A good plant gone bad

             The United States, with one of the most culturally diverse populations in the world it should come as no surprise that we also have one of the most diverse asorments of medical treatments in the world. In the U.S. you can find the most sophisticated western medicine and also some of the oldest alternative medicines. These so called alternative medicines have become more common in recent years. A nationwide study found that a surprising 34% of all Americans have tried alternative treatments. Now days it is hard to call these treatments alternative because they have become so mainstream. One of the most commonly used alternative medications is marijuana.
             Marijuana's medical use dates back for several centuries and continues to be used by patients suffering from cancer, HIV, and acute pain. The question, however, still remains, is marijuana a safe and effective drug? While marijuana was historically used for medical purposes today marijuana is generally used for recreational purposes. The transition from medical to recreational occurred in the early 1900's as other medicines were discovered which had superior effectiveness. As the recreational use of marijuana continues to rise and as medical marijuana again enters the medical community many studies have been made testing the safety and effectiveness of marijuana. It has been shown through these studies that marijuana use has potentially life threatening and mind altering side effects.
             The side effects of marijuana are generally overlooked or simply thought not to exist by many of today's marijuana users. This mentality can partly be attributed to the historical use of marijuana as a medicine. The fact is that today's marijuana is much different than marijuana of past centuries or even marijuana present 40 years ago. Today's marijuana is ten times stronger than Marijuana that existed in the 1960's (DEA). Today's marijuana is also much m...

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A good plant gone bad. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 16:01, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/28594.html