Ethical Use of Cannabis

Ethical use of medicinal Cannabis
The legalization of Cannabis in general, not only for medical purposes, is still
one of the most controversial topics in today’s society. But in this presentation I want
to concentrate on the medicinal use of Cannabis, if it’s ethical and/or legal, the current
situation in Romania and some other countries and the advantages and disadvantages
of its usage.
• What is medical marijuana ? Medical marijuana is a plant-based medicine

from the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica species with three major
active compounds: THC, CBD, and CBN.
• Medical cannabis uses the marijuana plant or chemicals in it to treat
diseases or conditions. It's basically the same product as recreational
marijuana, but it's taken for medical purposes.
I. Legality Currently, marijuana it’s the most consumed „illegal” drug. Its capacity
to be grown and transported in big quantities, simple preparing and huge
demand make it the most traded drug. In many countries, the cultivation,
transportation and usage of Cannabis are strictly regulated or even prohibited.
So, due to high demand and big profits, most of the Cannabis is used illegally.
There are a few exceptions of course, for example here is a map that shows
with green the countries where marijuana is legal only with a prescription, with
blue countries where it’s legal for any use and without prescription and with
gray, countries where it is illegal. In places where it became legal, even
partially, a lot of new businesses were set up, and are continuously growing. In
some countries, small local stores sold out in the first days of opening, so I
would say it would be a really profitable business. New businesses mean new
taxes, so the state could also benefit from the legalization of marijuana. In the
United States, the use of marijuana for any purpose is legal in 17 states, for
medical use in 18 of them but the number of states that legalize it increases
every year. In Europe, medical use of Cannabis is permitted in 16 states, and in
11 countries free use is illegal but decriminalized, meaning that people cant be
charged for drug possession in small quantities or if it’s only for recreational
use. One of these countries is the Czech Republic, which I visited a few years
ago, and I was a little bit surprised when I saw a Cannabis store, with lots of
things, from weed in small quantities and candies with weed taste to the classic
marijuana leaf shirts and hats.
II. The situation in Romania:

Currently, in Romania, Cannabis is categorized as a risk drug, not a high-risk one, like
cocaine or heroin. Basically, it’s completely illegal to own marijuana for recreational
purposes. If you are caught even with a small quantity, you might get a criminal record
for drug trafficking/usage.
In 2013 Romania became the 10th European country to legalize Cannabis for
medicinal purposes. Even though it’s technically legal for medical uses, the THC, the
compound that gives psychoactive effects, must be below 0.2%. But of course,
because we live in Romania, growing weed for medical purposes isn’t as simple as it
may seem. There is a lot of bureaucracy and a big legal lagoon, meaning that you are
going in circles from institution to institution for permissions. You might also have
problems with the DIICOT because, in their perspective, there is no difference
between recreational and medicinal usage of marijuana.
III. Ethics
Changing the way people see marijuana in terms of ethics will be a lot harder than
legalizing it. People, mostly those with conservative perspectives, still see marijuana
as a high-risk drug, and sometimes put it together with cocaine, heroine or meth. For
them, Cannabis is just another drug, that once you try it, you can't stop using it. But
more interesting is the fact that the same people who view marijuana as a drug, think
that alcohol or tobacco are less dangerous. But studies show exactly the opposite.
According to a study, every year tobacco use causes more then 7 million deaths per
year. According to World Health Organization, worldwide, 3 million deaths every year
result from harmful use of alcohol. The following chart ranks 14 of the most used drugs
and their ,,harm score”, based on user’s damage and other’s damage. As expected,
alcohol is the most dangerous one, being almost 3.5 times more harmful then
Cannabis. Also, tobacco is more harmful with a score of approx. 28, compared to
cannabis with a score of 20. So, the big question is why we consider alcohol and
tobacco products more ethically right and legal, even though they produce more harm
then good, and vice versa for weed.
I. Advantages/disadvantages:
Like many other things, the medicinal usage of cannabis has good and bad parts.
To begin with a few advantages:
 A treatment for anxiety
 Can be used for pain relief in case of chronic diseases
 Used as a sleeping aid in cases of insomnia and sleep apnea
 May help treat epileptic seizures
 Could be used as a treatment to slow down Alzheimer’s disease progression
 Marijuana can help treat appetite loss associated with conditions such as
HIV/AIDS and certain types of cancers
 A treatment for Parkinson’s disease

And some of the disadvantages:
 Health and developmental problems for children (not recommended for pregnant
women)
 May aggravate heart-related ailments
 May impair mental and motor skills (not recommended when driving)
 Damage to the respiratory system (usage via smoking, like tobacco, can cause
harm to the lungs)
 Affect short-term memory
 And last but not least, can get you to jail

As a conclusion, with time, the use of medicinal cannabis will be a normality, with more
studies every year that show the bright side of things and the positive effects this drug
can have, especially for people with chronic diseases. But there is still a long way to
go, because it takes a lot of time, first to legalise it, then to convince people of its
advantages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=zNT8Zo_sfwo&ab_channel=RidewithLarryRidewithLarry from 0:24
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm

Ethical Use of Cannabis

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethical Use of Cannabis

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethical use of medicinal Cannabis

• What is medical marijuana ? Medical marijuana is a plant-based medicine

II. The situation in Romania:

You might also like