Psychological Effects Of Medical Marijuana

Imagine having a son or daughter who has six or more seizures a day. If you could could decrease the number of seizures they had a day by half, wouldn’t you consider medical marijuana? It is well known that medical cannabis has been used to cure many medical conditions for a long period of time already. Among the diseases marijuana can help treat, nausea, glaucoma, anorexia, epilepsy and more. Medical marijuana also helps with the side effects of many treatments, such as cancer chemotherapy. There are many health benefits of marijuana; it may have some negative effects, but the pain and symptom relief of many diseases and disorders makes it well worth it.

In addition, anecdotal evidence exists that marijuana is effective in the treatment of arthritis, migraine headaches, pruritis, menstrual cramps, alcohol and opiate addiction, and depression and other mood disorders. Marijuana could benefit as many as five million patients in the United States. However, except for the eight individuals given special permission by the federal government, marijuana remains illegal-even as medicine! Individuals currently suffering from any of the aforementioned ailments, for whom the standard legal medical alternatives have not been safe or effective, are left with two choices: Continue to suffer from the effects of the disease; or Obtain marijuana illegally and risk the potential consequences, which may include: an insufficient supply because of the prohibition-inflated price or unavailability; impure, contaminated, or chemically adulterated marijuana; arrests, fines, court costs, property forfeiture, incarceration, probation, and criminal records.

Medical marijuana, also known as cannabis, is a controversial topic because many find it beneficial as others find the usage to be recreational. Throughout the years, medical marijuana has gone through periods of times in which it was legal and illegal. Over the years laws have been developed in order to try and regulate the usage of the drug. Studies have shown many the benefits of treating diseases and symptoms. Today it is used in treatment with many different diseases and disorders such as cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and multiple sclerosis. As medical marijuana has different species and uses of the product, it is important to depict where the drug can be used for treatment. The usage of this drug enables patients to have a more positive and livable outcome with treatments.

Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General, once spoke about the legalization of marijuana for medical use in a press conference. "It's criminal to keep this medicine from patients," she said (Silverman, 1995, pg. 2). She received criticism not only from many citizens of the United States, but also strong criticism from the President who appointed her. The legalization of marijuana for medical use has always been a sharply debated subject, and many of the debaters are uneducated about the effects of using this illegal drug for therapeutic use. Many studies have been done and the results are clear. As a medical drug, marijuana should be available to patients who do not adequately respond to currently available

With 520 physicians from Colorado taking the survey, 46% said they would not recommend prescribing the plant to patients, while only 19% said they would recommend it. When asked about continuing research, “Nearly all agreed on the need for further medical education about medical marijuana.” With 91% agreeing that it should be explored deeper, it shows that many people don’t actually know the truth of how helpful or harmful marijuana can be.

Marijuana and Cocaine are both considered substance one types of drugs. There are multiple effects of the use of Marijuana and Cocaine in the United States. Marijuana is a drug typically smoked by teenagers and adults. People use Marijuana for medical reasons or recreational reasons. As for Cocaine, derived from the leaves of the coca shrub is an abused illegal drug (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition, Q1, 2017). In the United States Marijuana and Cocaine have been around in numerous states, such as, New York and Colorado. This will be a discussion about Marijuana and Cocaine’s emotional, psychological and physical effects.

Medical use of Marijuana is probably the most discussed topic of the legalizing campaign over the recent years. Some opponents of Marijuana say that it does not have any medical uses at all, and argue that Marijuana is only harmful and should remain illegal. Others for legalization have an opposite view that is starting to gain more recognition as time goes on. Around the late 1990’s, some members of the nation’s medical establishment began to acknowledge marijuana’s potential health benefits. One respected health organization, the Institute of Medicine, released a report in 1999 which stated that “nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety can all be mitigated by marijuana (Medical). In an article Drug Legalization, Advocates of medical marijuana say that in many cases it is the only treatment that has been shown to work. “It is a very effective medication for people who have failed to get good results from standard medications,” says Ethan Russo, a neurologist who has studied medical marijuana, “and that is why so many people are devoted to risking their lives and career to get this drug”(Drug). There are many reports that Marijuana can help with conditions traditional medicines do not seem to help with. Marijuana has also been a huge help to patients with Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Glaucoma, and Insomnia. With a lot of prescription medicines being expensive, Marijuana would be a cheaper alternative to buy if people chose to do so.

“In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis, marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.” Francis Young, DEA Administrative Law Judge, stated. Marijuana was thought of as a drug that was enormously harmful to the user’s health and well-being, but the truth about it is that if used correctly, marijuana has the ability to alleviate a variety of medical conditions, some that were thought to be “untreatable.” An immense amount of research and evidence has proven repeatedly that marijuana is able to treat many problems that plague much of our nation. Medical marijuana needs to legalization across the United States because of its ability to aid those with respiratory issues, to assuage one’s struggle with mental disorders, and it has a profound ability to mitigate the side effects often seen with people who are burdened with cancer.

Marijuana is a drug that divides people. Some people claim it as the wonder drug of the '90s, capable of relieving the symptoms of many serious illnesses. Others curse the day the cannabis plant was ever discovered. From pain relief to stimulating the appetites of patients on chemotherapy, marijuana seems to have plenty going for it as a medicine. The legalization of marijuana is a large controversy in many parts of the world today, but the obvious negative effects that the drug induces has kept it from being legalized. Many researchers have a strong positive attitude towards marijuana. It has been said that the drug is “worth investigating and even providing as a medicine for pain relief, severe

Though the research is limited mainly because it is just not available yet for the benefits from the use of medical cannabis to treat depression, pruritus, and epilepsy the results are still leaning towards a positive turnout. A lot of the scientific evidence for a specific indication does not necessarily reflect the actual therapeutic potential for a given disease. (Nantional Cancer Institute, 2014) If the federal government would legalize Cannabis so many more studies could be conducted to hopefully one day know the full potential until then we only know a few facts.

“Research Supports Medicinal Marijuana” was written by Rick Weiss and published by the Washington Post on Tuesday, February 13, 2007. The argument the author is trying to convey in this article is that new research is is being conducted that concludes and proves that medical cannabis is in fact beneficial for patients and does have medical properties. Weiss’s conclusion is that the government should allow more research into medical cannabis and the DEA should reschedule cannabis to a schedule two drug because of the studies conducted. Weiss’s main study discussed in his article was a five day study with patients in a hospital ward. Patients would smoke three cannabis cigarettes a day, with over half of them having pain relief because of the

Marijuana, as a legitimate medication has for some time been a front running issue in the Medical Field here in the United States. With many states legalizing medicinal marijuana, and with even a few having legalized recreational marijuana consumption, the subject has become very popular over the last few years. Marijuana research, in the medicinal sense, has provided us with a flood of information on the benefits of medical applications, but also indicates certain risks that come with consumption. While many people support medicinal use of marijuana, there are still many unanswered questions about the validity of its effectiveness. There is no denying that medical marijuana is an increasingly popular and controversial topic. With research

The findings of the current research study explores and describes the hazards and benefits that medical marijuana can cause. The findings are beneficial to medical patients with debilitating illnesses, doctors, parents, and teens that do not understand the effects of marijuana. The findings provide a clear understanding of the pros and cons of using medical marijuana.

The use of cannabis toward medicine should not be shocking to anyone, since it has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, it has been under medicinal aid for an estimated 5,000 years. Western medicine truly grasped marijuana’s medicinal abilities in the 1850’s. Infact, doctors documented over one hundred papers about how marijuana helped numerous disorders, such as nausea, glaucoma, movement disorders, pain relief, depression, and anxiety. It also helps cancer patients and those with HIV or Aids. Currently, many American patients have access to marijuana use so that they can have effective treatments for their illnesses. Medical marijuana use is achievable because

The Government proclaims there is no therapeutic value in the medicinal use of marijuana, but they do not have hard evidence to prove it (Grinspoon 46). Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, (at a congressional forum) expressed: “the government has demonized all drug use without differentiation and has systematically and hysterically resisted science.”(Koch 714) Possibly if the two “sides” would work together an agreement could be established concerning procedures for further development and treatment. Marijuana has eased the pain of chemotherapy, severe muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, weight-loss due to the AIDS virus, and other problems (www.abcnews.go.com/medmj990317.html).