Benefits of Medical Marijuana
The government should allow the utilization of medical marijuana for hospitalized patients suffering from terminal conditions that cause them to lose appetite and undergo a great deal of pain and suffering. In addition, medical marijuana if administered by health practitioners could be used to manage the symptoms of illnesses like cancer and AIDS whose treatments has adverse effects on the health of the patients.
- Medical marijuana should be permitted to be used in hospice facilities.
- Benefits of medical marijuana treatment illnesses and management of symptoms.
- Medical marijuana is supposed to be synthesized so that most hazardous components are removed leaving only the effective components like THC.
- Hospice practitioners advocate for the utilization of medical marijuana on their patients who suffer from terminal conditions.
- Health care providers now know the natural benefits of medical benefits of marijuana and are advocating for it use of some of their patients.
- The patients that should be treated with medical marijuana include terminal patients and those undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana is cannabis that is used to treat or manage a symptom other rather than its traditional use for leisure or recreationally. For marijuana to be medicinal, it must have a sufficient number of dynamic cannabinoids (McCarberg, 2008). Medical marijuana has been used for treatment of the plants that has been most explored for medical purposes. In the 1930s the prescription of marijuana was prohibited in many countries since they considered that it had great potential to be misused and it medical uses were negligible. Recently, research has shown the tremendous benefits of medical marijuana in the treatment and management of illnesses. By the end of 2009, fourteen states in America were allowing the use of medical marijuana under predetermined circumstances. The major cause of debate is not whether medical marijuana has health benefits but how the state will determine whether the acquisition of marijuana will be for medical or recreational use.
Benefits of Medical Marijuana
Health Practitioners View On Medicinal Marijuana
Most health practitioners worldwide advocate for the use of medical marijuana. The benefits of medical marijuana have been recorded since the use of plants for their effects on human beings rather than for consumption. Most notably medical marijuana has been used for treatment and management of diseases that cause the patient pain and lose appetite. Diseases like cancer which cause patients to suffer physical pain in its treatment are ideal to be managed by marijuana. AIDS is another disease that causes the patient to lose appetite and consequently weight. Research has shown that medicinal marijuana increases appetite in patients. This would in turn lead to healthier dietary patterns and a stable body mass. The use of marijuana has been controversial since people who use it for recreation do not know the kind of cannabis that has active cannabinoids. However, hospice practitioners in the United States are advocating for marijuana to be used for medical purposes due to its positive significant impact on human health. The public has also rallied behind the legalization of professionally prescribed medical marijuana and the support from the public is on the increase. This may be due to public awareness. Studies carried out among health practitioners show that more and more patients are inquiring about the use of marijuana for palliate symptoms.
During the research, most health practitioners advocate for use of medicinal marijuana for pain relief and for mood elevation. The disadvantage of the use of medical marijuana is that if used consistently and over a lengthy period of time, it could be addictive. This could be avoided if the prescription of the drug could only be done by hospice practitioners so that its consumption could be controlled.
Medical marijuana and palliative care
Palliative care is the care of the patients who are suffering from terminal illnesses. Research has shown that cannabis with substantial cannabinoids has the effect of altering mood patterns in an individual. For patients who are suffering from terminal illnesses, their will to live may be low if they are aware of the state they are in. Medical marijuana prescribed by hospice practitioners is one way of elevating the moods of these patients. For patients who are suffering from illnesses like cancer, the use of medical marijuana helps a great deal in countering the effects of the treatments. The effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy take a physical toll on these patients. Medical cannabis is used to manage the symptoms like vomiting and nausea that are a result of these treatments. Diseases like AIDS that have no known cure have symptoms that cause the patient to lack appetite. Research shows that the administration of medical marijuana in small quantities has the effect of stimulating appetite (Mechoulam, 2002). This would in turn increase the body mass of the patient and chances of living longer and fighting the disease. Although there is need to further study the effect of medical marijuana on pain relief, (Bagshaw, et al 2002), research shows that medical marijuana has analgesic properties (Howard et al 2005).
Another advantage of medical marijuana is that it can be synthesized so that the harmful addictive parts can be removed to leave the most vital element. For marijuana, the component that most useful is dronabinol. This element is useful in the treatment of nausea that arises from chemotherapy in cancer treatment. It is also used in pain elevation and stimulating appetites in AIDS victims. The extraction of useful elements in the marijuana plant ensures the removal of the addictive elements of the plant and leaves the elements like dronabinol which has longer lasting effects than smoking the unsynthesized plant.
Medical marijuana and chemotherapy
One of the most common side effects of chemotherapy is nausea and vomiting. The drugs used for chemotherapy have certain potential to induce vomiting or cause nausea. For patients that are being treated for cancer that has developed through several stages, the drugs that are used have higher levels of emetogenecity (Gullatte, 2001). The nausea and vomiting may cause lower quality of life and depression. Depression in turn leads to poor eating habits and this may cause body mass decomposition. Medical marijuana has been used for the treatment of neurologic disorders for quite some time (Mechoulam, 2002). Elements in cannabis sativa such as THC are capable of binding receptors in the brain in such a way that it counters the effects of chemotherapy which include nausea and vomiting. Hall et al explains that even though, the use of medicinal marijuana affects coordination, causes minor memory loss and paranoia, these effects are not long lasting and they are only evident if marijuana is used in larger and consistent doses.
References
Bagshaw SM, Hagen NA & Baker T (2002) Medical efficacy of cannabinoids and marijuana: a comprehensive review of the literature. Journal of Palliative Care 18, 111–122.
Gullatte, M. M. (2007). Clinical guide to antineoplastic therapy: a chemotherapy handbook (2nd ed.). Pittsburgh, PA: Oncology Nursing Society.
Howard J, Kofi A, Holdcroft A, Korn S & Davies SC (2005) Cannabis use in sickle cell disease: a questionnaire study. British Journal of Haematology 131, 123–128.
McCarberg BH: Cannabinoids. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother 2007:21:19–28.
Mechoulam, R. (2005). Cannabinoids as therapeutics. Basel: Birkhäuser.
