By the age of two, Charlotte Figi was diagnosed with an untreatable form of epilepsy. To combat this, she had tried every medication they could to cure her, several of which were dangerous on their own. Having endured around 50 seizures a night – some so serious they were nearly fatal – the child was able to get a medical marijuana card in order to receive cannabidiol (CBD) oil in Colorado. Once she began taking the high CBD oil, her parents reported that her seizures almost immediately stopped.

 

Charlotte is not the only person, young or old, who was able to find an antidote in medical marijuana. There are countless stories of people using it as a treatment for various illnesses – epilepsy/seizure disorders, various types of cancer, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, etc. – and coming away pain-free.

 

As of 2017, there are 29 states, as well as the District of Columbia, where medical marijuana is legal.

“Marijuana legalization is a policy no-brainer,” Jeffrey Miron wrote in an article for CNN titled ‘Why Congress Should Legalize Pot.’ “Any society that professes to value liberty should leave adults free to consume marijuana.”

Where there is an opinion, there is usually someone who opposes it and there are many people who are vocal about their opposition to the legalization of marijuana. In a CBS News article titled, ‘Opinion: Medical Marijuana Benefits,’ Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D., brings up some of the common theories that opponents of medical marijuana believe, before proving them wrong.

 

One point that many opponents of the treatment bring up is that other drugs are available for disorders which have started to receive medical marijuana treatment, such as dronabinol, the synthetic version of one of marijuana’s active ingredients that is available in pill form. Another concern that people point to is the impact the treatment has on the respiratory health of the people that use medical marijuana.

 

Earleywine was easily able to prove these ideas wrong.

 

Although many treatments do exist for nearly every human illness, people differ from one another resulting in some patients not being able to respond to traditional medications and having to rely on medical marijuana. The use of only one of the active ingredients is less effective than medical marijuana, and swallowing the pill will take longer to take effect than inhaling the marijuana vapors or using oils. Finally, there are no known links between marijuana use and respiratory health problems such as lung cancer or emphysema.

 

Not only are there few disadvantages to the legalization of medical marijuana, but it is also capable of helping the economy of states that legalize it. Colorado is one of the first to have legalized the treatment, and it has had a noticeable impact on their economy.

 

In a 2016 article on Thinkprogress.org, Alan Pyke wrote that an analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group showed legalized marijuana have created around 18,000 full-time jobs and added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy the previous year.

 

Improvements to the economy, few disadvantages, and a new chance for a better life for people suffering from diseases all show signs that the legalization of medical marijuana would help this country.