Corporate and Individual Tax Rates) then there would be $3.15 billion increase in our treasury. This money alone could get our government out of its multi-billion dollar debt.In addition to financial benefits of marijuana legalization, there are many medical uses for it as well. There are a growing number of people who believe marijuana is effective for pharmaceutical purposes. “I have patients who say it works better than anything else they have tried, and these are patients who have tried everything for chronic neuropathic pain,” says Dr. May Lynch, who leads the Canadian Consortium for the Investigations of Cannabinoids in Human Therapeutics (Sibbald). In Canada, on July 4, 2001, federal Health Minister Allan Rock announced that the federal regulators for medical marijuana had been completed and will go into force July 30,2001. Mr. Rock told reporters “[W]ill improve the quality of life of sick Canadians, particularly those who are terminally ill.”(Cosh)Other countries are not as convinced as the Canadians that the drug is safe and effective in pain management. In England, ongoing studies do not support beliefs about marijuana’s usefulness. The conclusions of a controlled trial are as follows:Cannabinoids are no more effective than codeine in controlling pain and have depressant effects on the central nervous system that limit their use. Their widespread introduction into clinical practice for pain management is therefore undesirable. In acute postoperative pain they should not be used. Before cannabinoids can be considered for treating spasticity and neuropathic pain, further valid randomized controlled studies are needed (BMJ).No more effective than codeine? Codeine is a very successful pain relieverprescribed by millions of doctors every year. More than 28.5 million prescriptions for acetaminophen-codeine combinations were filled in 1989 in American drugstores (FDA Consumer Magazine).Better p...
