Research Memo

Research Memo

Hypothesis: Marijuana is the top cash crop in the United States. It has been proven by the FDA in 2009 that marijuana smoking does not kill people. It has also been proven to help increase appetite, relieve pain, decrease nausea and relax muscles, which can help with conditions such as cancer, HIV, anorexia and bulimia. There have been sixteen out of fifty states in the United States that have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Even though these patients are following their state requirements, the federal government still insists on tracking down the dispensaries’ every move, and even getting to the point of shutting them down. The question, however, is why? The states are doing perfectly fine with their conditions. Eight of the ten states that had legalized medical marijuana as of 2006 had a lower percentage of teen use in 2006. This clearly shows that the government completely disregards the medical use of marijuana multiple times. What will it take for the government to realize that a medicine so natural should not be labeled as life-threatening? My hypothesis is that people agree that medical marijuana is looked down upon, and that these businesses are doing just fine without the government’s interference.

Context: I have conducted a survey to get the target’s opinions on the medical benefits of marijuana. My main targets were adults over the age of twenty-one. I chose people over the age of twenty-one because that is the age you have to be to get a “gold card” in the medical marijuana states, and it is also the age as to where you can legally buy alcohol all over the country. Also, I must have not have specified my questions correctly, because some of the people did not answer the question accurately, or at all. One person did not even take the survey right. He did not rate the items correctly from least dangerous to most dangerous. Also, when the last question was to explain your reasoning, he only put “yes” as his answer. After sorting out all of the wrong and right surveys, I only had six surveys that had people answer every question correctly. This gave me the initiative to write a new survey with new questions, while keeping my same target.

Results:

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being really dangerous, how bad would you rate marijuana as a bad drug (compared to alcohol and other illegal drugs)?	Boy Average on numbers: 8.5	Girl Average Number: 5
True/False, There have been no deaths by using marijuana.	Boy True: 2 out of 4 False: 2 out of 4	Girl True: 0 out of 2 False: 2 out of 2
Medical marijuana can be more helpful as medicine than most prescription drugs.	Boy Agree: 2 out of 4 Disagree: 1 out of 4 It Depends: 0 out of 4	Girl Agree: 0 out of 2 Disagree: 0 out of 2 It Depends: 2 out of 2
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very helpful, how much do you think marijuana can help medically with certain conditions	Boy Average on numbers: 8	Girl Average number: 6
Which conditions do you think medical marijuana could help? Check all that apply. (answers are listed from most to least)	Boy Depression, Anorexia, AIDS, Social Anxiety, Cancer	Girl Anorexia, Cancer, and AIDS
True/False: Having Medical Marijuana be legal can lower the crime rates	Boy True: 1 out of 4 False: 1 out of 4 It Depends: 2 out of 4	Girl True: 0 out of 2 False: 0 out of 2 It Depends: 2 out of 2
Having more dispensaries open can create more job opportunities.	Boy Agree: 4 out of 4 Disagree: 0 out of 4 It Depends: 0 out of 4	Girl Agree: 2 out of 2 Disagree: 0 out of 2 It Depends: 0 out of 2
Having medical marijuana legal and dispensaries open can raise the tourism in that particular state.	Boy Agree: 1 out of 4 Disagree: 3 out of 4	Girl Agree: 1 out of 2 Disagree: 1 out of 2
Rate on a scale of 1 to 5, which of these main things are the most dangerous?	Boy Alcohol: 6 Marijuana: 3.5 Prescription Drugs: 7 Cigarettes: 5.5 Other Illegal Drugs: 8	Girl Alcohol: 1.5 Marijuana: 1.5 Prescription Drugs: 2.5 Cigarettes: 3.5 Other Illegal Drugs: 5
(open-ended) Why do you think the government disregards the medical benefits of medical marijuana?	Boy“It’s been illegal for so long” “government can’t tax it with all the drug dealers selling.” “it messes people up, and plummets a person’s IQ”	Girl“it’s always been placed in a negative light culturally” “they think that those who want it legalized are only a bunch of marijuana addicts”

Data Anaylysis:
I had thought that people would agree would me that marijuana can be helpful medical-wise, but my data proves otherwise. It seems that more boys than girls think it is dangerous compared to alcohol and other illegal drugs. Only two people answered the question correctly about having no recorded deaths by overdosing on marijuana, which is true. Even though boys said that marijuana is a dangerous drug, it could be used as a helpful medicine rather than a recreational product, and it is certainly not as dangerous as other illegal drugs. Girls say that it depends on the condition being treated when used for a medical purpose. The majority of the group said that medical marijuana can help treat AIDS, cancer, and anorexia.  The majority of the group thought that legalizing medical marijuana can lower crime rate. Everyone also agreed that opening more medical marijuana dispensaries can create more job opportunities. On the rating the scale question about comparing drugs, boys thought that marijuana was the least dangerous, followed by cigarettes, alcohol, prescription drugs and other illegal drugs. Girls said that marijuana was tied with alcohol for dangerous.

Follow-Up: Even though most of the people in my survey think that it is dangerous, they also believe that it can be used in a medical way. It is not a medicine that should be used recreationally. I want to research some more conditions that medical marijuana can help with since there are obviously more than five. Also, since this is a very touchy topic that most people do not feel comfortable talking about, I will approach people with respect and modesty with my newly written survey. If I were to do this again, I would make the survey more specific and with clearer details.