Legalization of Medical Marijuana Nursing Research (Essay Sample)

Legalization of Medical Marijuana
Name
Institution
Introduction
Marijuana, a product of the Cannabis sativa plant, has for long been considered illegal until the discovery and acceptance of its healing and pain killing abilities. Due to its highly addictive nature and a likelihood of abuse among people of different ages, its legalization for medical and recreational use remains a topic of controversy. The controversy is the reason behind the clash of the US state laws with the federal laws. Although the US considers marijuana acceptable for medical purposes, some states continue to hold its possession and use illegal and subject to action by the law against the same.
The primary concern that makes most federal states reluctant to legalize marijuana is the likelihood of miscommunication among the masses that marijuana is safe and beneficial, and overlook the harm caused by its consumption. The effect of the consumption of marijuana on the developing brain makes it lethal for use, especially among adolescents. Its use is also prevalent among the youth, and therefore, its legislation raises concerns of the increase of its use as phrased by Dr. James Gessner CITATION Jos16 \l 1033 (Bednar, 2016).
It becomes controversial to legalize the use of marijuana amidst the opioid crisis in the US where a majority of drivers involved in fatal accidents are found to have opiates in their system. Despite arguments that its legalization is likely to reduce the rate of its consumption, the abuse of marijuana is on the rise in states such as Vermont and Colorado where the drug is legal.
The governor of Vermont, for instance, favours its legalization but considers the bill in support of the same flawed. Although the bill allows sellers to conduct their trade of marijuana, it consists of no provisions regarding treatment and counselling for users, and education for both users and non-users. Children under the age of 10 in Colorado suffer from marijuana exposure, a situation that has increased by 150%.
The actions of the government in relation to Marijuana in the past up to the present include the prohibition of the use of the drug and its branding as illegal. Medical discoveries, however, attested to its effectiveness in the alleviation of pain and some types of cancers CITATION Jun16 \l 1033 (Kim, Santaella-Tenorio, Mauro, Wrobel, & Cerd`a, 2016).
Government Response to the sale and use of Marijuana
The US legalized the Medical Marijuana Law (MML) from Proposition 215 initiated by California in 1996. The past twenty years have experienced increased permissiveness towards marijuana and its use in the US. The result is an increase of its use from 4.1% to 9.5% between 2001 and 2013 CITATION Jos16 \l 1033 (Bednar, 2016). However, according to Lee (2017), users of recreational marijuana in states where it is legalized face the risk of arrest under the new Trump administration.
The federal law has regulated marijuana since 1937, prohibiting the possession and sale of marijuana under the Marijuana Tax Act. This remains a hindrance to its use for medical purposes where it is still referred to as a scheduled substance under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act. There was the 1952 Boggs Act that provided stiff punishment in the form of sentences to all those found in possession of prohibited drugs such as marijuana. It was not until 1982 that marijuana was decriminalized under the local law, under the influence of the Shafer Commission. It has since been characterized by several activist groups such as NORML- National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws CITATION Sco16 \l 1033 (Martin, 2016), and the FSCITATION leg07 \l 1033 (Abood, 2007), an influential body of healthcare acts and policies.
Marijuana is particularly useful when used for chronic pain. States such as Columbia that refuse to legalize the drug quote high use and an overdose of heroin as the reason. The discovery of the healing effects of marijuana led to its legalization by the local authorities. However, the dilemma lies in the persistent negative effects of the drug and the lack of evidence on the elimination of the excessive risks associated with the consumption of medical marijuana.
The legislative and policy-making strategies take place through voting and undergo reforms through protests and appeals among other processes. Bodies that influence healthcare services, such as The Federal State of Medical Boards, are among the influential bodies in the US healthcare. The use of passing policy based on the vote of the majority is not fair because the voters seldom have adequate informationCITATION leg07 \l 1033 (Abood, 2007)....