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Over the past few weeks of this quarter, our Health and Drugs class has discussed a lot of information about drugs, drug properties, and the schedules in which they are classified by the Controlled Substance Act in 1970. Based off the information we have gone over in class and some extra research, it is apparent our drug schedules need to be revised and edited. In particular, two drugs (LSD and Marijuana) need to be revised, so they receive funding from the government to promote medical research and to reflect the true meaning of the drug scheduling.
Marijuana is a schedule 1 drug which according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, a schedule 1 drug is drugs, substances, or chemicals defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse (DEA, 2020). This schedule of drugs (1) should encompass the worst drugs but also drugs that have no current medical use, which should not include marijuana. Despite no medical funding by the US government, private researchers have managed to study marijuana and the health effect linked to it. While there are still studies coming out on the use of marijuana, it has been recreationally legalized in 11 states and approved for medical use in 36 other states (Norml, 2020). Smoking marijuana possess the health hazard of smoke inhalation which can damage someones lungs, but that does not mean it has no accepted medical use. The most common use for medical marijuana in the United States is for pain control. While marijuana isnt strong enough for severe pain (for example, post-surgical pain or a broken bone), it is quite effective for the chronic pain that plagues millions of Americans, especially as they age (Grinspoon, 2018).
LSD is another drug that needs to be removed from the first schedule and placed in the proper schedule. LSD was discovered by Albert Hofmann in the late 1930s when he was searching for a blood stimulant. LSD was first used in the 40s 50s and 60s by psychiatrists and was found to be a very mind altering (hallucinogen) drug which was used to treat psychosis (Drug Free World). During that time medical professionals failed to find a good medical use for the drug and was banned in the late 1960s by the US government deeming it a schedule 1 substance. The ban of LSD in the late 1960s halted medical research and no other experiments or tests were conducted. While LSD may have poor recreational outcomes and should not be recreational, it should not be a schedule 1 drug because of its medical use for therapeutic treatment. A recent study found on the US National Institutes of Health shows the successful medical use of LSD for anxiety associate with life threatening diseases. These results indicate that when administered safely in a methodologically rigorous medically supervised psychotherapeutic setting, LSD can reduce anxiety, suggesting that larger controlled studies are warranted (Gasser).
Marijuana and LSD are currently schedule 1 drug that have potential to have medical benefits, but clinical research has not and will not be done until the drug schedule is revised. Based off the information we have gone over in this paper and class lectures, it is apparent our drug schedules need to be revised and edited. In particular two drugs (LSD and Marijuana) need to be revised so they receive funding from the government to promote medical research and to reflect the true meaning of the drug scheduling.
Reference
- Gasser, P., Holstein, D., Michel, Y., Doblin, R., Yazar-Klosinski, B., Passie, T., & Brenneisen, R. (2014, July). Safety and efficacy of lysergic acid diethylamide-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with life-threatening diseases. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24594678/
- Grinspoon, P. (2019, June 25). Medical marijuana. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085
- Hanson, G. R., Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2018). Drugs and society. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Nationwide Trends. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends
- NORML – Working to Reform Marijuana Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://norml.org/aboutmarijuana/item/states-that-have-decriminalized
- The Veteran: Psychedelics for PTSD: What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://maps.org/research/articles/6230-the-veteran-psychedelics-for-ptsd-what-a-long-strange-trip-it-s-been
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