In cancer and AIDS patients, marijuana smoke increases the risk of pneumonia and it weakens the immune system (73-74). Really, the negative effects of marijuana use outweigh any possible benefit for medical purposes. A similar drug, Marinol, a synthetic pill form of THC which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has the same benefits as marijuana, but fewer side effects. Why not use a drug that is just as affective as marijuana, but less harmful? Marijuana isn't the way to go if you"re looking for a helpful medicine because it just creates more health problems upon existing ones.
Another popular argument given by people who support legalization of marijuana for medical purposes is that marijuana is safe to use. They argue that smoking marijuana is safe because it's just a medicine and medicines can't hurt your body. Emily Sohn, in Is Grass a Proven Tonic? establishes "no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose." In reality, marijuana should not be legalized for medical uses because it sends children the wrong message. Children including adults may think that marijuana has no negative effects because it's used for medical purposes thereby making it okay to smoke for recreational use. Picture this: a child's mother has cancer and to ease the effects of chemotherapy, she smokes marijuana on a regular basis. The child may begin to think that since his mom smokes marijuana, that it isn't harmful. Even if his mom tells him that it's for medical purposes, seeing his/her mother using marijuana on a daily basis may convince him/her that marijuana is all right to use. In addition, since marijuana is a naturally occurring plant, purity and potency of the drug cannot be adequately controlled for medical use. How is marijuana safe to use when doctors cannot control its use for medicine? Clearly marijuana medical use would send out a wrong message as its ability to be a safe medicine.
