t officials feel that by legalizing marijuana, they would be sending the wrong message to young people ("Your Health" 1). Strong evidence that shows that regular use of marijuana for long periods of time could cause severe lung damage ("Your Health" 3). If the use of marijuana could damage a patient's lungs, then the risk could outweigh the benefit. Marijuana smoke can be twice as toxic as tobacco smoke to a human lung. The strongest point that many make opposing the legalization of marijuana is that there just is no clear evidence that smoking marijuana can help an individual who is ill ("Marijuana for the Sick" 2). Countless amounts of research has been done but both sides have countered each other with facts and studies. What are the benefits and what are the clear cut negatives?The concept of using marijuana for medical use is nothing new. Marijuana is one of the oldest drugs known to man, the use of it has been documented as far back as 2700 B.C. in a Chinese manuscript. The Chinese would injest or inhale the Marijuana and feel pain relief for headaches and small aches and pains ("Marijuana" 1). The Chinese spread the concept over time, and while it never began a popular drug in most other societies, it still existed and was a common pain reliever. In 1839, a respected member of the Royal Academy of Science, Dr. W. B. O'Shaugnessy, was one of the first in the medical profession, who presented positive facts dealing with marijuana and medicine (History in Brief 3). His work helped open up the medical world to marijuna’s medical usees. The drug itself was not used as a popular recreational drug at the time and for this reason few saw a problem with using it for medical purposes. From 1840 to 1900, more than one hundred articles by American and European medical journals were published that showed the therapeutic uses of marijuana (Bakalar 2). Marijuana was recommended to stimulate appetites, and relax muscles, so if marijuana wa...
