Marijuana also known as “weed”, comes from flower of Cannabis Sativa or Indica. Over the past few decades, legalization of marijuana has been a debatable topic. The controversy is still going on. Eight states of United States (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Washington D.C.) has legalized the use of marijuana while the other states have yet to do so. According to Deitch, use of marijuana for medical purposes can be dated back to 2900 BC in China. (Deitch,2003) Medical marijuana has been used since the beginning of civilization. Yet, In the 21st century the government is hesitant to utilize this plant to its full potential. Marijuana contains cannabinoids- THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidol). The THC gives the feeling of “high” whereas, the CBD is known to be effective pain reliever and anti-inflammatory compound. This essay focuses on support on legalization of medical marijuana as it is one of the most effective painkiller, with minimum side effects
Marijuana can be used as an effective painkiller. It contains anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving property which can help ease certain type of pain. It can used for pain relief for various diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Arthritis, chronic pain, crohn’s disease, glaucoma etc. Alzheimer is one of the major causes for dementia among old people. Various treatments are available to help the affected people, and marijuana is one of the most effective way. According to a study done by Eubanks et al, THC contains unrecognized molecular mechanism which can have positive impact towards the progress of the Alzheimer’s disease. (2008, p. 774) Arthritis is another main pain inflicting disease among people. It causes severe pain in bones, and the joints. A research done by Blake et al. states that, use of marijuana in the arthritic patients caused significant analgesic effect an helped in providing pain relief to the patients. (2006
There are various medicines for different diseases, but all of them come with side effects. One of the major benefits of legalization of marijuana is that the use of marijuana causes minimum to no side effects. Philip Denney, MD, co-founder of a medical cannabis evaluation practice, claims that, “I have found in my study of the patients that cannabis is a really safe, effective and non-toxic alternative to manty standard medications. There is no such thing as overdose. We have seen minimal problem with abuse or dependence, which at worst are equivalent to dependence on caffeine. While substance may have some potential for misuse, in my opinion, that’s poor excuse to deny its use and benefit to everyone else(2005) Other drugs like opioid, morphine has very severe withdrawal reaction which may include; muscle tear up, fever, chills, drug craving etc. whereas, for marijuana while it may be difficult for frequent marijuana user to stop taking it immediately, but it does not have serious withdrawn symptoms. Another reason for priotizing marijuana is that it is almost impossible to die from marijuana overdose. According to an article published by Australian Government Department of Health, one would need to smoke 19 pounds of marijuana in 15 minutes- which is impossible
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Marijuana is the best alternate for pain relieving medicine, that can be used for maximum benefits. The pain relief factor provided by marijuana is superior to that provided by other pharmaceutical drugs. The benefits obtained from marijuana without all the side effects and addiction makes it the best candidate to be used as pain reliever and repeated use for all kinds of diseases and pains. The benefits can only be obtained and given to all if marijuana is legalized, and so legalization of marijuana for medical purposes should be made a priority in all states.
References
- Deitch, R. (2003). Hemp: American history revisited : The plant with a divided history. New York: Algora Pub. (2003). Retrieved March 14, 2019
- Eubanks, L., Rogers, C., Beuscher, A., Koob, G., Olson, A., Dickerson, T., & Janda, K. (2006). A molecular link between the active component of marijuana and alzheimer’s disease pathology. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 3(6), 773-7.
- Blake, D., Robson, P., Ho, M., Jubb, R., & McCabe, C. (2006). Preliminary assessment of the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a cannabis-based medicine (sativex) in the treatment of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (oxford, England), 45(1), 50-2
- Phillip Denny, MD. (2003). Support of House of Bill 1303, An Act to Permit theMedical Use of Marijauna. Retrieved from https://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001325
- Australian Department of Health.(1994) Health and Psychological Consequence of Cannabis Use. Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubs-drug-cannab2-ch52.htm
