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Marijuana is a drug that has become very popular over the last ten years. Research has been done to discover if marijuana is a risk or beneficial to the human body. Over the years medical marijuana has been used for many different illness and diseases. It is used to lessen the symptoms and to make patients who are in chronic pain more comfortable. The debate as to whether marijuana will be legal in all states in the United States is still an ongoing debate.
Marijuana is the most common recreational drug used in the United States. 77% of drug users are current users of marijuana. In 1995 there was a household survey on drug abuse and 9.8 million Americans were drug users. Since then the marijuana industry increased which means that the users of marijuana are most likely double that number today. This number represents 4.7% of the population ages 12-25 that have used marijuana within the past months prior to the research (Hoozen 1997). There has also been an increase in adolescents using marijuana illegally and not for medical use. This source provided me with background information about marijuana. It gave me credible data and background information about the drug. It also stated the current numbers of people using marijuana as well as the estimated amount today.
Many people believe that marijuana is used to just get people high. Which in fact is true but research has shown that marijuana can take place of a painkiller and ultimately be more effective. There have been several reports that show the benefits of medical marijuana. The primary evidence for marijuana effectiveness is based on self-reports and physicians case reports (Martin 2002). At this point there has not been a controlled study on medical marijuana. The studies that have been done are not promising results to the research. The data isn’t sufficient and does not draw a firm conclusion. There are many more studies that need to be carried out to determine if medical marijuana is beneficial. Although medical marijuana has been talked about and known about for years medical marijuana has recently blown up in the last 8 years.
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In some western countries, the ability to receive medical marijuana is very common. Medical marijuana can be used as an effective treatment for many different types of diseases. Patients with deliberating symptoms might benefit from this. Although this is a controversial topic it is still something that needs to be discussed through politics as well as in the medical field. It is important that the proper research is done to make sure that everyone is getting the best medical help as possible. Whether that is receiving medical marijuana or receiving a prescription from another type of drug. This source is relevant to my paper because it has good information on the history and studies of medical marijuana. I also liked how it was written as a biased article. There was no side that was being taken it was just pure information.
Medical marijuana is legal in many countries, including some U.S. states. Now, there is still no warnings on packages of marijuana. Marijuana can be dangerous just like alcohol, tobacco and all types of drugs. There is no warnings or risks for the use of medical marijuana because it is still considered an illegal substance. Using marijuana can increase accidents while operating a motor vehicle or any activity that must involve motor skills. Lung cancer and heart problems are just a few health risks that can be caused by marijuana (Malouff 2013). Marijuana can cause serious damage to your mental health as well as leading to dependence and withdraw. There should be warning labels displayed on marijuana packaging even though it is not legal in most places. Displaying these warning labels, it will give people a more likely chance to drift away from the use of marijuana. It is important that people are aware of what they are consuming and exposing to their body.
The research needs to be done to add a factual warning label that individuals can be aware of. This source is relevant to my paper because it tells about the risks of marijuana but it also explains the importance of having a warning label. Just because marijuana isn’t legal that doesn’t mean that people don’t smoke it for fun and use it for medical use. There is always a warning label on all medications that you get from the pharmacy and so marijuana should also have a warning label.
Medical marijuana was found by a diverse group of patients. It is most commonly used to cope with chronic pain, but it has also been shown to relieve stress and anxiety in some patients. There is still lots of research and studying that needs to be done to understand the long-term effects of marijuana. The methods that were used were peer-reviewed articles in English between January 1996 and August 2016 from several databases. In the United States, national survey estimates that 1.1% of 12th graders and 17% of adults have been reporting been using medical marijuana (Park 2017).
Marijuana is the most used recreation drug in the united states. In the 2015 national survey, it was estimated that between the ages of 12 there are about 22 million people who have used marijuana within the last 30 days. Adolescence are not allowed to consume medical marijuana unless there is consonant from parents or legal caregiver. Approximately 33% of HIV patients and 79% for appetite and weight loss, have been recorded using marijuana. This research not only shows that medical marijuana is used for pain but it can be used for a variety of different cases. This source is very relevant to my paper because it provided me with a lot of data. Data is always important to add into a research paper to show information. This source was very credible.
There has been a current study that research’s and examines whether current marijuana use effects the physical ability of marijuana-related to child abuse. This can include supervision, physical, caregiving and controlling the child. This survey was carried out by doing a telephone survey. 3,023 people responded that were living in 20 mid-sized cities in California. There was a positive frequency of child physical abuse and a negative related to physical neglect. There also was no data that showed there was any concern with supervisory neglect on any child. As marijuana use becomes more popular, child welfare workers must do a screening to see how marijuana affects the parent’s ability to care for the child, and to make sure there is no related physical abuse. Child abuse has been a major concern in the United States. There were about 700,000 children being neglected in 2012(Freisthler 2015).
In 2010, it was found that 9.5% of these children were neglected because the parents were under the influence of an illegal drug (Freisthler 2015). Over the past 10 years, the opinion on marijuana use has changed. About 54% of American favor marijuana use. This source was extremely relevant to me because although there may be good and bad health concerns for marijuana there can also be concerns and issues when under the influence of medical marijuana. This source shows that data of children that were abused and or neglected while their parents were under the influence of an illegal drug. I also think this source really displays the saying that “What you do not only affects yourself, but it affects the people around you.”
More and more clinical trials on marijuana move closer to North America. When this source was put together Canada held a scientific based experiment that would show the health benefits of smoking cannabis and how it relieves chronic pain. An Institute of Medicine has come out to support the clinical trials that were done and believe that cannabis is a safe and effective treatment for pain, nausea, and wasting caused my aids (Savva 1999). The Medical Institute also believes that the smoke that is being inhaled is not harmful to the human body. The study team also researched the possible psychological harms that may come with smoking marijuana. They researched it both for people who abuse marijuana and for people who use medical marijuana to cope with an illness. The results shown stated that there was no conclusive evidence that cannabis is a gateway drug.
This source was relevant to my paper because people who are uneducated about medical marijuana or marijuana, in general, may look down on the people who decide to smoke marijuana to cope with the pain or illness. When in fact there have been studies that show that marijuana doesn’t really have an impact on one’s health. The smoke that is being inhaled does not show any harm through the research and the physiological aspect of the drug is negative. Marijuana is bad for the people who are uneducated about it but to the people who are educated about believe in marijuana use for many different reasons.
Medical Marijuana is mostly used for pain, nausea, and anxiety. Although marijuana can also be a treatment for many other diseases and illnesses such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Even though there has not been a lot of studies that show the effectiveness of medical marijuana on IBD some research has been done to show it is indeed effective. There has been an increase in legal permission for its use in Crohn’s disease. There is going to be further studies that show the benefits of marijuana use among patients with IBD. 16.4% of the people with IBD and smoked marijuana said it was “very helpful” for diarrhea (Ravikoff Allegretti 2013). A significant amount of IBD patients currently use marijuana and find it to be very helpful for symptom control. Clinical trials will still need to be done to determine if marijuana is a potential treatment for IBD.
This study was done with patients who have IBD. I liked this source because it gave another idea or another illness that marijuana can be used for. There has been a huge incline in medical marijuana use and I think it is important to know what diseases are being helped and kept under control because of marijuana. It also provided me with information and data to ensure that it was a credible source and I liked how it said there is still a lot of research that needs to be done, but this is the research results so far.
Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana in November of 2012. Before this time marijuana was a black-market product and turned into a legitimate industry overnight. Over $1 billion of marijuana has been sold in two states since the law was made in 2014 (Wade 2014). It is now years later and marijuana is a multimillion-dollar industry. There has been a major shift in business owners and Colorado is now swimming in so-called green collar jobs.
Marijuana production is still illegal in all U.S. states. Marijuana is on the nations schedule list of banned substances. Drug dealing in Colorado and Washington is a huge cash business. Marijuana is also still shared with criminals and exciting robbery risk. Marijuana becoming a legal drug for medical use can be a good and a bad thing because marijuana is taking over a lot in the states that it is legal in. business is changing and the production of marijuana is getting out of control. I like this source because it doesn’t show the risk of marijuana on the people who are taking it but it shows the risk of marijuana becoming legal and how it has an impact on jobs and crime rate.
There are Parents who have gone through the tough decision to decide whether they wanted to allow their kid to use medical marijuana. Children’s lives have been brighter because parents have agreed to let their kids partake in the medical marijuana life. There are children who have seizures and the seizers have been greatly reduced because of cannabis (Isaacs). There are still some parents that argue and say that marijuana did not help their child. We all would probably agree that we trust parents to make the best decisions for their child. Although they make think over and over about the decision they still try to make the right one. Parents who have to think about this decision are usually very happy with the outcome and believe highly of marijuana. This article is mostly in the hand of the parents and how they might feel about marijuana. It must be a hard decision to let your kid legally partake in an illegal drug. Although there has been researching on marijuana it isn’t enough research to for sure says it works. This source is relevant to my paper because it tells about how the parents might feel but let their kid smoke something that has always had a bad name to it.
The status of Marijuana as an illegal drug has evolved in recent years. Being prescribed medical marijuana can affect your professional life. State statutes make it clear that employers do not have to accommodate employees who legally have the possession of marijuana (Mello 2012). There are many employers who make it easy for themselves and have a zero-tolerance policy. Which means no matter the case any type of drug is not permitted. Having the zero- tolerance act promotes workplace safety and the productivity of employees. It also puts u a safeguard to ensure that no one is impaired while on the job. Just because medical marijuana is legal when it prescribed to a person it is still considered an illegal drug. This source was relatable to my paper because it provided me with information on how marijuana can affect someone’s professional life. It also stated some of the laws and was an education source that contained great information on employer’s rights and regulations.
There will always be an ongoing debate as to medical marijuana is beneficial or if it is a risk. It can sometimes be tricky when it is legal in some states but illegal in others. This causes a lot of controversy toward the topic. As of right now there still needs to be further research done to decide as to whether medical marijuana is more of a risk or more beneficial. I would say there is an even amount of research that says it is a risk and an even amount that says that it is beneficial. It will all take time because it was an illegal drug that was looked frowned upon and now it has evolved into a treatment frenzy.
Citation Page
- Hoozen, B., & Cross, E. (1997). Marijuana. Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology,15(3), 243-269.
- Martin, B. (2002). Medical marijuana-moving beyond the smoke. The Lancet,360(9326), 4-
- Malouff, J., & Rooke, S. (2013). Expert-Recommended Warnings for Medical Marijuana. Substance Abuse, 34(2), 92-93.
- Park, & Wu. (2017). Prevalence, reasons, perceived effects, and correlates of medical marijuana use: A review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 177, 1-13.
- Freisthler, Gruenewald, & Wolf. (2015). Examining the relationship between marijuana use, medical marijuana dispensaries, and abusive and neglectful parenting. Child Abuse & Neglect, 48, 170-178.
- Health benefits of marijuana. (1999). Addiction, 94(9), 1421.
- Ravikoff Allegretti, J. R., Courtwright, A., Lucci, M., Korzenik, J., & Levine, J. (2013). Marijuana Use Patterns Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, 19(13), 2809-2814.
- Wade, J. (2015). CANNABIZ: THE HIGH PROFITS AND HIGH RISKS OF LEGAL MARIJUANA. Risk Management, 62(9), 30-34.
- Isaacs, D., & Kilham, H. (2015). Medical marijuana. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health,51(5), 471-472.
- Mello, J. (2012). Employment and Public Policy Issues Surrounding Medical Marijuana in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(3), 1-8.
References
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Marijuana
- Healthline: Short-term effects of marijuana
- Mayo Clinic: Cannabis (Marijuana)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information: Therapeutic Uses of Marijuana and THC
- World Health Organization: Cannabis
- Business Insider: 23 Health Effects of Marijuana
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Marijuana
