Table of Contents
Introduction
For nursing and the medical field in general, the ethical issues surrounding marijuana legalization has had an important shift in the past few months. This is because, up until late last year, marijuana has been an overlooked substance, that few people could use as a medical alternative over widespread medication such as pharmaceutical drugs.
This would change following a major federal change of law in marijuana being legalized, entirely. On October 17, 2018, PM Justin Trudeau’s law of making the substance (marijuana) legal came into effect throughout Canada. Under this law, called the Cannabis Act, adult Canadian citizens could make purchases of marijuana for personal consumption.
However, the main change of this law would be to change the status formerly from, strict and controlled medical use, to recreational whenever one wishes to partake. Because of this law, the ethical problems which once have been an issue (for medical usage), have lessened due to anyone having the ability to buy marijuana whenever they want, regardless if it would be for an intended medicinal purpose or not. A significant key benefit to the recent marijuana legalization would be the environment for scientific trials and studies to occur, in order for the medical field to explore its medical usefulness.
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To contrast, this would be the (now-misinformed) traditional view of the substance as a harmful drug that could damage patients, instead of marijuana being a legitimate medicinal product that could help aid chronic pain or even reduce the impact of epilepsy.
Furthermore, this paper will focus on the potential benefits of marijuana in a medicinal form and how it could possibly become a mainstream trustworthy form of medicine, following its legalization.
Case Scenario: The Benefits of Marijuana
Within this case scenario, a mother has a son (JJ) with several illnesses such as hyperactivity and aggression, as he had been medically diagnosed as having PTSD, bipolar disorder, and impulse control disorder (O’Brien, K., & Clark, P., 2002).
Moreover, JJ (7-years-old) had been prescribed heavy medication to help regulate his abnormal behaviour. Unfortunately, amongst sixteen physicians, he had been prescribed over nineteen medications: Ritalin, Adderall, clonidine, thioridazine and others (O’Brien, K., & Clark, P., 2002). However, this caused the mother to be suspicious of the medications, as JJ’s behaviour became troubling, as he, at times, slurred his words and had trouble walking. As a result, his mother believed that many of his symptoms may have resulted from the side effects of the medications and not the underlying behaviour of JJ (O’Brien, K., & Clark, P., 2002).
Frustrated with her son’s unsuccessful treatment with the conventional medication, she then went on to consult the possibility of medical marijuana with caseworkers, team members, and several physicians. After consulting with them, she decided to give the treatment a try (O’Brien, K., & Clark, P., 2002).
At first, there was an ethical problem of whether it would be acceptable and legal to provide marijuana as a treatment option to a child. The legal aspect of approval for this was (now outdated due to legislation) at the time was on the basis of “Compassion of Use Act of 1996”. After the alternative treatment began, JJ had experienced reduced side effects and a vast improvement in his behaviour. The dosage was a microdose, “containing one-forty-eighth (1/48) of a cup of pulverized leaves. Because of this, his behaviour has improved as well as his speaking abilities.
An Ethical Framework Surrounding The Usage and Legislation Surrounding Marijuana
Another ethical perspective regarding the use of marijuana takes the legalization into account as well as the dosage and effectiveness. Seeing as marijuana is a newly legalized substance, its long term health effects are up for verification, on the basis of scientific consensus.
However, in the short term, it has worked wonders for some patients who suffer from epilepsy, especially children who endure seizures. A study regarding this, states that marijuana may, help lessen the effects of epilepsy (Perucca E. 2017). This is found in a study focusing on Cannabinoids in the treatment of Epilepsy. It states that CBD-enriched extracts in seizure disorders, particularly in children assist wellness(Perucca E. 2017).
Once again, this study acknowledges that even though it may seem like a breakthrough treatment for epilepsy, there still needs to be long-term controlled observations on the actual causes and effects behind marijuana. To paraphrase, it mentions that there is an element of uncontrollability in terms of evidence and, that there needs to be more research (Perucca E. 2017).
Further, the use of marijuana’s CBD (relaxing non-psychoactive) properties is utilized for seizure medication as opposed to its psychoactive counterpart: THC. This is found in the quote. Although,… “there is now class 1 evidence that adjunctive use of CBD improves seizure control in patients with specific epilepsy syndromes.” (Perucca E. 2017). Needless to say, this is a step in the right direction for marijuana as medicine, as opposed to a drug with a criminal element/stigma.
With the provided evidence, cases, and studies surrounding this new substance with potential long-term medical benefits. There is a counterpoint, worth mentioning surrounding marijuana legislation regarding youth usage (around age 18). An ethical theory that challenges the thesis provides contrary evidence of marijuana’s benefits, in an increase of usage following legalization among youth (Miech, R. A. 2015). There are potential harmful impacts on youth marijuana use, due to possible interference with brain development. Although more research is needed on whether decriminalization is riskily linked to decriminalization to the possible increase observed in youth marijuana usage.
Due to the national legalization of marijuana, under the Cannabis Act, any existing stigma ethically has ceased to exist. This is because the government who operate the healthcare system (provincially), recognize the potential benefits in its use. This would even go beyond its medical status, into the hands of every adult, which would reveal the safety surrounding it as a substance.
This is to say that, the ethics surrounding this issue and the role of marijuana in society are better helped by the allowance of better remedies, as the more the government supports its usage, through legalization, the better treatment options patients receive. For instance, A study conducted in 2011 argued that the legalization of marijuana would lead to a better pain medication alternative for alleviating nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy (Clark, P. A., Capuzzi, K., & Fick, C. 2011). Since the government legalized this, there can be better support for those illnesses.
Сonclusion
Some of the most fitting ways to represent the ethical importance of the medical impact of marijuana would be in chronic pain, epilepsy, bipolar disorder and chemotherapy. This is because marijuana can be applied in several ways, ranging from ingestion (eaten or drank), skin as an oil/cream (CBD), much beyond its typical stigmatized smoked (THC, psychoactive) form.
The reason why patients have (before legalization as well) resorted to medical marijuana, is due to it being significantly less addictive compared to prescription painkillers or heavy medication in general, as well as it being able to be used for a long period of time without harmful consequences.
