Works Cited

Canadian Medical Association Journal." Marijuana and Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease: A Population-based Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2013.

Tashkin , Donald P., Bertrand J. Shapiro , and Ira M. Frank. "420 Magazine." Acute effects of Smoked Marijuana on a Specific Airway Conductance in Asthma Subjects . American Review of Respiratory Disease, 06 june 2011. Web. 8 Feb 2013. <http://www.420magazine.com/forums/asthma/144563-acute-effects-smoked-marijuana-specific-airway-conductance-asthma-subjects.html>.

"The Myth Of "Medical Marijuana." Scholastic Scope 60.11 (2012): 22. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 22 Mar. 2013.

"Cannabis: it's not an intelligent habit." Student Research Center . N.p., 29 august 2012. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=8d4b6f28-6bb5-4dfb-9e3f-3f5bcadb2f7f@sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=113&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU=

Phillips, Helen. "Medical cannabis is a blunt tool." Student Research Center . N.p., 29 july 2006. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=bef5b806-579b-4bf7-9f66-81cdb3aae602@sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=113&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU=

Hiebert, Rick . "Toke no more." Student Research Center. N.p., 09 july 2001. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=5aefe959-211d-4da1-aa88-3d0e40f7e69e@sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=113&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU=

"Long-terms Effects of Marijuana." Alta Mira Recovery Programs. Alta Mira Recovery Center: Alcohol and Drug Rehab in San Francisco. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://www.altamirarecovery.com/marijuana-addiction/long-term-effects-of-abuse/>.

"Medical Marijuana Side Effects ." Southwest Medical Marijuana Evaluation Center . N.p.. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://www.evaluationtoday.com/news_medical_marijuana_sideeffects.html>.

"52% of Americans want to legalize weed." The Atlantic Wire. N.p., 04 Apr 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/04/majority-americans-legalize-marijuana-poll/63883/>.

CoolOldVideos. Drug Effects Cartoon. Digital image. Youtube. N.p., 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E4WfFOJ0Uc>.

"Marijuana." Information from Drugs.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.drugs.com/marijuana.html>]

"Marijuana Research: The Effects of Marijuana Smoke." Marijuana Research: The Effects of Marijuana Smoke. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.drugscience.org/Petition/C2B.html>.

medicinal marijuana documentary

Argumentative Speech

Cindy Perez

McKoy

English II

14 May 2013

Medicinal Marijuana

“When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself.” (Bob Marley) Many people believe medicinal marijuana is helpful, but they are not aware of the effects it could bring to someone. Our system is widespread; smoking or ingesting Cannabis can have various effects, it can also influence on the mind.  If the person using medicinal Cannabis is not careful when using cannabis, the effect of the drug can be the opposite of what they expected the drug to do. It can harm your system because of the distinct neurons in our system. Medicinal marijuana is not medical; it is actually the opposite of what it is because medicinal marijuana can give you chronic diseases, it can decrease your mental health, and it can put you in a bad condition of health.  Have you ever imagined someone smoking Cannabis to feel better but instead it destroys them?

There are many reasons why marijuana is not medicine because it needs to be approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).(Myth of “medicinal marijuana”)  Marijuana comes from cannabis, it has many chemicals. Most of those chemicals have an unknown effect, due to this reason that is why it has yet to be approved.  When something is going to be considered medicine,  it needs to have all known side effects and the amount of dosages a person should take. When marijuana is put into the human system, there are many harmful effects it can cause to a person.

Medicinal marijuana can cause a chronic disease. The chronic disease someone could get from inhaling marijuana can lead to a chronic cough. From that chronic cough it may lead to bronchitis.  Bronchitis is inflammation of the mucous membrane in the bronchial tubes. You can get a bronchial attack once a year.  From the coughing and irritating your air way, you begin to wheeze. Therefore, Cannabis may be helping you with one disease, while creating another.

Even though it affects your lungs, it can also affect your mental health.  When a person is using Cannabis, the user is losing their ability to learn the way you usually learn. It impacts their intellectual capacity to the brain. “…marijuana causes panic attacks, delusions, and hallucinations, paranoia, depression and ‘uncontrollably hostility’”(Helen) With that being said it is putting you in risk of blending your emotions and sensory experiences. 

People who consistently use Cannabis are wrecking their short- term memory.  Marijuana plants contain 400 chemicals and 60 of them are cannabinoids, which are psychoactive compounds that are produced inside the body after cannabis is metabolized or is extorted from the cannabis plant.   Those chemicals in the marijuana has unknown effects. The most psychoactive cannabinoids chemical in marijuana that has the biggest impact on the brain is tetrahydrocannibol, or THC.  Psychoactive means effecting the brain. “Some compounds in cannabis, including THC (tetrandro cannabinal) and cannabidiol, interfere with a natural signaling system throughout our brains, nerves and immune system. (Helen) THC can harm your signaling system and it could cause major effects; most of those may remain unknown.  THC is the main active ingredient in marijuana because it affects the brain by binding to and activating specific receptors, known as cannabinoid receptors. These receptors control memory, thought, concentration, time and depth, and coordinated movement.  

Medicinal marijuana is not all medical if it effecting your brain. It effects it many ways, so why it considered medical if it is destroying your brain? Cannabis is actually harming you, while you believe it is helping you. If cannabis has unknown effects and people are not aware of what I could do to you, then why should it be approved by the FDA, if it is not even considered medical. We need to be more educated about the risk of cannabis use, which also includes the abusers knowledge capacity.  We are not aware how cannabis is affecting our system. Our system is widespread, anything inhaled or put into our systems will have an effect to it. “The problem with cannabis is that there’s no way of targeting the drug to any particular place,” (baker).

Academic summary

Cynthia Perez

Mckoy

English II

April 11, 2013

Academic summary

Helen Phillips from the New Scientist Organization argues that there are fundamental problems to how our bodies respond to the various compounds in Cannabis we us. Our system is widespread smoking or ingesting Cannabis can have varied effects. It can also influence on the mind. She claims that purified Cannabis extracts changing the amount, time and place of a dose could make your body have an opposite effects. Phillps develops this claim according to Vincenzo Dimarzo study that he did. Phillips explores that CBI receptors occur in two distinct populations of the neurons. The author says that Dimarzo says that excitement of the neurons that inhabit them, Cannabis can have an opposite effects depending on which neuron it hits. Phillips purpose is to explain that medicinal Cannabis has fundamentals, in order to show that it affects how our body responds to the Cannabis. The author found David baker, a multiple sclerosis expert at the University College found the same problem. Baker tested mice that have been engineered to have a condition like MS. Those with no CBI receptors suffer much worse nerve damaging than those with normal CBI receptors. Cannabinoids are involved in protecting against the nerve damage in MS. In some testing on mice it showed that cannabinoid signaling also prompts release of stress hormones called glucocorticoids that kill neurons. Phillips says that Baker said “The problem with cannabis is that there is no way of targeting the drug to any particular place.” This work is significant because medicinal Cannabis can also have its own affect to the body even though it is supposed to help your body.  People do not know the risk of smoking medicinal Cannabis. If the person using medicinal Cannabis is not careful their effects of the drug make be the opposite of what they expected the drug to do. It can harm your system because of the distinct neuron in our system. 

Annotated Bibliography

Cynthia Perez

McKoy

English 2

"Cannabis: It's Not an Intelligent Habit." EBSCOhost. John Fairfax, 29 Aug. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.

The article says that cannabis has been cultivating itself an image problem. The drug has had evidence that potential health effects begin to tickle in. It is very impressive the effect that cannabis can trigger schizophrenia and psychosis. The author says that young people need to be more educated about the risk of the use of cannabis. Young people need to know about the impact cannabis can have on their intellectual capacity.

Hiebert, Rick. "Take No More." EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Hiebert targets cannabis users. Hiebert says that a hypnotist M. Vance has helped cure people of smoking, drinking and eating addictions. “Pot addicts tell the hypnotist the drug makes breathing more difficult, makes them more prone to illness, erodes their motivation and wrecks their short-term memory,” says Prime Minister Jean Chretien.  Most people would not have known that marijuana makes people prone to illnesses.  People just think that marijuana makes you feel better but in reality it brings illnesses to you.

"Myth of "Medicinal Marijuana"" EBSCOhost. Scholastic Scope, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

The article says that medications must be FDA-approved, but marijuana is not. The author wants marijuana users to know that marijuana is not medical because it is not approved from the FDA. Some of the chemicals found in marijuana have been developed into medications. Cannabis has more than 400 different chemicals. Many of them have unknown effects. Smoking the marijuana can cause a chronic cough and increase the risk of bronchitis. It can also interfere with the peoples learning and memory. It can also make people anxious and paranoid. 

Is Cannabis worth it?

Make a video of your own at Animoto.

Crazy Cannabis

I’m rolled Cannabis

& I’m a scandal

I’m always in your dark room

Getting lit up to get the groove.

I put you in a good mood

But I make you go out of the moon

When you’re in pain

I work just like a maid- simile

When you need to spark

Bark at your dealer

Buy me by the gram

Or buy me by the pound.

That boy always bought me

I was his best friend

And his partner in crime.

Every morning he lit me up

He took a hit,Puff puff , 
then he’d say “sup?”

With his eyes all red and puffy

He began to get tough.

And he couldn’t quit.

He got to attached

That he became detached from the world.

His mood began to change

He started acting strange.

I didn’t recognize that I could put him in such a mood

That would make him eat snack food.

It makes you feel like you’re in heaven

But deep down you’re putting yourself through hell.

I promise I won’t kill you

I’ll just make you have respiratory issues

He knew his system wasn’t working right

Continuous days with the same routine.

He started growing a bean.

A bean with many issues

That could make him use tissues.

He was running out of breath

It was like slowing turning to death

His lungs were slowly closing

It was disposing air.

His lungs were all black

And they were full of cracks.

He was hoping to get some help

But his lungs were no good.

He regrets using me

I now have him in an ambulance.

He’s taking his last breath...

Cough cough

That boy takes it all back,

Now he's going 6 feet underground

Now he's belowground.

Medicinal Marijuana Research Memo

Hypothesis:

            I feel medicinal Marijuana is often used. For some reason, people do not understand that it may be helpful at the time but later on it is going to affect them more. I feel some people do not take the time to look deep into the effect of Cannabis. People smoke weed to survive longer, little do they know they will die quicker. Hopefully my question “Is medicinal marijuana worth the effects later on?”  Will open others eyes.

Context:

            My target audience were ages 15+, because kids around 15 start to use marijuana. From there on, I asked teenagers and adults. I chose these respondents because teens and adults both use marijuana. I discovered from pilot testing that I needed to do a little more explaining. Most people did not understand the difference between medicinal and recreational marijuana. Many of them were confused. My results are reliable and valid because I asked various people. I did not ask many biased questions. My questions are viewed by two or more different views.

Results:

What’s your gender?	How do you feel about medicinal marijuana?	Have you ever witnessed someone using medicinal marijuana for medicinal reasons?	On a scale 1 to 5, how likely do you think people take advantage of medicinal marijuana?	Teenagers use marijuana more than adults?	What race do you think uses medicinal marijuana?	Do you think people will have bad effects later on in life because they used marijuana?	Do you think medicinal marijuana should be used?	Which one do you think target people to smoke marijuana?
Female-17 Male-10	·         Great ·         Not sure ·         Legalize it ·         Some need it ·         Others abuse it ·         Excuse just to smoke ·         Helpful ·         Removes pain ·         Cures cancer ·         Only use for medicinal reason	No- 23 Yes-4	1-0 2- 0 3- 1 4- 9 5- 15	True- 24 False-3	All-  11 Whites-10 African Americans- 5 Mexicans- 1	Yes-19 No- 8	Yes-19 No- 8	Emotions-21 Medicinal reasons-5 Neither-1

 

 

Data Analysis:

            I surveyed 27 people. In my data I found that 23 out of 27 people have never witnessed some using medical marijuana , but yet 15 of the 27 agreed that on a scale of 1 to 5; 5 being the highest 15 agreed that on the many people take advantage of medicinal marijuana. Twenty four  of twenty seven people agreed that teenagers use marijuana more than adults. When I asked how they felt about medicinal marijuana, I received different answers. Some said, it was just an excuse to smoke marijuana others thought it was really helpful. A couple even said it was a useful drug for cancer patients. Many people even agreed to just legalize it because either way people use it for medical reasons and it is illegal. When I asked what race uses medicinal marijuana, I received many responses. Some did not just agree to one race but they agreed to multiple races. The main two races that were said multiple times were Caucasian and African American. Then, mostly agreed that all races use it. Eleven people said all races use it, leaving Caucasians in second place with 10 votes.  African Americans only received 5 votes. When I asked if people would have bad effects later on in life because they used marijuana, I received strange votes. Nineteen people agreed that yes there would be bad effects later on in life to those who used marijuana, whether it be medicinal or recreational. Eight agreed that there would not be any bad effects later on in life. When I surveyed my targets, I asked which of three choices emotions, medicinal reasons, or neither the reasons to target people to smoke. Twenty one people agreed that an emotion is the main reason people smoke marijuana. Only 5 people agreed that medicinal reasons target people to smoke, and only one person said it was neither.

Conclusion:

            My hypothesis is people smoke weed to survive longer; little do they know they will die quicker. Hopefully my question, “Is medicinal marijuana worth the effects later on?”  Will open others eyes. I have not yet been able to prove my question correct or not. What was different from expected was that many people had different aspects of marijuana. I can conclude that some people do know that marijuana could have effects on people later on in life.

Follow up:

            I want to keep doing further research on my topic. My one question that should be researched next would be “Should medicinal marijuana be legalized since most people use it?”  As a result of my research I have not changed my research question yet. I find really good information on medicinal marijuana and how it is helpful but yet harmful in the long run.

Medicinal Marijuana Survey

Medicinal Marijuana!

            I am a teenager.  I see many people take advantage of marijuana. Many people use it just for fun. Others use it for medicinal reasons. Most of these teenagers today are using Cannabis for fun that is what these teenagers are smoking just to be “cool.” Cannabis can actually be useful for people. I have a friend who smokes cannabis because he has a medical issue. The use of marijuana is keeping him alive, which makes him feel better.  Without the use of Cannabis, he would not be able to bare the pain. I see him smoke marijuana about four to eight times a day. He uses big amounts of marijuana in his blunt. Every ,time he finished smoking he goes straight to bed, and he practically sleeps like a baby. He wakes up and if he is in pain, he goes back to smoking marijuana. I would always ask him if smoking all the marijuana was beneficial to him. He would respond and say to a point it is helping him. I never knew what he meant by “to a point” . I questioned myself every single time he would smoke. I noticed his eyes would turn really red and they would get droopy. He could barely keep them open. I had no idea that was a symptom of being “high.” I always kept in mind what he looked like after the use of Cannabis.

In my initial research, I found Acute effects of Smoked Marijuana on a Specific Airway Conductance in Asthma Subjects website, which contains information about how medicinal marijuana has a long term effect. According to this website, it says that Cannabis can cause a chronic cough, increased risk of bronchitis, and all kinds of lung infections. The use of excess Cannabis can cause learning and memory loss and that is the one matter you do not want to lose.   It also leads to a person becoming anxious and paranoid, and then leading them to being addicted to Cannabis.  When a person becomes addicted to smoking Cannabis, it becomes hard for the person to stop smoking it. Even if you smoke marijuana for non-medical reason it still kills your brain cells. This source explains a massive amount of effects and the long run effects. The website guided my research because it talked about the effects and how it gets to your lungs.

            I would like to research more about this topic because I want people to realize if the side effects of medicinal marijuana is worth it.  I want others to realize if losing their memory is going to be worth it later on in life. In my research, I will discover if medicinal marijuana has strong effects later on in life. Marijuana is made of 400 different chemicals and many unknown effects and that differs from plant to plant. In, the long run many people will abuse the use of “Mary-Jane.” Therefore, marijuana should be legalized, if people use it all the time, it could actually benefit someone. Then again, it could harm someone. There are two sides to this, but keep in mind that it needs to be used for proper reasons.