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Issues, Sub-Issues and Questions:
Medical Marijuana ProCon.org
The following are all Issues, Sub-issues and Questions. Collectively they map the
content supporting our core question: "Should marijuana be a medical option now?"

1. Medical Value
A. Medical Value
Q1. Does marijuana have any medical value?
Q2. What is the history of marijuana as medicine?
Q3. Should marijuana be medically available even if it isn't the most effective drug for treating a particular condition?
Q4. Do many physicians support medical marijuana?
Q5. For which symptoms or conditions might marijuana provide relief?
Q6. Should smoked marijuana be a medical option for patients diagnosed with a terminal illness and in severe pain?
Q7. Would more medical studies on the efficacy of marijuana be good public policy?
Q8. Can medical marijuana help patients suffering from severe/chronic pain?
Q9. Should adverse psychological or physiological effects of marijuana preclude its use as a medical option?
Q10. Should medical marijuana be used to treat severe depression, or other psychological conditions?
B. American Medical Association (AMA)
Q1. What is the history of the AMA, and how has it dealt with medical marijuana throughout its history?
C. Marinol v. Medical Marijuana
Q1. What is Marinol?
Q2. Is Marinol better medicine than marijuana?
Q3. Did the IOM report find that marijuana, in certain instances, works better than Marinol?
Q4. What is the treatment cost of medical marijuana vs. the cost of Marinol?

2. Diseases / Conditions & Medical Marijuana
A. AIDS (HIV) & AIDS Wasting

Q1. Is marijuana bad for the immune system?
Q2. Can marijuana help AIDS/HIV patients?
B. Alzheimer's Disease
Q1. Can marijuana help those individual's who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease?
C. Appetite / Nausea
Q1. Can marijuana help those individual's who are suffering from severe nausea?
Q2. Can marijuana help those suffering from a lack of appetite?
Q3. What is the daily dosage usually used to increase appetite?
Q4. For nausea/appetite, how long does medical marijuana take to work, and how long do the effects last?
Q5. For nausea/appetite, what are the comparisons between medical marijuana and Marinol?
D. Chemotherapy
Q1. Can marijuana help some people going through chemotherapy?
E. Seizures / Epilepsy
Q1. Can marijuana help seizures (epilepsy)?
F. Glaucoma
Q1. Does marijuana help some glaucoma patients?
Q2. Do marijuana's side effects, for instance, increased blood pressure, negate its effectiveness in fighting glaucoma?
G. Muscular Dystrophy
Q1. Can marijuana help those suffering from Muscular Dystrophy?
H. Pain / Analgesia
Q1. Can medical marijuana help patients suffering from severe/chronic pain?
I. Psychological Conditions
Q1. Should adverse psychological or physiological effects of marijuana preclude its use as a medical option?
Q2. Does medical marijuana produce lasting mood or psychotic disorders that negate its use as a medical option?
Q3. Is medical marijuana recommended to treat severely ill individuals who also suffer from psychological dysfunctions?
Q4. Should medical marijuana be used to treat severe depression, or other psychological conditions?
J. Multiple Sclerosis / Muscle Spasms
Q1. Can marijuana help muscle spasms/spasticity associated with Multiple Sclerosis and other conditions?
K. Terminally Ill
Q1. Should marijuana be a medical option for patients with a terminal illness suffering pain?

3. Non-smoked Marijuana
A. Medical Value & Use

Q1. What are the non-smoked ways to use marijuana medically?
Q2. What is the medical value of non-smoked uses of medical marijuana?
Q3. Have there been studies on non-smoked uses of medical marijuana, and if so, what have they found?
Q4. Are there any diseases or conditions that are helped better by non-smoked forms of medical marijuana?
Q5. If marijuana was readily available in forms that promoted non-smoked uses, would physicians be more apt to recommend it?
Q6. What are the basic fundamental pros and cons for patients between smoked & non-smoked marijuana?
B. Medical & Other Risks
Q1. Are there risks associated with non-smoked uses of marijuana that are not present in smoked marijuana?
Q2. Is it easier to overdose from non-smoked marijuana than from smoked?
Q3. Is non-smoked marijuana in "changed" forms, such as teas and brownies, illegal?

4. Public Policy
A. Public Policy About Medical Marijuana

Q1. Should marijuana be medically available even if it isn't the most effective drug for treating particular conditions?
Q2. Should all doctors agree that a drug has value before it is made available for medical use?
Q3. Would allowing sick people to smoke marijuana send the wrong messages to our children and our society?
Q4. Should the government, instead of doctors, decide what drugss sick people take?
Q5. If physicians can prescribe dangerous drugs like cocaine and morphine, shouldn't they be able to prescribe medical marijuana?
Q6. Should compassion be part of the medical marijuana debate, or any other healthcare debate?
Q7. Should the cost of medical marijuana treatment be covered by private health insurance or state or federally funded medical programs?
Q8. Who should grow and process medical marijuana and how should they be regulated?
Q9. Would more medical studies on the efficacy of marijuana be good public policy?
Q10. Is the FDA approval process subverted by passing bills and state initiatives that legalize medical marijuana?
Q11. Should there be a minimum legal age limit for medical marijuana? For example, should it be used for minors?
Q12. Would legalizing marijuana make it easier for people to get, and increase its use generally?
Q13. Is current drug policy be based on ideology over science?
Q14 Should medical marijuana be taxed?
Q15. How did the enactment and later repeal of Prohibition in 1933 effect the U.S. national consumption of alcohol?
Q16. Is legalizing medical marijuana really the first step in making all drugs legal?
Q17. Would legalizing medical marijuana make it easier for non-patients to get, and increase its use throughout society?
Q18. Were the state medical marijuana initiatives passed because of well-funded campaigns that hoodwinked voters?
Q19. Are medical marijuana users who drive a hazard on the roads?
Q20. If medical marijuana was legal, wouldn't it lead to more use by adults?
5. Medical Risks
A. Medical Risks
Q1. Is smoked marijuana too dangerous to be used as medicine?
Q2. Is medical marijuana more dangerous and/or addictive than legal drugs?
Q3. Are there any specific risks associated with marijuana that would preclude its use as a medicine specifically for teens or children?
Q4. Can marijuana adversely effect fertility and/or pregnancy and the child's health?
Q5. Should smoked marijuana be a medical option for patients with a terminal illness and suffering severe pain?
Q6. Won't the continued use of marijuana lead to its tolerance and a need for greater and greater dosages?
Q7. Marijuana contains hundreds of potentially harmful compounds; doesn't that make it too dangerous to be used as medicine?
Q8. Would the continued smoking of marijuana injure the lungs?
Q9. Is marijuana bad for the immune system?
Q10. Do marijuana's side effects, for instance, increased blood pressure, negate its effectiveness in fighting glaucoma?
Q11. Does marijuana use destroy brain cells?
Q12. Is today's marijuana significantly stronger than past marijuana, and if so, does that make it too dangerous for use as medicine for patients?
B. Medical Marijuana & Teen Use
Q1. Are there any specific risks associated with marijuana that would preclude its use as a medicine specifically for teens or children?
Q2. Has legalizing medical marijuana led to increased drug abuse among children and adolescents?
Q3. Should there be a minimum legal age limit for medical marijuana? For example, should it be used for minors?
Q4. Has decriminalizing marijuana anywhere led to increased drug usage among children, adolescents or adults?
C. Gateway / Stepping Stone Theory
Q1. Is marijuana a "gateway" or "stepping stone" drug?
D. Addictiveness
Q1. Is marijuana highly addictive?
E. Overdose
Q1. Do many people die from an overdose of marijuana?
F. Human Reproduction
Q1. Can marijuana use harm male fertility?
Q2. Can marijuana use harm female fertility?
Q3. Can parental marijuana use harm fetal development?
Q4. Can parental marijuana use contribute to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)?
Q5. Does parental marijuana use negatively affect the baby through breastfeeding?

6. U.S. Government & Medical Marijuana
A. U.S. Govt. Med. MJ / Drug History

Q1. What is the history of federal (U.S. Government) drug scheduling?
B. U.S. 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report
Q1. What is the U.S. 1999 IOM Report, and is it important?
Q2. While the IOM report acknowledges the need for more research, didn't it find that some patients are helped by smoked marijuana?
Q3. Did the U.S. 1999 IOM Report conclude that medical marijuana has any medical value, and who disagrees with the findings?
Q4. Where can one find the U.S. 1999 IOM report?
C. The 7 Legal U.S. Medical Marijuana Patients
Q1. What is the U.S. Government's Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) [smoked marijuana] program?
Q2. Do any Americans legally, under federal law. smoke marijuana for medical purposes?
Q3. What medical research and reports have been developed from the U.S. Government's Compassionate IND [smoked marijuana] Program?
Q4. Is the U.S. Government growing and providing legal medical marijuana to patients?
Q5. Who are the 7 patients receiving medical marijuana from the U.S. Government's Compassionate IND [smoked marijuana] Program, and why are they receiving it?
Q6. How has participating in the Compassionate IND [smoked marijuana] Program for many years affected the general health of the participants?
Q7. Should the Compassionate IND [smoked marijuana] Program be re-opened, and who should be permitted to apply?
D. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Q1. What does the U.S. DEA say about Medical Marijuana?
Q2. What is the DEA's position on medical marijuana users?
E. U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Q1. Has the government prohibited marijuana from being tested for FDA approval?
Q2. Must medical marijuana be fully tested and approved by the U.S. FDA before patients could be permitted to use it legally?
Q3. Are there any drugs currently available by prescription which have never been approved by the U.S. FDA?
F. Federal Drug Scheduling
Q1. What is Federal drug scheduling (I - V), and what are the schedules?
Q2. Should marijuana be reclassified as either Schedule II or Schedule III?
Q3. What is the criteria for the rescheduling of drugs?

7. Access to Medical Marijuana
A. Clubs / Clinics

Q1. What are cannabis clinics (clubs)?
Q2. Could one legally obtain medical marijuana from a cannabis club, another patient, a caregiver, or any other entity?
Q3. Should cannabis clinics (clubs) be regulated by the government?
Q4. Are cannabis clinics (clubs) fronts for criminal profiteers?
Q5. What actions have the U.S. government taken against medical marijuana providers and clinics (clubs)?
B. Programs
Q1. Is the U.S. Government growing and providing legal medical marijuana to patients?
C. Other
Q1. What percentage/number of the population uses marijuana medically?
Q2. Do patients who use medical marijuana have alternatives for using it other than by smoking?
Q3. Do any of the state medical marijuana laws permit patients to legally grow their own marijuana?
Q4. What is a proper dosage of medical marijuana, and how could patients control their dose?
Q5. Can the quality of medical marijuana be controlled so its users receive marijuana of uniform strength and purity?
Q6. Won't the continued use of marijuana lead to its tolerance and a need for greater and greater dosages?
Q7. Is a higher potency marijuana more dangerous to patients?
Q8. Do many recreational users of marijuana fake reasons to get marijuana recommendations or prescriptions?

8. Legal Issues
A. Legal Issues for Patients

Q1. Could one legally obtain medical marijuana from a cannabis club, another patient, a caregiver, or any other entity?
Q2. Do any of the state medical marijuana laws permit patients to legally grow their own marijuana?
Q3. Do some people go to prison just for using medical marijuana, even if a physician recommends it?
Q4. Can anyone legally use medical marijuana?
Q5. How do we prevent a patient from selling or giving their medical marijuana to others?
B. Legal Issues for Physicians
Q1. Can any doctor legally prescribe or recommend marijuana?
Q2. What legal rights, if any, do physicians have to recommend the medical use of marijuana to their patients?
C. U.S. Government v. Patients / Clinics
Q1. What does U.S. Law Enforcement say about medical marijuana?
Q2. What actions have the federal government taken against medical marijuana patients and providers?
Q3. What have medical marijuana proponents done recently to obtain federal authorization for medical marijuana?
Q4. What are some of the reactions and projected impacts of the Gonzalez (Ashcroft) v. Raich Supreme Court decision?
D. General Legal Issues
Q1. What are some of the pro/con arguments made before U.S. courts about medical marijuana's legal status?
Q2. How did the enactment and later repeal of Prohibition in 1933 effect the U.S. national consumption of alcohol?
Q3. Does a state's medical marijuana laws put that state in violation of federal drug law?
Q4. Have medical marijuana laws always come through the initiative process, or have state legislatures also enacted such laws?
Q5. Is the FDA approval process subverted by passing bills and state initiatives that legalize medical marijuana?
Q6. Were the medical marijuana initiatives passed because of well-funded campaigns that hoodwinked voters?
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