Marijuana legalization. Positive and negative effects of marijuana for medical purposes

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Medicine - Pharmacology, grade: A, , language: English, abstract: Several jurisdictions around the world have passed laws legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. These legislations allow for the use of cannabinoids and cannabis to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with terminal cancer, epilepsy and neurological illnesses. However, there are serious public health concerns associated with marijuana as some experts argued that these jurisdictions have not effectively regulated its use in a manner consistent with the international drug control treaties. In many cases, Subbaraman (2014) indicated that marijuana is being diverted for use in non-medicinal purposes. In most of these countries, poor regulation of medical cannabis programs is attributed to the low perception of risk among the policymakers and the members of the public as a whole.

In the United Kingdom and several countries in Europe, marijuana is either totally banned or its use is heavily regulated. As a result, there have been increasing calls for the UK and the rest of Europe to follow the footsteps of Canada, the Netherlands, and a growing number of states in the United States where the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes has been legal for quite some time. In this regard, this essay evaluates whether the UK and the rest of Europe should legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. This paper explored some of the positive and negative effects of marijuana on the people and the rest of the economy.