Discuss a current public controversy surrounding a health care issue. Examine the issue from a sociopolitical, economic, and cultural perspective. What are the ethical and legal dilemmas that nursing professionals face when health care issues are politicized?
Both respond should be at least 125 words each with one reference within the last 5 years. Use their names as the heading and then the responses below, so that I know which one goes with each responses.
Answer from Luis:
The legalization of marjuana has been a controversial issue among politicians, society, and many communities over the past years. Even though federal authoritries continue to prohibit marijuana, a more youthful and progressive electorate appears to be headed the opposite direction. Eight states and Washington D.C. have already passed laws legalzaing the recreational use of marijuana and many more have passed laws which allow its use to some extent (Goggin, 2016). Nevertheless, President Trump has already verbalized his stance to keep marijuana illegal at the federal level and his attorney general Jeff Sessions is a vocal advocate against its legalization (Rieger, 2017). The social and cultural implications of this change are inmense. For the first time since cannibis prohibition began 75 years ago, people won’t fear being arrested for recreational u
se of marijuana. Not only that, prosecutors in the states of Washington and Colorado are already dropping cases against individuals for marijuana possession effective immediately (Kozloff, 2013). This can also have a big impact on the drug wars at the USA-Mexico border where many lives are lost due to the millions of dollars involved in the business of drug trafficking. In the U.S., medical marijuana saved Medicare approximately $165 million in 2013 but if this was available nationwide the savings could’be amounted to $470 million (Luthra, 2016). As a health care professional, I think marijuana has medicinal purposes just like narcotics and benzos do and it could benefit the health of many people. If a person would medically benefit from it they should have access to it just like controlled substances. I’ve also treated many young people that have suffered all types of injuries or have been in MVAs while high on marijuana. In fact, I recently had a patient who threw himself out of his cousin’s car after smoking some weed and suffered many nasty abrasions and lost two fingers. There is no doubt that this drug will continue to be a controversial subject among politicians and health care providers. As nurses, our goal will always be to look after our patient’s well being no matter the reason they end up under our care.