¶ … Medical marijuana is slowly gaining steam in becoming a legal drug to treat disease and chronic illness. Its main beneficial component, THC, delivers a number of benefits such as increase in appetite, help with nausea, and even pain management. People with chronic incurable diseases like multiple sclerosis and AIDS have found relief through consistent use of medical marijuana. Marijuana has shown in multiple studies not only its effectiveness but its safeness compared to other typical treatments like opioids and steroids. Therefore it is my belief that medical marijuana should be legal nationwide for use in treatment of chronic illness and disease management.
What are the major "PROs" of medical marijuana?
Some pros are the growing number of people using and growing marijuana. Not only does this help in making it more easily available, but it also increases its qualities and sellers have to compete and deliver better product, especially in places like Colorado where marijuana is legal. "Given its widespread availability throughout the United States and expanded use for medical conditions, it is reasonable to anticipate increasing number of adolescents turning to marijuana to treat chronic pain" (Harrison, Bruce, Weiss, Rummans, & Bostwick, 2013, p. 647). Availability is a pro-as marijuana is also a lot cheaper and less toxic than traditional medications like Prozac and Valium used to treat anxiety and chronic or acute pain.
Chronic pain is a definite problem facing many Americans. Teens and adults have to face the reality of living with pain on a daily basis. Medical marijuana has been known to curb chronic pain. It also has lesser and less problematic symptoms if smoked, or used excessively and is less likely to create severe addiction.
In fact, in the past people used marijuana for a myriad of things, some of which were pain and loss of appetite. "During the mid- to late 1800's and early 1099s, cannabis was also used to treat symptoms of dysmenorrhea, insomnia, gonorrhea, stomach pain, loss of appetite, migraines, and typhoid fever" (Johnson, 2013, p. 301). If people in the past could see the use of marijuana from a medical standpoint, why can't it be used now to treat the same medical problems treated before? People who deal with chemotherapy suffer from a loss of appetite. If they can use something that does not make their condition worse, why should it not at least be an option for them?
In another article by Adams, the writer states several sources hypothesize marijuana use as a good alternative to treat loss of appetite. "Marijuana has also been hypothesized to help with nausea induced by chemotherapy and antiretroviral therapy, and with severe loss of appetite as seen in people with the AIDS wasting syndrome" (Adams, 2008, p. 1). As mentioned earlier, THC is the main reason for marijuana's effectiveness. THC or tetrahydrocannabinol are what is being put in prescriptions like marinol to curb negative symptoms in people. However, marijuana delivers THC and other cannabinoids more effectively than found in the chemically engineered version. "The weed's actions are due to the active ingredients tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and some 60 other cannabinoids, which mimic the action of chemicals -- known as endogenous cannabinoids -- that exist naturally in the brain. Those cannabinoids activate receptors in our nerves, triggering physiological responses" (Adams, 2008, p. 1).
Analysis of issues
Many see the positive effects of marijuana, however they do not believe in the delivery system. "Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation; smoked marijuana, however, is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances" (Nunberg, Kilmer, Pacula, & Burgdorf, 2013, p. 2). Many who use marijuana smoke it releasing harmful tar and smoke into their lungs. Furthermore studies are not focused on a varied target group. In fact they are often limited to one gender. "More recent research in California shows that medicinal marijuana patients are largely men who present with pain and/or emotional/mental health concerns" (Nunberg, Kilmer, Pacula, & Burgdorf, 2013, p. 3-4).
If people are to thoroughly accept medical marijuana nationwide, it must be used through a more healthful delivery system. Additionally it must also be researched using people with varied problems from varied backgrounds, and most certainly using both genders. If people see the number of positive results growing from a variety of patients, they will be more readily accepting of marijuana's medicinal uses. Then it would be more easily accepted
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