Marijuana, also known as cannabis, is the most commonly used illicit drug worldwide. United States is among the top six countries where the drug is widely used illegally. According to Suryadevara et al. (2017), the United States have about 20 million users of marijuana. The common uses are recreational and medicinal purposes. The federal laws of the United States do not allow the use of marijuana, either medicinally or for recreational purposes. Nonetheless, thirty-three states, the districts of Puerto Rico, Columbia, and Guam have all legalized the medical use of marijuana. Notably, all these states also try to control its use, by setting a limit for the amounts permitted for use in an individual. The treatment of neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, and treatment of disease symptoms such as nausea are some of the conventional medical uses of cannabis. Scientific researchers have proved the effectiveness of marijuana in various medical uses. However, the drug still poses some adverse effects to users, thus the long-standing debate on the use of marijuana. Marijuana has benefits and harmful effects in equal measure. For this reason, there is a need to review it from both ends to understand why diverse opinions exist on its use.
Image of Marijuana
From the above graph, more Americans in the last couple of decades now support the legalizing of marijuana. More research proves that the reason why more people support the legalization of marijuana is the need to use the drug for medical purposes.
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Medical Benefits of Marijuana
Scientific study has proven the use of a marijuana-based drug in slowing down the progression of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Urbi et al., 2019). This disease is known to be a deadly neurodegenerative disease that develops and affects the human brain stem and the motor neurons of the spinal cord. This particular disorder is first signaled by muscle weakness on a single body part, which would then spread to other parts of the body. It is also worth mentioning that between thirty and fifty percent of patients with this disorder also experience cognitive impairment, and mostly affects people above the age of 40. Scientists have not identified the exact cause of ALS but have laid possible causes to include intracellular aggregates toxicity, oxidative damage, and glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity, among others. According to Suryadevara et al. (2017), several animal studies have been done which the suppression of ALS disease using marijuana-based medicine.
Treatment of chronic pain is yet another everyday medical use of marijuana. According to a study by the Journal of Health Affairs, a majority of people who use medically prescribed marijuana do so to treat a variety of conditions. Chronic pain tops the list of the most common health conditions treated with marijuana and the reason behind the legalization of marijuana for medical use in most states in the United States (Boehnken& Clauw, 2019). Chronic pain is a significant cause of disabilities in the United States. It is indeed a common health condition that requires absolute attention by the health departments. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2018 that over 20% of Americans live with various forms of chronic pains. These high figures explain the opioid epidemic and the high amount of deaths caused by drug overdose. Therefore, marijuana comes handy as a perfect alternative for the safe treatment of chronic pain. The following is the chemical equation of marijuana.
Marijuana is also used in the treatment and management of Alzheimer’s disease. This particular disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder that affects the brain system of the elderly. Memory impairment, as well as language and behavioral problems, count as a set of significant symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which mostly affects persons between ages 80 and 90. A series of animal-based studies have proven the use of marijuana-based treatment, which has been verified to reduce the progression of the disease in patients. Moreover, such marijuana-based treatments also reverse symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, which include learning impairments.
Marijuana is also used medically to suppress depression, social anxiety, and post-traumatic anxiety. Such are the significant symptoms of mental illness, which have been proven by various scientific literature to be treatable by marijuana-based medicine. For a very long time, herbal cannabis, which is derived from flowering tops of marijuana, has been used to suppress mental illness symptoms medically. Herbal cannabis is known to be biochemically rich in psychoactive compounds, among other compounds that are useful in the treatment of depression and other mental conditions. For example, herbal cannabis is composed of psychoactive cannabinoids, compounds which are useful in the treatment of mental conditions (Lowe et al., 2019). Cannabidiol is yet another psychoactive compound of marijuana which has other therapeutic value. Apart from that, this particular compound is useful in the development of drugs used for treating depression and other mental conditions. The chemicals in the above marijuana compounds specifically help by restoring normal body functions during depression and anxiety, thus solving the problem of stress and anxiety.
Negative Effects of Marijuana
There are various subjective effects of using marijuana, either medically or for recreational purposes. These effects tend to vary from person to person, depending on the respective amounts they use. Some of these feelings include euphoria, intoxication, altered sensory perception, anxiety, perceptual and cognitive distortions, increased appetite, and dizziness, among others. There is substantial scientific evidence that confirms the impairment of memory and other learning functions in patients with a chronic brain disorder. According to studies, exposure to marijuana either through smoking or injection can cause a slow reaction in users, low levels of accuracy, and impairment in response inhibition. In addition to that, the use of marijuana has been observed to reduce the speed of information processing in humans, lack of self-monitoring, and poor planning. Moreover, users tend to lack the ability to change their behaviors to suit necessary existing changes. Other scientifically proven effects of marijuana include the reduction of male sex hormones and reduced reproductive capacity, potential hallucinations in users, increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack, and suppression of the immune system for long term users.
Another significant adverse effect of marijuana is the dependence development in users. This refers to the strong desire to use marijuana and to use larger amounts than medically recommended. About 30% of regular users and up to 95% of heavy users experience cannabis withdrawal syndrome, which leads to the development of addiction for the drug (Bonnet & Preuss, 2017). In this case, users experience feelings of depression, anxiety, loss of sleep, irritability, and stomach pain, among others, prompting them to use more of the drug. Some of these effects may vary in age and quantity of use, yet they still exist in users of marijuana. What it implies is that one may use marijuana to suppress other disease symptoms like nausea, and end up becoming an addict. Similarly, a patient who is placed in treatment and receives regular doses of marijuana drugs may end up feeling the said symptoms of drug addiction.
From the existing scientific evidence, marijuana can be medically useful in the treatment of various health conditions. Nevertheless, marijuana has specific related adverse effects that discourage its use. This explains the current debate and controversy on the legalization of medical use of marijuana in many countries and states in the United States. It is important to note that no medicine is perfect since most of them are linked to various side effects that can be managed through prescriptions and other measures while using such drugs. Marijuana can fall in the same category. Therefore, one can say with a significant level of confidence that marijuana is safe for medical use and must be prescribed well to reduce the adverse side effects discussed above.
References
Boehnke, K. F., & Clauw, D. J. (2019). Brief commentary: Cannabinoid dosing for chronic pain management. Annals of internal medicine , 170 (2), 118-118.
Bonnet, U., & Preuss, U. W. (2017). The cannabis withdrawal syndrome: current insights. Substance abuse and rehabilitation , 8 , 9.
Lowe, D. J., Sasiadek, J. D., Coles, A. S., & George, T. P. (2019). Cannabis and mental illness: a review. European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience , 269 (1), 107-120.
Suryadevara, U., M Bruijnzeel, D., Nuthi, M., A Jagnarine, D., Tandon, R., & W Bruijnzeel, A. (2017). Pros and cons of medical cannabis use by people with chronic brain disorders. Current Neuropharmacology , 15 (6), 800-814.
Urbi, B., Broadley, S., Bedlack, R., Russo, E., & Sabet, A. (2019). Study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the Efficacy of cannabis-based Medicine Extract in slowing the disease progression of Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis or motor neuron Disease: the EMERALD trial. BMJ Open , 9 (11).
