StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The article being reviewed sets out to establish the federal government's obligations in taking specific steps towards legalizing the medical prescription of marijuana…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER94.4% of users find it useful
Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes"

? The article being reviewed, en d “Reefer Madness: Legal and Moral Issues Surrounding the Medical Prescription of Marijuana written by R. Eric Barnes, sets out to establish the federal government's obligations in taking specific steps towards legalizing the medical prescription of marijuana. The writer argues that legalizing the medical use of marijuana is still justified regardless of the claim that utilitarianism is true and the harms of legalization will far outweigh the benefits. He claims that with respect to the federal government's significant interest in preventing the recreational use of marijuana, other states must still follow Arizona and California regarding the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, which also includes the production, distribution, and prescription. 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 “prima facie” which 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. 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 “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 prescription which may be too hard to surpass and then claiming that considering the amount efforts put into other areas of medical research, the practical problems concerning marijuana should not be difficult to manage. He discussed other arguments in the matter and tried to refute them by using several arguments. However, what he considered to be the most significant argument against its legalization is in how it might lead the the general population to receive it the wrong way, and consequently lead to the more extensive recreational use of marijuana, or rather, the abuse of it. In trying to refute the latter argument, he used philosophical issues to address the empirical basis of the argument referred to as TRUA and expressed his assumptions on how the benefits will outweigh the possible harms caused by the use of the drug, and how the arguments fail in justifying its claim to not legalize the prescription of marijuana. Barnes stated that there are three ways in which a government may be structured based on utilitarian principles which he discussed, claiming that the main issue will be on which structure will provide maximum utility, and then proceeding with the need for second order constraints and other issues that he deemed relevant to the arguments. He concluded that due to the federal government's unlikeliness to make any move towards taking the steps he tackled in his article, the state governments should then be taking these steps in order to make the federal government to follow suit. He admitted that the federal government just might as well supersede any laws the state government might legalize. However, he claimed that these should not hinder state governments to do so. He expressed his views on how the benefits will exceed the ramifications. Barnes set out to establish the necessity for the federal government's legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, and admitting to the unlikeliness of this happening, expressed the need for state governments to do so in its stead. He addressed arguments opposing its legalization and then proceeding to establish his own arguments by refuting existing opposing arguments. The basis of his research, however, is vague. He used several arguments which are based on public opinions and clinical research pertaining to the advantages and disadvantages of marijuana. At the same time, he also used concepts in philosophy which may be perceived as an expert opinion, in a manner of speaking. For the most part of the article, the arguments were based on existing arguments while the author's assumptions, the rest of which were speculations, were used as the author's grounds for arguments. Though the context of the article was indeed very interesting, I have found the article lacking in terms of content. While Barnes attempted to justify the need for the need for legalization of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, there was not enough facts and figures to back up his claims. Majority of the assumptions and claims he made were based on speculations and assumptions he had himself, which made the article too subjective and not very factual. In various of the articles, it may be noted that the author used the phrase “I assume” numerous times but facts were not adequately given to back up his assumptions. On one article part of the article, he mentioned that a certain number of doctors and patients have expressed desires to legalize the drug, however, statistical data would have aided this claim and would have given it more credibility. The writer also elaborated on the certain steps which the federal government may undertake regarding the matter, however, he did not discuss the pro's and con's that may result to the undertaking of the results he tackled. Though he did discuss certain clinical aspects of marijuana, the data he gave were still lacking. Certain aspects of the drug were discussed, particularly the health cases which he perceives would benefit from its prescription, however, he did not discuss the side-effects that would result from its use enough to provide sufficient information. He elaborated on the philosophical aspect of the issue, however, the clinical and legal aspects would have been more relevant. He emphasized the need for the state government's legalization of marijuana, and mentioned the states that have already undertaken that step, but did not discuss the current status of those laws presently, such as how the law has been received by its populace, its effectiveness and perhaps, even the researches that may now be conducted in those states. The article, as written by Barnes, was argumentative, but still too subjective. However, it would have justified his claims more if he provided enough data and it is for this very reason that the article fails to be convincing. Reference: R. Eric Barnes. 2000. “Reefer Madness: Legal & Moral Issues Surrounding the Medical Prescription of Marijuana”. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/history/1427402-aticle-review
(Article Review Written by R. Eric Barnes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
https://studentshare.org/history/1427402-aticle-review.
“Article Review Written by R. Eric Barnes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1427402-aticle-review.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Article Review written by R. Eric Barnes

Amazon Fires on the Rise: A Cautionary Tale

The delicate nature of the rain forest ecosystem in the Amazon has caused both environmentalists and government officials in Brazil… Each year farmers and ranchers in the Amazon slash and burn hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest to open up additional land areas Amazon Fires on the Rise: A cautionary Tale A review of the Article :Amazon Fires on the Rise, by Rebecca Lindsey • design by Robert Simmon • March 5, 2008_____________________________________________________________________________________Retreived January 27, 2013Retreived From http://earthobservatory....
3 Pages (750 words) Article

How to Disarm Cancer and Drug-Resistant Bacteria

The article Combining Synthetic, Natural Toxins Could Disarm Cancer, Drug-Resistant Bacteria by Jade Boyd tells us exactly how war Article review: Combining Synthetic, Natural Toxins Could Disarm Cancer, Drug-Resistant Bacteria Medicine is not incarcerated in the Science-only jail; it is not merely a confined space where arts have no interference....
2 Pages (500 words) Article

The Debate over Drones by John Brennans

s plans for Osama bin Laden a number days following the September 11th terror attacks in 2001, President Bush affirmed that there was an old notice out West that said that “Wanted: Alive Article review John Brennan's article, The Debate over Drones, discusses how the Information Technology field has changed from previous regimes such as the Bush Administration to the recent Obama Administration....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth by Joseph Stiglitz

Furthermore, the life review of Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth By JOSEPH STIGLITZ The article is talking about the scar of opportunities in the US much as it is claimed that it is a land of opportunities.... This is also despite the fact that the president reaffirmed in his inaugural speech of the fight to ensure equality among all the aspects of… According to the article, inequality is witnessed most within the economic sector and the education sector....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Plant Gene Expression

However, the central regulator of these circadian clocks in the intact organism is unknown. While it is known that Article review Functional Independence of Circadian Clocks That Regulate Plant Gene Expression In eukaryotes, behavior, gene expression and metabolism are regulated through circadian clocks....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Analysis of the Article about the Circadian Oscillator Located in the Prokaryotic Cyanobacterium

Moreover, among unicellular eukaryotic organisms, the rhythmic mechanism exhibited Article review: Circadian Gating of Cell Division in Cyanobacteria Growing with Average Doubling Times of Less Than 24 hoursThe research article by Mor, Binder and Johnson delves into the one of the functions of the circadian oscillator located in the prokaryotic cyanobacterium....
1 Pages (250 words) Article

Polysubstance Abuse by Segal and Fairchild

The whole article was not a writer's point of view rather it was the written experience of a person who shared his sufferings and struggles and gives us a very clear idea about substance abuse.... Segal and Halford H.... Fairchild talk about Polysubstance abuse in which they have explained Polysubstance dependence broadly and have also discussed the case history of a 23-year-old white males recovery from 12 years of… ohol and other substance abuse including the addicts personal views about their addiction, their past lifestyle and the lifestyle that is currently freed of drugs....
2 Pages (500 words) Article
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us