Is Marijuana Medicine?

[MalloryKnoxious]

Is it? Or are the medicinal uses overstated for the sake of the legalization/decriminalization cause?

If you feel that marijuana is medicine, should it be used for recreational purposes?

[Jack]

Technically speaking no medication should be used for recreation, especially prescription medication. Marijuana has been shown to decrease pain for cancer patients and if they and their doctor believes it will help I'm certainly not opposed. But I think it's a stretch to call marijuana a prescription drug. It's a naturally occurring plant. We don't classify aloe vera as a prescription drug even though it has medical applications.

[Darklordabc]

Its medicinal in some small amount of cases, not enought to justify legalizing it. I dont think having the quality of being a medicine says anything towards the 'should' question. Should you use it recreationally, is a hard and subjective question to answer, personally, i'd say you shouldnt use mainly due to the mental health consequences.

[MalloryKnoxious]

Technically speaking no medication should be used for recreation, especially prescription medication. Marijuana has been shown to decrease pain for cancer patients and if they and their doctor believes it will help I'm certainly not opposed. But I think it's a stretch to call marijuana a prescription drug. It's a naturally occurring plant. We don't classify aloe vera as a prescription drug even though it has medical applications.

But aren't most medicines derived from naturally-occurring plants? Like the opium poppy?

[Angry Citizen]

Of course it's not. At best, it's a pain reliever - not medicine in any sense of the word. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be legalized.

[Jack]

But aren't most medicines derived from naturally-occurring plants? Like the opium poppy?

Yes, but a derivative can be patented and controlled by the company that owns the process. There are plants that have to be processed to produce the desired end-product, like opium and cocaine, and there are plants that can be used as grown without additional processing, like marijuana or psilocybin mushrooms.

[MalloryKnoxious]

So Jack, would you consider it a medicine if it were controlled and processed somehow, like in pill form?

[MalloryKnoxious]

Its medicinal in some small amount of cases, not enought to justify legalizing it. I dont think having the quality of being a medicine says anything towards the 'should' question. Should you use it recreationally, is a hard and subjective question to answer, personally, i'd say you shouldnt use mainly due to the mental health consequences.

What mental health consequences?

[MalloryKnoxious]

Of course it's not. At best, it's a pain reliever - not medicine in any sense of the word. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be legalized.

Do you not consider pain relievers, medicine?

[Angry Citizen]

Not really.

[Peter]

Is dope medicine? It really depends on how you define medicine.

Can it be an agent to treat disease or injury? Certainly.

I know personally that it cures the dis-ease of boredom better than that legal recreational medicine alcohol.

Is this just a lead-in to some other question?

[Jack]

So Jack, would you consider it a medicine if it were controlled and processed somehow, like in pill form?

I'm pretty sure the company that marketed it would.