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Benefitsof Medical Marijuana
Medicalmarijuana is a term that is used to describe the usage of rawmarijuana to treat a given disorder. The plant should not beprocessed in any manner, and thus, some of its extracts are thoughtto be beneficial while handling some of the disorders. Although FDAhas not approved this plant as medicine, some scientists have foundit useful in treating some chronic diseases whereas others areopposing the idea. Components like cannabinoids, which marijuanacontains, have been used with some medications and proved to be veryefficient. The research will focus on the demonstrated benefits ofmedical marijuana especially, to individuals with anxiety andepilepsy conditions among others.
Benefitsof medical marijuana
Minimizingthe urges of alcohol addiction
Mostof the people, who were once addicts of alcohol, take a lot of themedical marijuana to help them ease the memories of the previousaddiction they had towards the substance (Beau 28). The addictssometimes use the plant at the same time when smoking the cigarettesas well as drinking coffee. Users seem to respond well to theaddiction cases while using the cannabis and it is thought that thisis the best way to deal with the addicts of alcohol who have triedall other means and have failed to work. On top of this, marijuanahas minimal side effects when compared to alcohol and does not posemuch withdrawal problems.
Stimulatingthe appetite and reducing chemotherapy pain
Somepatients lose their appetite in the course of their medication whileother, including in the normal life circumstances, can as well failto feel the urge to eat. Medical marijuana is proved to work betterfor such people since it can increase their appetite (Beau 28). Amongpatients, the loss of cravings is common among individuals who havegone through chemotherapy. Likewise, such patients go through deeppain which can be reduced through the use of medical marijuana. Theycan then eat after using the weed to maintain their nutrition and thebody weight.
Managinganger
Peopleget enraged differently, and there are those who can handle thesituation easily while others find it hard to take control. Medicalmarijuana is proved to be very efficient in dealing with the problemsof anger management. In fact, individuals who have used the plant arepositively responding towards managing their tempers (Beau 28). Insuch a situation, the users calm and relax after a short period whileothers appear to be smiling all the time and very active in whateverthey are doing. Some projects and classes have been designed to helppeople manage their anger, but those who use cannabis seem to respondbetter than those who attend such groups. Most of the users have notseen the reason for participating in the anger management classessince they can consume the cannabis to control the situation.
Itcan help in the treatment of glaucoma
Glaucomais an eye infection that can cause increased pressure on the eyeballand eventually interfere with the clear vision of the look. Whenpeople with this eye condition uses marijuana, the pressure in theeye reduces thereby restoring the vision that was in danger ofdamage. In the circumstance where the condition may not healcompletely, the drug will slow down the pace at which the diseaseadvances and prevent the possibility of blindness. It will,therefore, help save the costs that can later be used to treat sucheye disorders.
Canimprove the lung health
Marijuanaworks efficiently to increase the capacity of the lungsspecifically, those of the smokers since they are impaired due to thecarcinogenic effects resulting from the smoking tobacco. Marijuanawill help in such situation because it can reverse these carcinogeniceffects and improve the efficiency of the lungs. Following theresearch that was done on smokers in a period of 20 years, most ofthe smokers had lung impairment conditions after this period butthose who used marijuana over this period had an increased capacityof their lungs. Some scholars argue that the increased lung capacityis due to the deep breaths that are taken during smoking however,some scientists believe that it is because of the therapeuticchemicals that are present in the drug.
Itcontrols epileptic seizures
Themedical marijuana is very efficient in handling the problems ofepileptic seizures. The first test was done on the rats that had thiscondition to see how they behaved. It was found that the ratsimproved after 10 hours. In human beings, the ingredients of cannabislike cannabinoids worked excellently with the brain cells that wereresponsible for the seizures. With time, the drug was able to puteverything under control for the victims to maintain their normalhealth condition. There are situations where the cannabis can as wellreduce the impact of the seizure especially when they are severe tothe patient. Studying the users of the medical marijuana who had thiscondition, it was found that the number of the seizures decreasedtremendously within a very short time which is an indication thatthis plant is highly effective when handling the disorders that arerelated to seizures (Pertwee 550). The clinicians who advocate thisplant for medication of this condition are of the view that thecannabidiol chemical in cannabis struggles to control that part ofthe brain that works excessively giving rise to the seizures.Although some health facilities do not use this plant for medicationpurposes, some hospitals have found it very useful in handling thecases that are related to seizures. The plant is, therefore, gainingfame amongst the patients who have the seizure disorder (Devinsky etal 201).
Helpsin combating the spread of cancer
Afterthe research that was taken by the researchers of California PacificMedical Center, it was found that Cannabidiol was effective inensuring that cancer should not spread to the other parts after ithas attacked the patient. The cancer cells produce a gene known asId-1 which enables it to multiply rapidly in the body of the victim.But when the patient is put on the medical marijuana medication theplant ensures that the gene that facilitates the spread of cancer isturned off thereby eliminating the chances of the disease invadingother parts of the body. When the breast cancer cells were studied,they had a high concentration of this gene before they were treatedwith cannabidiol (Pertwee 98). But when the cells were examined againafter the treatment with this ingredient of medical marijuana, thegenes responsible for the spread of cancer had greatly reduced andwere less aggressive to attack other body parts. Some studies suggestthat cannabis has some adamant compounds that can eliminate thecancer cells from the body of an individual. The chemicals inmarijuana, therefore, have the potential to stop the spread of cancerand in some instances they can kill the cancer cells in the body.
Reducesthe impact of anxiety
Anxietyis another disorder that is complicated to treat, even thoughchemotherapies can solve the problem. When persons with the anxietydisorder use the medical marijuana, they are reported to have arelieved pain as well as a suppressed nausea. This explains thereason this plant is commonly used after chemotherapy to reduce theside effects that arise. The smokers were observed to have animproved mood when using this plant and also it acted as a sedativewhen its use was limited to low doses. However, care should be takenwhile using the medical marijuana in the instances of anxietydisorders because if it is used in high doses, it may increase thesymptoms of diseases like paranoid.
Multiplesclerosis pain reduction
Multiplesclerosis induces deep pain in the bodies of the victims. Medicalmarijuana will help reduce such pain if the victims use it as analternative medication. Patients who have the painful contraction ofthe muscles do not respond to other treatments easily, but thecondition changes shortly when they use marijuana, and they did notexperience the pain as before using the medication (Pertwee 434). Oneof the chemicals in marijuana called the THC attacks the receptors inthe muscles that are responsible for the pain and pot binds them.Apart from relieving the pain, other spasms that are experienced inthe muscles can as well be eliminated or reduced. The diaphragmspasms can be easily controlled by the use of marijuana even if thecondition occurs repeatedly. If the patients smoke marijuana, thediaphragm muscles are released almost immediately.
Itcombats the side effects of treating hepatitis C
HepatitisC is a disorder that results in harsh side effects after treatment orwhen the medication is under the process. The side effects that arecommon include the loss of appetite, and some patients end up withdepression. The effects are violent to a point that most patients donot finish their medication or therapy. But a different observationis made when the users are put to the use of marijuana (Pertwee 301).Those who smoked marijuana did not have serious side effects comparedto the non-smoker. The smokers completed their medication comfortablyand the effectiveness of their treatment improved. A high percentageof these patients who used marijuana had low levels of the viruswithin a very short time compared to those who did not use.
Conclusion
Medicalmarijuana can be used to treat a range of diseases as it can bewitnessed from several scholars. Some of the diseases are chronic andcannot be attended to by use of any other medication. Although thereis a controversy in most states and among scholars concerning thesafety and efficiency of this plant, several experts are of the viewthat marijuana’s benefits surpassed the side effects. Although itis useful for medicinal use, care should be taken while using thecannabis. A qualified doctor should be consulted to give the desiredadvice to the client before embarking on the use cannabis asmedicine. This will ensure that the plant is correctly used to serveits intended purpose.
WorksCited
Beau,M. MedicalMarijuana: Changing Times II: Changing Times II.Xlibris Corporation, 2010. Print.
Devinsky,Orrin, Steven C. Schachter, and Steven Pacia. AlternativeTherapies for Epilepsy.New York: Demos Medical, 2012. Print.
Pertwee,Roger. Handbookof Cannabis.OUP Oxford, 2014. Print.