Medical Marijuana Arguing a Position Jon Doe May 7, 2006 English 101 Jane Doe The cannabis plant (marijuana) has been used medicinally by a variety of cultures around the world. It was used as medicine in the United States until when a new tax fee led to its discontinued use. Congress has voted on several bills to legalize the medical use of marijuana; however none of those bills were passed. In June 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that federal laws against marijuana, including its medical use, are valid. The government has authorized few research studies into the health effects of medical marijuana. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved …show more content…

We have taught our children to stay away from guns, cigarettes, etc. The television and society makes it out to be cool to drink even though it kills millions of brain cells and is very addictive. Cigarettes are even more addictive and still in some movies the coolest character is smoking. If we were to sit our children down and talk to them about marijuana for medical purposes only and explain to them that some good can come out of drugs for medical purposes, we will be fine. After all, over the counter and prescription drugs are more harmful if abused, but they are legal. It doesn’t make sense to me to deprive suffering Americans of relief from their pain. However it is not recommended for pregnant women or women who are breast feeding. Little is known about the effect of postnatal marijuana exposure on infant development. Postnatal exposure can result from the mother smoking marijuana during breast feeding. The Marijuana transfers into the mother's milk and is absorbed and metabolized by the nursing infant. The present study investigated the relationship between infant exposure to marijuana via the mother's milk and infant motor and mental development at one year of age. One hundred and thirty-six breast-fed infants were assessed at one year of age for motor and mental development. Sixty-eight infants were exposed to marijuana via the mother's milk. An additional 68 infants were matched to the marijuana-exposed