Negative Effects Of Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana is the snake oil of the 21st century. Snake oil, popular in the 18th century for the relief of pain and disease, was proven to have no real value or any remedy. Much like snake oil, medical marijuana has no value as medicine. Marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic and is among the list of some of the most potent drugs that can be taken. The DEA, Drug Enforcement Agency, considers it lacking medical merit and having a high potential for abuse as it can be addictive and people can become dependent on it. Marijuana is known to have both short-term and long-term negative effects, which can be permanent. It is due to the lack of testing for short and long-term affects and the absence of regulations in the oversight of the growth and
Not only is marijuana considered by many as a natural plant, meaning it is ‘unpurified’ and can contain chemicals or pesticides, it contains the mind- altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which can have both short and long- term physical adverse side effects on the brain and body. When smoked, marijuana over activates parts of the brain that contain the highest number of receptors which causes the "high" that people feel. Other effects include: altered senses, mood changes and impaired body movements. In the book, Medical Marijuana, written by Merino (2011), the effects can be anything from: increased heartrate, short term memory loss, slowed reaction time, and alerted judgement along with decision making. According to Merino (2011), “Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction; that is, people use the drug compulsively even though it interferes with family, school, work, and recreational activities”. The persona of ‘druggie’ or ‘pot head’ was given to people during school years that smoked marijuana. This reputation most likely stayed with them throughout the school years. Long term use can also affect brain development. When using begins as teenagers, the drug may reduce learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions. Marijuana’s effects on these
Applying the proper dosage is the key to the effectiveness of cannabinoids, and this has proven to be difficult. For example: a product called ‘Sativex’ was approved in Canada in 2005. Sativex is a spray taken orally by mouth and absorbed by the mouth lining. In fact, when administered the proper way, the dosage can be regulated as to what the patient may need for pain. Sativex was issued as an adjunctive therapy, meaning it is used with two or more medications to control pain. According to McCarberg (2012), founder of the Chronis Pain Management Program for Kaiser Permanente and author of the article Marijuana Can Help in the Treatment of Pain, “Sativex has a different delivery system—an or mucosal/sublingual spray absorbed by the lining of the mouth—that, according to the manufacturer, generally allows patients to gradually work up to a stable dose at which they obtain therapeutic pain relief without unwanted psychologic effects”. Utilizing the product the way it is intended may allow some to actually gain some benefits the way it was initially intended, but the amount is left to the user to