Should Marijuana be Legalized for AIDS Use?

Fifteen years ago the word AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) was barely used in the United States. Today, it's on the cover of every newspaper, and parents and kids discuss it regularly in the household. It is no longer considered someone else's problem; it is now everyone's problem. Not a day goes by that a person doesn't worry about AIDS. The fear of AIDS is heightened only by the fact that there is no cure. People with AIDS must live with the fact that they are eventually going to die. Their death comes slowly and painfully. Each day they take pills and shots that provide temporary relief, but in the long run, they only make matters worse. Some pill's side effects are worse than some of the disease's symptoms. What if there was a drug that could ease some of this pain? Scientists and researchers seem to believe that they have found this miracle drug. Believe it or not, this miracle drug has been used for decades. Just recently, medical doctors suggested that marijuana be used to treat some symptoms of AIDS. This proposal brings forth both medical and ethical questions.

Why exactly should marijuana be legalized for AIDS use? Many doctors believe that cannabis is particularly useful in the treatment of AIDS Wasting Syndrome. They believe that it causes the patient to develop an appetite, therefore causing them to gain weight. It is also believed that marijuana helps relieve nausea caused by AIDS and other AIDS treatments. Patients have gone on record stating that marijuana has helped tremendously in the relief of AIDS related illnesses.

If marijuana has been used for so many years why are we just now recognizing its medical potential? Marijuana has been suggested for medical use for many years, and yet it has always been put on the back burner. This brings up the ethical side of the argument. In the past decades marijuana has been highly abused. The main concern of legalizing this drug is that the government is making it easier for anyone to buy it on the street. The government also wants to get the point across that smoking cannabis isn't going to make the disease go away; it may only help stop some of the pain.

This argument doesn't seem to have a correct answer. On one hand we can lock down and keep marijuana away from our children, and on the other we can let sick people suffer. The only logical answer would be to legalize marijuana, and yet put extremely harsh laws on it. Restricting it only to patients with certain serious diseases should keep it from being used regularly by people who aren't in need of it. Marijuana should only be accessible with a prescription from an authorized medical doctor. There should be a maximum amount allowed to be in your possession at one time. Unauthorized possession of marijuana should draw a harsher penalty. Hopefully this will get the point across that this drug is only to be used for medical reasons. This is the only way I can see either side compromising in order to get the best results from the whole situation.

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