The use of medical marijuana is of medical and political interest because medical marijuana means a marijuana plant that is used by addicted people. It is a controversial issue because some countries pass laws that allow to legally use medical marijuana to treat people. Medical marijuana has properties and influences on body and psychosis. This paper will address the pros and cons of marijuana as a medical option, common arguments for and against it and propose a public health policy in order to address this important health topic.
Marijuana should not be a medical option because its negative influence on people overweights its positive properties. The main problem is that medical marijuana derived from the leaves of the narcotic plant. This drug is prohibited in the country and the federal government has a clear position regarding its use. According to the official position of official authorities, there is no scientific or medical evidence needed to legalize the use of medical marijuana. (Marcoux, 2013). The next idea is that there is an association between cannabis and psychosis. Teenagers can have severe and long-lasting effects from marijuana use while adults have immune to changes caused by cannabis use. A puberty period is characterized by changes in brain and behavior that are vulnerable to negative effects from cannabinoids use. Scientists suggest that cannabis use can provoke schizophrenia. Many adverse effects are observed in teenagers who use marijuana, they include problems with memory, mood changes, dependence and strange social behavior. (Bostwick, 2012).
Cannabis often leads to dependence and it is ranked as one of the most common substances. Modern studies prove a link between cannabis use and psychosis. Sometimes it even leads to deadly consequences because physical symptoms include increased heart rate and fluctuations in blood pressure, problems with cognition and memory and psychomotor issues. (Leung, 2011) Marijuana smoking contains detrimental and carcinogenic compounds. There is a risk of upper respiratory tract cancer, heart problems, mutagenic and other negative health effects. (Lawrence , 2011) Dangers of medical marijuana pose a problem for its use because the benefits of cannabis are not scientifically proven, but its properties are similar to other treatments. Medical marijuana consists of nearly 400 chemicals, its smoke contains nearly 2000 chemical compounds. Thus, here appears a question whether there is a need to smoke cannabinoids if there are other safe medications. (Bostwick, 2012).
Marijuana has an extensive ancient history, its use was documented even in the Chinese pharmacopeia of Emperor Shen-Nung (2737 BCE). It was widely used in the United States since 1850 - till 1940. Nowadays, the medical science of medical marijuana has greatly advanced and scientists revealed that it helps regulate main body functions. Even federal agencies in the U.S. are obliged to make drug reclassifications taking into account modern scientific and medical considerations and properly consider this issue because the medical use of marijuana is not used in treatment in the United States. Nevertheless, official authorities refuse to legally adopt the use of medical marijuana because it provides more negative effects than positive ones. (Aggarwal, 2009) There is the widespread unauthorized use of marijuana as a medicine but its use hasn’t any legal or reliable grounds. Here appears a dilemma, whether marijuana should be used as a legal medicine, or alcohol and smoking should be used as illegal treatment. From the other point of view, marijuana more often causes an addiction rather than alcohol and smoking. (Mather, 2013)
After all, marijuana should not be a medical option because its negative influence on people overweights its positive properties. The official authorities should provide studies on the use of marijuana to prove this point of view. Pro stakeholders include people who are aware of dangers of marijuana, and con stakeholders are Ill people and addicted people. The use of medical marijuana should be completely abandoned and its use should be prohibited in the U.S. due to its negative influence on people and recent studies that proved this idea. In other words, the official authorities should adopt laws that prohibit the use of medical marijuana and impose severe measures and fines if somebody will use it.
References
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Marcoux, R. et al. (2013). Medical Marijuana and Related Legal Aspects. P T. 38(10): 612, 615-
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Bostwick, M. (2012). Blurred Boundaries: The Therapeutics and Politics of Medical Marijuana.
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Leung, L. (2011). Cannabis and Its Derivatives: Review of Medical Use. J Am Board Fam Med.
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Mather, L. et al. (2013). (Re)introducing medicinal cannabis. Med J Aust. 199 (11): 759-761.
