On June 16th 2014, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the “Charlotte’s Web” medicinal marijuana bill which legalizes a specific strain of marijuana with low levels of the psychoactive chemical components (known as “Charlotte’s Web”) for treatment in such diseases as ALS, cancer, and epilepsy. This legislative decision follows in suit with other states that have passed legalization of marijuana for medicinal and in some cases recreational use. The movement to legalize marijuana has been arguing for many decades that the medicinal purposes are great and need to be explored. Yet, there are plenty of opponents to such measures given the intoxication that is caused by the use of cannabis and the concern for its function as a gateway for drug abuse. You will investigate the chemistry behind medicinal marijuana in your research paper
Given that this is a chemistry and society course, here are a few questions that you should address in your paper
- What are the active chemical components in marijuana?
- What are the medicinally active components in marijuana?
- Are the same chemicals responsible for the euphoric high, also responsible for the medicinal properties?
- What is this “charlotte’s web” strain and how does it differ from other strains? Also might be of value to describe what constitutes a “strain”
Can the active ingredients that are found in marijuana be synthesized in a laboratory so that the plant does not have to:
be grown? Is that financially a smart option?
What does existing research tell us about the dangers of the active components in marijuana?
What does existing research tell us about the benefits of the active components in marijuana?
Based on the research findings that you find, and other evidences on the dangers and benefits of marijuana, place your
own position on whether marijuana should be kept criminalized, or legalized for medicinal or recreational use?