Isac Leon

English 1010
Mr. Roberts
11/29/15
Marijuana: A schedule I substance
Marijuana has been around since the beginning of human history. The earliest record of
marijuana was recorded in ancient China In 2737 BC. A Chinese Emperor named Shennong
wrote a book on medicine that included marijuana as a treatment for many conditions. In the
mid-1800s, medical marijuana was introduced to England for treating medical conditions like
muscle spasms, epilepsy, and pain. Word quickly traveled to America and it soon began being
used by American doctors to treat people too. Although medical marijuana is still illegal in most
of the United Sates, its medicinal uses dates back thousands of years. Which brings up a
controversial issue about marijuana being labeled as a Schedule I substance. Further research has
shown that marijuana does have medical value and for that reason it should be changed to a
lower schedule.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Schedule I drugs or substances are
defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use with a high potential for abuse.
Schedule I drugs are ranked the most dangerous in a schedule rank from one to five, with
potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. However, research and studies have
shown that marijuana helps treat people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a life-threatening
events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or
physical or sexual assault in adult or childhood, and has a lower rate of addiction and abuse than

other drugs. People dont look at marijuana in the medical aspect and dont realize the medical
potential that marijuana holds.
Dr. Mechoulam is one of the most highly respected Israeli neuroscientists, who identified
THC as the psychoactive compound in marijuana and discovered the brains endogenous
cannabinoid system. The e-cannabinoid system plays an important role in maintaining good
health in the human body. He discussed his experiments demonstrating the effects that marijuana
had on mice that had suffered traumatic injuries to the brain. His experiment showed that mice
that were being shocked after listening to a certain noise were startled when they would hear the
same noise again without being shocked. The mice would end up traumatized by being shocked
and would squirm every time it heard the noise. Once given medical marijuana, the mice would
not react to the same noise it was traumatized by before. Cannabis contains the same
cannabinoids that are necessary to keeping the endocannabinoid system healthy. Dr. Mechoulam
discovered that the cannabinoid system or CBD system, helps the brain forget or process
memory.
It is healthy for the brain to forget and process good and bad memories. People that
suffer from PTSD lack in cannabinoid receptors and make it harder for them to forget about
horrific memories that haunt them. In an interview done in 2014 by Bailey Rahn, he interviewed
Ben Nicols, who has suffered from PTSD since he was nine. He suffered with insomnia and
A.D.D, two symptoms of PTSD. To help treat his anxiety that also comes from PTSD, he takes
cannabis to help him get through his day. Ben said in his interview, it helps with daily tasks like
school, work, and relationships. My mind races and the cannabis helps me slow down and think
through the trauma rather than hide from it. I can tell its helping me because my sleeping
patterns are normal and I dont have anxiety attacks. Ben Nicols lives in a state where medical

marijuana is being prescribed to people suffering from PTSD, but not all PTSD sufferers are as
lucky to live in states that allow cannabis to be used to treat PTSD.
Bens medical marijuana treatment shows how marijuana helps him treat his posttraumatic stress disorder and Dr. Mechoulams scientific discoveries on how medical marijuana
helps treat mice that have suffered from traumatic head injuries is evidence that cannabis does
have medical value. This research and study should be enough to consider rescheduling cannabis
from a schedule I drug. However, another factor that doesnt apply to cannabis is that it is
considered to be a deadly and addictive drug.
According to USA Today, nearly 44,000 people die from drug overdoses each
year. That figured doubled from 1999 to 2013 and half of those were overdoses were
caused by prescription pills. Prescription pills cause thousands of overdose deaths each
year, but no one has died from cannabis. The National Cancer Institute claims that is isnt
possible to overdose on marijuana. They stated, Because cannabinoid receptors, unlike
opioid receptors, are not located in the brainstem areas controlling respiration, lethal
overdoses from Cannabis and cannabinoids do not occur. Marijuana and opioids affect
different parts of the brain. Opioid receptors affect the part of the brain that controls the
way we breathe. For this reason, if someone takes too many painkillers, the opioid
receptors can take control of how we breathe and cause us to suffocate. Receptors found
in cannabis on the other hand, dont affect the way we breathe. Marijuana cannot cause
someone to stop breathing no matter how much they ingest. Prescription pills have
proven to be deadlier than cannabis. More people have died from a pill overdose than
anyone who has ever tried cannabis. This proves that marijuana isnt as deadly as the
DEA considers it to be.

Opioid pain killers are also considered to be more highly addictive than marijuana.
According to a study done by researchers from School of Population Health at the University of
Queensland, they found that pain killers cause more deaths and illness than marijuana. They say
that the addiction of opioids is extremely high in the United States. More than 15 million people
are addicted to opioid painkillers and 13 million are addicted to marijuana. That comparison is
close, but the death rate of marijuana overdoses is at zero, compared to the amount of people that
that die on opioid overdoses. Nicholas Kardaras, PhD, an addiction specialist, said that opioids
are highly addictive and very dangerous. She states that opioids have gotten stronger and that it
creates more dependence. Those statements show that opioid painkillers, such as Vicodin and
OxyContin are more addictive than marijuana.
Many factors come down to why marijuana should be rescheduled to a less restrictive
class. Medical marijuana has shown to have medical value in treating PTSD and also other
medical conditions like helping prevent epileptic seizers. It has also been proven to be less
deadly than pill medication that are provided at pharmacies. Studies have shown that opioid
painkillers are more addictive than marijuana all over the world, with the highest addiction rate
being in the United States. These factors show that the reasons why marijuana is a schedule I
drug are wrong.
I think that marijuana should be rescheduled to a less restrictive schedule to allow
scientists to do further research on. Im not saying that cannabis should be allowed for
recreational use, but that it should be allowed to be used as medicine and tested on humans. The
medical potential that has been discovered on cannabis has shown positive effect and continues
to show medical value. Many people suffer from medical illness like PTSD, and are being forced
to take pill medications to treat it. They are given opioids that can be life-threatening to them.

Medical marijuana can help prevent addictions and overdosed that are caused from opioids.
People like my mother in law, who suffers from insomnia and anxiety caused by PTSD, chooses
to deal with her symptoms without taking any medication, because she is afraid to try
prescription medication and run the risk of becoming addicted to them. Medical marijuana gives
people a healthier and safer option to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Evidence has shown that marijuana doesnt meet the criteria of a schedule I drug and
deserves to be placed in a less restrictive class. The rescheduling of marijuana could lead to new
discoveries in medicine and treatments for certain medical conditions. With the research and
studies that have been done on marijuana to this day, it has shown that marijuana deserves to be
considered in being rescheduled from a schedule I drug.

Work Cited Page

1. DEA / Drug Scheduling (DEA / Drug Scheduling)
http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml
2. Mechoulam, Raphael. "General Use of Cannabis for PTSD Symptoms."Veterans
for Medical Cannabis Access (2010). Print.
3. Rahn, Bailey. Cannabis and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Leafly
4/30/2014
4. NORML. Working to reform marijuana laws.
http://norml.org/library/item/introduction-to-the-endocannabinoid-system
5. Khan, Amir. Painkiller Addiction Worse Than Marijuana or Cocaine, Study
Finds. Everyday Health Staff Writer(2015) Print.