies marijuana as a drug
with no currently accepted medical benefits (Fox et al.). This means marijuana has yet to be
proven successful in treating nausea and vomiting in cancer patients without causing severe side
effects. Medical marijuana is in no way healthy for any persons body, not even that of a
terminally ill patient.
In the end, no matter if it is believed medical marijuana is the right choice or not, cancer
is not an easy battle to face. Although chemotherapy is a great treatment, the side effects take a
toll on the body and medications cannot solely relieve a person. Donald Hall, an American poet,
discusses the importance of medications along with family support in his poem Her Long
Illness. Halls wife battled cancer and went through chemotherapy and he was there throughout
the entire process. It was not the drugs alone that allowed his wife to battle the cancer, it was a
combination of medicine, love, and support. This work of literature does not discuss whether
medical marijuana should be used, but it does show that medication is not the only remedy to
treating the awful side effects caused by chemotherapy.
Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the body that have the potential to invade
surrounding areas. The battle with cancer drains a person both mentally and physically.
Chemotherapy and radiation treatments give rise to more and more side effects in the patients
body. One of the most common side effects from cancer treatments, specifically chemotherapy
treatment, is nausea and vomiting. Medical marijuana is a largely debated topic in the medical
field and has been a suggested solution in controlling nausea and vomiting in cancer patients.
Only fourteen states have passed laws that eliminate any criminal penalties for using medical
marijuana (Hoffmann and Weber). Studies have been completed again and again in order to fully
understand the medical benefits and the damaging side effects of medical marijuana. The studies

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have only increased the controversy over whether medical marijuana should be legalized or not.
Medical marijuana contains numerous harmful side effects that scare many medical researchers
away from classifying it as medically safe. The side effects from medical marijuana are jaw
dropping and affect the entire body, both mentally and physically. Medical marijuana contains
too many side effects that outweigh the medical benefits. Thankfully, the Food and Drug
Administration has approved medically safe drugs that treat nausea and vomiting with little to no
side effects.

Works Cited
Bar-Sela, Gil, et al. "The Medical Necessity For Medicinal Cannabis: Prospective,
Observational Study Evaluating The Treatment In Cancer Patients On Supportive Or
Palliative Care." Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (Ecam)
(2013):1-8. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Chapman, Roger. Medical Marijuana: Primary Documents. Culture Wars in America: An
Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. Medical Marijuana. Ciment. London:
Routledge, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Fox, Steve, Paul Armentano, and Mason Tvert. "Medical Marijuana Has Numerous Medical
Benefits." Medical Marijuana. Ed. Arthur Gillard. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. 1924. Issues That Concern You. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Gillard, Arthur. "Marijuana Has No Medicinal Value." Medical Marijuana. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press, 2014. 25-33. Issues That Concern You. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12
Oct. 2016.

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Hoffmann, Diane E., J.D., and Ellen Weber J.D. "Medical Marijuana and the Law." The New
England journal of medicine 362.16 (2010): 1453-7. ProQuest. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Kleber, Herbert D., and Robert L. Dupont. "Physicians and Medical Marijuana." The
American Journal of Psychiatry 169.6 (2012): 564-8. ProQuest. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Thielmann, Alexandra, and Paul J. Daeninck. "Medical Marijuana in Cancer: Harmful Or Harm
Reduction?" Clinical Practice 10.3 (2013): 371-81. ProQuest. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.