Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes - Essay Example Barnes attempted to establish several arguments in justifying his claims, particularly by trying to inject conclusions with moral, legal and medical bases. He discussed the properties of THC and its various effects when used, and then claiming that the effectiveness of marijuana in terms of its medical effectiveness is not controversial by describing them as the positive its medicinal properties. He then argued that the controversial argument lies in its medicinal value. He deliberated that the medicinal value corresponds to a normative claim which is controversial due to its implications that the medical benefits will then be far greater than the medical cost such as the side effects as well as the implications that there are no treatments which can be used as alternative, and that will be preferable to use in its stead. He claimed that individuals have interests and rights to safe and effective medical treatments, justifying that rights are an important â€Å"prima facie† wh ich the government must respect as well as enforce, at the same, giving credit to aspects such as positive and negative rights, and then emphasizing his assumptions regarding the responsibilities and rights of the government in the regulation of the sales of this drug to ensure the safety of individual. Barnes tackled some options the federal government may undertake with regards to marijuana, some of which are the removal of marijuana from the list of controlled substances which would entail total freedom to purchase by any individual, another is removing the drug from schedule 1 of controlled substances and then moving it to the schedule 2 category. ... ch would entail total freedom to purchase by any individual, another is removing the drug from schedule 1 of controlled substances and then moving it to the schedule 2 category. He admitted that few options are available to state governments regarding this matter, as their authority, in reality, is supplanted by those of the federal government. He then tackled the issues for allowing the prescription of marijuana, claiming that the side effects of using this drug as a medicine is considerably less than other certain drugs that are currently being prescribed. He also claimed that a certain percentage of patients and doctors have an expressed desire towards its legalization for medicinal purposes. He claimed that marijuana is â€Å"effective, sufficiently safe and endorsed by a significant percentage of the relevant medical community†. According to Barnes, there is not enough reason to stop the government from allowing the legal prescription of marijuana, which then entails that it should allow doctors to do so, particularly to patients suffering from certain ailments. He then addressed several arguments that have been raised against the legalization of marijuana such as how the government should not allow harmful medications to be prescribed, discussing the grounds which have been used to justify this argument. He then addressed the second argument, which states that the government should not allow for the prescription of potentially harmful drugs that are not adequately tested, and tried to refute it be underlining the rapid growth of marijuana usage in the country over the past three decades and then emphasizing the need for legalizing further research and testing. The third argument Barnes tried to address is the practical problems associated the legalization of its