Fife, T. D., H. Moawad, C. Moschonas, K. Shepard, and N. Hammond. “Clinical Perspectives on Medical Marijuana (cannabis) for Neurologic Disorders.” Neurology: Clinical Practice 5.4 (2015): 344-51. Web.

The majority of this article speaks to the lack of controlled studies and inability to effectively measure patient responses to medicinal marijuana, which makes it hard to become legal in most states and to be covered by insurance. Because of the restrictions on the legality of marijuana in most states, controlled studies and ability to show benefits in different neurologic disorders can’t happen. So a cycle occurs with neither side able to move forward. The plant itself is also discussed and how the cannabinoids (and cannabis) affect different receptors in the CNS, which is where relief from pain in different disorders comes from. This article also has a list of states in which medical marijuana is legal versus where recreational marijuana is legal. This shows just how few places medical marijuana is legal.

Lotan, Itay, Therese A. Treves, Yaniv Roditi, and Ruth Djaldetti. “Cannabis (Medical Marijuana) Treatment for Motor and Non–Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease.” Clinical Neuropharmacology 37.2 (2014): 41-44. Web.

This article discusses a specific case study in which 22 patients with Parkinson’s disease were monitored with different rating scales on both motor and non-motor symptoms after smoking cannabis over a 2 month period. The article concludes saying that significant improvement in areas such as tremors, rigidity, pain tolerance, and quality of sleep. However, because of the placebo effect and patient rating (bias), the potential for this study not being reliable arises. However, in the discussion of this experiment/case study, documented benefits of cannabis for other diseases such as AIDS or those receiving chemotherapy are mentioned so some truth comes back into the reliability of this study on Cannabis treatment of Parkinson Disease.

Maule, W. J. “Medical Uses of Marijuana (Cannabis Sativa): Fact Or Fallacy?” British journal of biomedical science 72.2 (2015): 85-91. ProQuest. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.

This article discusses more in depth about what exactly medical marijuana does and how it is used as a medication for nausea and delayed vomiting and spasms and pain relief. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main component of marijuana that causes the high people feel and what gives the relief of pain. This article also discusses side effects of long-term marijuana use and how short-term use can be useful. Some statistics about marijuana use worldwide are named, and examples of case studies done to prove the usefulness of medical marijuana are mentioned (especially in using placebos to compare the effect on pain relief).

Pierre, Joseph M., M.D. “Psychosis Associated with Medical Marijuana: Risk Vs. Benefits of Medicinal Cannabis use.” The American Journal of Psychiatry 167.5 (2010): 598-9. ProQuest. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

This article is in fact a letter to the editor discussing the risk of medicinal marijuana by showcasing a specific case of “Mr. Z”. This man presented with many symptoms and heightened problems from being a war veteran. He prescribed himself with medicinal marijuana to supposedly alleviate pain, but the present conditions led to heightened psychosis that went from PTSD to hearing voices and being paranoid. The use of cannabis to treat his symptoms only made his stress and potential for psychosis heighten and a dependency of sorts to happen with regards to cannabis. So this article shows a negative to the potential use of medical marijuana.

Zeese, Kevin B. “History of Medical Marijuana Policy in US.” International Journal of Drug Policy 10.4 (1999): 319-28. Web.

This article discusses the history of medical marijuana as it is related to laws. The largest reason that medical marijuana is not more widely spread is because of legislation or lack thereof of making it legal. Most of the article discusses how marijuana went from a Schedule I drug to becoming legalized medically in many states across the United States. States across the US are mentioned with specific studies done in order to prove the effectiveness of medical marijuana, and the public desire for medical marijuana grew as publicity on this relatively new topic grew. This article, however very factual, shows some bias coming through in that the author clearly believes that medical marijuana should be legal. Zeese, in fact, was a part of the litigation for medical marijuana.