Rhetorical analysis on cannabis in cancer reatment
Cannabis in cancer treatment
Effectiveness of cannabis as a treatment of cancer as well its legalization has been in the focus of attention of international society for some time. While the United States, the Netherlands and a number of other countries have gathered through empirical studies significant evidence of the positive effect of marijuana as cancer treatment, new international players, such as Uruguai emerge on international arena as supporters of legalization of cannabis circulation on internal market as the way to take control over its usage and benefits for human health. At the same time, Asian countries have been using cannabis in medical treatments for thousand years and some western European countries have incorporated cannabis-based cancer treatment in their practice for over hundred years. This gives large room for discussion and experience-based analysis of marijuana use in cancer treatment.
While it is evident that there has been a new spin of interest in the analysis of potential use of cannabis in wider scope of cancer treatment, it is a fact that in modern medicine cannabis is already widely used to reduce weight loss and nausea and vomiting prevention in cancer patients. Based on Sallan et al (1975) studies, conducted on a number cancer patients, cannabis proved to minimize or eliminate vomiting and nausea on cancer patients, undergoing chemical therapy, while other drugs proved to be ineffective. It is worth mentioning that since those studies a number of empirical data was gathered to support as well as to argue the benefits of medical use of cannabis.
The latest studies brought new debate into the scene, based on the variety of scientific studies that aim to prove the advantages of the plant material over pure cannabinoid. These studies, in turn brought a number of new discoveries in the nature of relations between cannabis and the response of human nervous system, triggering alternative solutions, such as naboline, cannabinoids, dronabinol etc., that attempt to reduce the effect of controversy in the discussion of cannabis use (Grotenhermen and Russo, 2002, pp.10-17)
The fact is that until today the international scientific society did not come to compromise in regards to the scope and scale of cannabis use in medicine and cancer treatments specifically. It is possible to argue that the studies and analysis on the subject will continue to trigger new waves of interest on the subject, especially given a number of counter-studies on potential health damage that cannabis smoking can cause for regular users.
Bibliography
- Sallan, Stephen E., Zinberg Norman E., and Frei Emil. Antiemetic effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. (London: New England Journal of Medicine, 1976), 293
- Medical Marijuana Referenda Movement in America. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives, 105th Congress, 1 October 1997, Washington DC. Accessed 06 December, 2013, http://books.google.com.br/books?id=oVY__hawBUkC&pg=PA96&dq=cannabis+in+cancer+treatment&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ei=uSyiUv-ZGZCMkAfsmYGIDw&ved=0CFIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=cannabis%20in%20cancer%20treatment&f=false
- Grotenhermen Farnjo and Russo Ethan. Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Pharmacy, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential. Binghampton: The Haworth Integrative Healing Press, 2002.
