Medical Marijuana
Introduction
Marijuana among Americans especially teenagers has become so common that it has been associated with a rapid drop in Cigarette smoking. While the use of marijuana has generally resulted to a wide debate on its health effects, medical use of the products continue to gain great support.
The use of marijuana for medical purpose has been legalized in 29 states, and this involves approving the access to various compounds in like cannabidiol in cannabis plant for treatment of some specific healthy conditions like uncontrolled epilepsy. Before the advent of modern science, the use of marijuana as medicine was common where it was viewed as a medicinal herb in United States and Europe for treating different conditions (Baxter & Baker 2013). The problem arose with titration of the does so that patients would be administered with too little or too much and the results spurn from adverse effects to no effect. The product was eventually deregistered and made illegal in early 20th century in USA. Over the past 20 years, with traditional drugs proving ineffective for specific classes of patients, there has been increased clinical research on the use of cannabis as potential option for treating different medical conditions (Baxter & Baker 2013).
There has been success in the many of these researches, with majority of the studies indicating efficacy in the use of marijuana as the medical option. Since the majority of these studies used cannabinoid medications instead of smoked cannabis, there beneficial effects achieved with the use of the product and this supports the use of marijuana. Therefore, as long as there regulatory frameworks that will ensure that safety , quality, dosage and the delivery system are controlled , cannabis should be legalized as medical option for various diseases. In addition, marijuana and cannabinoids can basically be applied as second option therapy or adjunctive where the standard conventional medicines or treatment are poorly tolerated by patients or ineffective (Bridgeman & Abazia, 2017). Where research has thoroughly been done to alleviate any risks especially to vulnerable populations like children and adolescents, the use of marijuana for medical treatment purpose should be legalized. In fact, recent studies have shown that many doctors in USA support the use of the product for medical treatment given the benefits that accrue from using on various health conditions.
Opponents of marijuana use for medicinal purpose argue that there are no standardized dosage and composition for certain medical conditions and unlike other conventional options it has no quality control. The argument is that the product does not have prescribing information and there are no researches on its effectiveness that are of high quality which present safety risks over the long-term (Bridgeman & Abazia, 2017). However, these are issues that can be controlled by the FDA if the drug chemistry is reproducible and well known and if adequate control measures are established. In addition, conduction of safety studies can help to recognize the negative impacts and how the product can be administered in the right dosage.
Conclusion
There are various studies conducted over the recent decades that support the use of marijuana for medicinal purpose and various the treatments of some health conditions using the product has been successful. The arguments against the use the marijuana is based on issues that can be ironed out through regulatory frameworks and more studies in relation to long-term effect and dosage.
References
Bridgeman, M. B., & Abazia, D. T. (2017). Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology, And Implications for the Acute Care Setting. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 42(3), 180.
Baxter, J. H., & Baker, H. M. (2013). The Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes. J Global Drug Policy, 7.
