Story Behind my Topic

Marijuana has been seen throughout history in many past civilizations as a source of medicinal value.  However, in 1972, the U.S. Congress placed marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is the ranking reserved for the most dangerous drugs, because they considered it to have no accepted medical value. Since then, 16 of the 50 US states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medical use of marijuana.  Even though state law may permit medical marijuana, federal law overrules the states laws and can sometimes prosecute patients who have a state medical marijuana card, which is given to a patient after a thorough health exam and a physicians reference.  People who are Pro-legalization argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and many other conditions. I chose this topic because, I believe, marijuana is misjudged by many people and it does have medical value.  The reason I believe this is because I heard of a story in California where a 7 year old boy was hyperactive and aggressive, and had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and impulsive control disorder.  He had seen sixteen physicians who prescribed him over 19 medications. He had often been over medicated, to the point of slobbering, slurring his words, and being unable to walk.  The physicians at a psychiatric hospital believed that JJ appeared better when the medications were stopped.  JJ's mother did not support medical marijuana but after talking with caseworkers, team members, and several physicians, started to consider the option of marijuana. He was taken off all of the psychiatric medications.  He started ingesting the marijuana in the form of a muffin, one half of the muffin in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon.  His social worker and teachers reported that his behavior had positively changed and he became very polie and interacted enthusiastically with other people.  The most noticeable reported change was JJ's use of words.  During his use of marijuana, when he became frustrated he explained what the problem was instead of acting out.When he became frustrated, after using marijuana, he explained what the problem was instead of acting out.