Medical Marijuana on a Personal Level

“There has never been a single death in all of recorded history attributed to acute marijuana intoxication.” To some this may appear to be a bizarre and inaccurate statement; to others this is simply the tip of the iceberg of truth regarding marijuana. In this paper I will attempt to explain why the subject of medical marijuana is of great interest to me, what I know about this issue, and what communities I could possibly study in order to gain further insight.

When I was twelve and on a summer vacation with my parents in Maine, I began to get incredibly painful stomach cramps that would leave me incapacitated for hours in pain, and then incapacitated for hours due to sheer exhaustion from said pain. The cramps came to me shortly after most meals. Because of this I subconsciously associated eating with pain. Subsequently I lost forty pounds over a period of about one year. I went to the doctor many times, had many different scans and tests performed, all of them inconclusive, so my doctor told me I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS. This basically means they don't know what is causing the pain, but that it is real. I was prescribed a medication which did not work and did not make me feel too well in general, so I stopped taking it after about two weeks. This pain after eating continued all the way through high school, until the summer of 2005, the summer before I entered college. It was during this period I began experimenting with cannabis. I had always been heavily anti-drug, so much so that at one point in high school I ratted out a few of my friends for smoking a joint, because I thought doing so was in their best interest. However, after experimenting with cannabis, I noticed that I no longer would get sick after most meals. During my freshmen year in college I bought a vaporizer so that I could use cannabis without burning it. A vaporizer simply heats up the medically active chemicals to their boiling point and then they can be breathed into the lungs without any tar or carcinogens. My life had greatly improved because of cannabis consumption; I could eat without getting sick and I could eat with other people in a social setting. Unfortunately due to the fact that medical marijuana is illegal in the state of Michigan currently, I decided that my health was not worth risking prison time, so I had to stop using medical marijuana. After about two weeks of stopping my medication the cramping after meals began starting again and it is incredibly difficult for me to maintain a healthy weight.

Because the incapacitating pain and wasting syndrome subsided during my exposure to cannabis, I became incredibly interested in the subject and began doing research at an intense pace. I knew that newspapers, television, and websites were not good sources of information, so I used my university's databases to find medical and scientific journals on the subject. I wanted to find out what doctors and scientists have to say about the drug as opposed to politicians and journalists. Medical marijuana is a term that sprung up sometime after 1937 when marijuana became illegal as a result of H.R. 6385. Before that point in time, medical marijuana was called cannabis. Preparations of cannabis were sold in pharmacies across the United States for a variety of symptoms such as: epilepsy, stomach pain, social anxiety, PMS, and as a general pain reliever. In 1930 after alcohol prohibition had failed, a smear campaign against cannabis was launched by Harry J. Ansligner who was the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics. Harry referred to the plant as “marijuana”, which is what the Mexicans called it, in order to play into the xenophobia of the uneducated American masses. A few quotes from him taken from the “gore files” which is a compiled list of “facts” on why it should become and remain illegal is enough to convince anyone that Harry was producing propaganda and not looking out for the best interests of Americans.
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use.”

“This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."
After seven years of slinging this propaganda, he was able to make cannabis, and more importantly hemp, illegal. The reasons he produced these outright lies are out of the scope of this paper I believe, however the reason is well documented and complicated, but it boils down to protecting the financial interests of himself and his friends the DuPonts, and William Randolph Hearst.
Not too much happened in the area of marijuana or medical marijuana between 1937 and 1970. In 1971 Richard Nixon wanted to have scientific justification for his tough on drugs policies that were going to require lots of taxpayer money. Nixon decided a group of independent scientists should evaluate marijuana and its dangers, this was dubbed “The Shafer Commission.” In a taped declassified conversation between Richard Nixon and House Representative Robert “Bob” Haldeman discussing the purpose of the Shafer Commission on May 26, 1971, between 10 and 11 am, the following conversation took place:
RN: "Now, this is one thing I want. I want a Goddamn strong
statement on marijuana. Can I get that out of this
sonofabitching, uh, Domestic Council?"

HRH: "Sure."

RN: "I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them.
I see another thing in the news summary this morning about it.
You know it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are
out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the
matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them? I
suppose it's because most of them are psychiatrists, you know,
there's so many, all the greatest psychiatrists are Jewish. By
God we are going to hit the marijuana thing, and I want to hit it
right square in the puss, I want to find a way of putting more on
that. More [ unintelligible ] work with somebody else with this."

HRH: "Mm hmm, yep."

RN: "I want to hit it, against legalizing and all that sort of
thing."

Nixon however, was furious when the commission recommended that marijuana be legalized because it is a safe non-toxic drug that is impossible to overdose on. There are many good quotes from the Shafer Commissions report “Marihuana: A signal of misunderstanding,” but perhaps one of the better ones is:“Objective studies of chronic, heavy smokers of potent preparations have not causally linked this drug with the amotivational syndrome which has been described by many clinicians. Almost all chronic, heavy hashish smokers are indistinguishable from their peers in the lower socioeconomic strata of their respective societies in social behavior, work performance, mental status and overall life style.”[Emphasis added]

The report was ignored by the Nixon administration, the War on Drugs began, and so did a bottomless pit of taxpayer money. At this point in time about 100,000 people a year were being arrested for crimes related to marijuana possession. Over the next twenty years marijuana arrests continued to climb. In 1990, 260,390 people were arrested for crimes related to marijuana possession.

Then in the 1990s, researchers discovered that the brain and body actually has receptors for the compounds in marijuana called cannabinoids. The two receptors are called CB1 and CB2. Shortly after the discovery of their receptors, two endogenous cannabinoids, also known as endocannabinoids, were discovered. Their names are anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol. Both of these compounds are derivatives of arachidonic acid, and both endocannabinoids appear to bind to CB1 and CB2. Biochemical research into these receptors and their agonists revealed the exact biochemical cascade of events that happens when these receptors are agonized. The overall view of the endocannabinoid system is that it mediates the effects of over stimulation, reduces inflammation, and promotes growth of new neurons in response to overstimulation. On going research is finding that marijuana can reduce tumor growth, help people resist staph infections, and alleviate chronic pain far better with far fewer side effects than opium derivatives. [start new paragraph here ->] In 2007 marijuana arrests reached record breaking levels of 872,721 that year alone and cost the tax payers $41.8billion. In comparison 597,447 people were arrested for violent crimes in 2007. Nearly 300,000 more people are arrested for marijuana each year than for all violent crimes combined. In 2008, I wrote a lengthy research paper analyzing the biochemistry of the endocannabinoid system for my second biochemistry class entitled “The Endocannabinoid System and Implications in Epilepsy.” The findings of this paper was that essentially there is a great deal of biochemical and animal model evidence that suggests the compounds in marijuana can treat acute epileptic seizures better than the conventional pharmaceutical medications.

In addition to my factual knowledge relating to medical marijuana, I also have subjective opinions on the subject that although based on factual information are simply opinions. I am of the opinion that marijuana should be legalized for medical and recreational purposes and taxed like tobacco and alcohol. I am of the opinion that regular responsible use of marijuana is beneficial to a person physically, mentally, and spiritually.

I would be considered an insider on this issue. However, I also know what it feels like to be on the outside of this issue because for the majority of my life I was strongly anti-cannabis. As an anti-cannabis outsider, I was encouraged by my pro-cannabis friends to do research on the issue. Because I value the objective eye of science over subjective debates on the issue, I simply started doing research in large databases of medical and scientific journals. As I read article after article on the subject I was beginning to see a trend: that marijuana is non-toxic, has never killed a single person in all of recorded history, actually promotes the growth of brain cells, and promotes the destruction of tumors. Over the next few years I continued doing more and more research on the subject and I have yet to see any scientific or medical data that confirms that marijuana is more dangerous than aspirin. My research into the subject allowed me to transition from being an outsider, to an insider. Now as an insider my questions regarding this topic are more fine tuned. I am now very interested in the biochemical mechanisms through which cannabis is able to alleviate pain, grow new neurons, and provide relief from many medical conditions.

I hoped you enjoyed reading this article about marijuana and I hope you start asking some of your own serious questions on this issue. Remember “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” – Buddha


Uncited Sources: (not in correct format, sorry will add in later)
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Croxford, J. Ludovic. "Cannabinoids and the immune system: Potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases?." Journal of Neuroimmunology 166(2005): 3-18.

Grant, Igor. "Cannabis and endocannabinoid modulators: Therapeutic promises and challenges." Clinical Neuroscience Research 5(2005): 185-199.

Mechoulam R, Spatz M Endocannabinoids and neuroprotection. Sci STKE 2002;2002(129):RE5

Marchalant, Yannick. "Cannabinoid receptor stimulation is anti-inflammatory and improves memory in old rats." Neurobiology of Aging (2007):

Miriam H. Meisler and Jennifer A. Kearney (2005). "Sodium channel mutations in epilepsy and other neurological disorders". Journal of Clinical Investigation 115 (8): 2010–2017.

Goddard, G.V. (1967). Development of epileptic seizures through brain stimulation at low intensity. Nature, 214, 1020-1021.

Deshpande, Laxmikant. "Endocannabinoids block status epilepticus in cultured hippocampal neurons." European Journal of Pharmacology 558(2007): 52-59.

Taft WC; DeLorenzo RJ (May 1984). "Micromolar-affinity benzodiazepine receptors regulate voltage-sensitive calcium channels in nerve terminal preparations". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 81 (10): 3118-22.

Wallace, Melisa. "Evidence for a physiological role of endocannabinoids in the modulation of seizure threshold and severity." European Journal of Pharmacology 452(2002): 295-301.

Eljaschewitsch , Eva. "The Endocannabinoid anandamide protects neurons during CNS Inflammation by induction of MKP-1 in Microglial cells." Neuron 49(2006): 67-79.

Bisogno, Tiziana. "Short- and long-term plasticity of the endocannabinoid system in neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders." Pharmacological Research 56(2007): 428-442.

Marchalant, Yannick. "Inflammation and aging: Can endocannabinoids help?." Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (2008): 1-6.

Optiz, Christiane. "Production of the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol by endothelial progenitor cells." Federation of European Biochemical Societies 581(2007): 4927-4931.

Marchalant, Yannick. "Anti-Inflammatory property of the cannabinoid agonist win-55212-2 in a rodent model of chronic brain inflammation." Neuroscience 144(2007): 1516-1522.


Panikashvili, David. "The endocannabinoid 2-AG protects the blood-brain barrier after closed head injury and inhibits mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines." Neurobiology of Disease 22(2006): 257-264.

Marihuana:A signal of Misunderstanding

CSDP Research Report
March 2002
Nixon Tapes Show Roots of Marijuana Prohibition:
Misinformation, Culture Wars and Prejudice

Lost Taxes and Other Costs
of Marijuana Laws
by Jon Gettman, Ph.D.

Sidney, S. The British Medical Journal, Sept. 20, 2003; vol 327: pp 635-636.