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Essay: Medical Marijuana’s Therapeutic Benefits: Exploring Pain, Mental Health and More

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  • Published: 23 February 2023*
  • Last Modified: 22 July 2024
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  • Words: 1,909 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 8 (approx)
  • Tags: Drugs essays Essays on mental health

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Cannabis at the Corner of Happy and Healthy?

Cannabis began to be recognized for its medicinal purposes in Western medicine in the mid-19th century with the help of French psychiatrist Jacques-Joseph Moreauand’s book where he describes the short-term effects of cannabis and examines its therapeutic use (Zuardi). Although it has been over a century and a half that cannabis was first acknowledged as a medicine, in the present day U.S., cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug meaning it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” (Drug Scheduling DEA). So how does a drug that has proven to have therapeutic benefits in the treatment of multiple conditions and disorders be categorized as a Schedule I drug along with drugs such as Heroin and LSD? In this research paper I will explore the therapeutic effects of marijuana on mental health conditions, neurological disorders, and pain treatment, the side effects or downfalls of cannabis as a medical treatment, and compare medical marijuana to other drugs currently sold in the pharmaceutical market for pain relief in order to determine whether cannabis’ benefits merit legalization of cannabis at the federal level. In light of the therapeutic effects, minimal scale of dependence, low-risk relative to other pharmaceutical medicines, ineffectiveness of existing medical treatments, and potential economic profits, the federal government should legalize  medical marijuana federally.

Cannabis’ long and extensive history with mankind and its continuous use for medicinal purposes in the course of that time don’t help explain how it is now regarded to as a drug with “no currently accepted medical use.” Cannabis is among one of the earliest plants cultivated by man, and despite currently being a Schedule I drug, “marijuana was readily available in U.S. pharmacies to relieve symptoms such as pain or muscle spasms” since the mid-19th century all the way up to its classification as a Schedule I drug in 1970 (Ananth). The therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana displayed throughout time can’t be denied but federal restrictions and a change in society’s belief on cannabis have led those benefits to be pushed into the shadows.

Medical marijuana’s therapeutic effects have the capability to compete with pharmaceutical drugs in the treatment of pain, mental health conditions, neurological disorders and to provide relief to patients with terminally ill diseases. The use of medical marijuana for pain management is backed by a “comprehensive meta-analysis” displaying “that medicinal cannabis and cannabinoids effectively alleviate different types of pain, such as neuropathic, refractory pain due to multiple sclerosis or other neurological conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, central pain, musculoskeletal problems, and chemotherapy-induced pain (Donvito 2017). A study examining the effects of smoking cannabis on neuropathic pain and multiple sclerosis spasticity compared to a placebo showed that smoked cannabis displayed a significant analgesic and anti-spasticity effect. With chronic pain being the most common cause of long term disability and approximately 1 in every 4 Americans having experienced pain lasting more than 24 hours, the treatment of pain requires a medical treatment which may be administered to a wide group of people that will not only prove effective, but have minor repercussions associated with its use (NIH 2013). Medical marijuana is most notably known for its history of use for pain relief and the expansion of knowledge that will ensue upon its federal legalization will only allow for a facilitation in perfecting the ways in which medical marijuana is administered to patients.

The medicinal properties of medical marijuana represent relief and a sliver of hope to cancer patients that can only be further advanced through medical marijuana’s federal legalization. Consumption of marijuana and the ensuing “high” is commonly recognized for inducing a feeling of sedation in users and this paired with its antiemetic effects make it a preeminent candidate to aid those undergoing chemotherapy in their fight to stay alive. Cancer is diagnosed in approximately 39.6% of men and women during their lifetime and upon diagnosis a large number of those diagnosed are treated with chemotherapy, a therapy designed to “kill” fast-growing cells, but this therapy doesn't distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells and often damages healthy cells which results detrimental to the patients health (Cancer Statistics: American Cancer Society). (start with stats on cancer patients then experiences of cancer patients how bad it is how they feel durign chemo)  (explain how medical marijuana’s properties allow them to cope with this how its done) Although medical marijuana has thus far been used primarily to help cancer patients cope with the symptoms experienced due to chemotherapy, studies have shown it can aid directly in the treatment of cancer. In a cell culture study done with rodents it was seen that “purified extracts from whole-plant marijuana slow[ed] the growth of cancer cells from one of the most serious types of brain tumors” (NIDA 2017).

Treatments currently available to patients suffering from PTSD such as psychotherapy and pharmacotherapeutic options lack efficiency, however medical marijuana provides the relief so longed by patients with this debilitating condition. In an uncontrolled open-label study The first study of this kind was an uncontrolled open-label study, where administration of Nabilone prior to bedtime reduced nightmares in patients with PTSD, with 34/47 patients exhibiting either total cessation or significant reduction in nightmare occurrence (Fraser, 2009). For several of the subjects, nightmares occurred again almost immediately following cessation of Nabilone treatment, and were again suppressed following re-initiation of the drug, suggesting that these effects were specific to cannabinoid treatment. The increasing number of war veterans struggling to integrate back into society due to suffering from PTSD calls for a medicinal treatment such as medical marijuana to provide effective and consistent results. The high prevalence of PTSD in the population, being 6.8% in an adult American’s lifetime, is only further magnified when looking at prevalence among veterans where the estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD of Vietnam era war veterans was 30.9% among men and 26.9% among women. (PTSD National Center). The pervasiveness of PTSD among the U.S. population and more specifically U.S. war veterans necessitates a treatment that will provide efficient results. An uncontrolled open-label study where the synthetic analog of THC, Nabilone, was administered to patients prior to bedtime to reduce nightmares caused by PTSD saw “either total cessation or significant reduction in nightmare occurrence” (Hill). (experiences of PTSD patients primarily descriptive touch on the emotions of reader)

Although medical marijuana has proven to have components that enable it to be a drug that can be used to treat patients with various health conditions, there are side effects and downfalls of using it as a medical treatment. (why despite having dependence it shouldnt be classified as a schedule I drug, its not as extreme) (like all psychoactive drugs it has potential for dependence) dependence and  It has been seen that chronic, continuous and over an extended period of time, use can lead users to create a tolerance and become dependent on the drug (Smith 2014). Despite the existence of (a lot of studies done to gain knowledge of cannabis is done to learn about itas downfalls but regardless of this it still stands as a safer alternative to other pharmaceutical drugs)

Opioids which are administered for severe pain relief and are currently available in psychoactive properties by interacting with the brain’s cannabinoid CB1 receptors (found in the brain in higher concentrations than any other receptor) and the endocannabinoid system (at least 10 times the size of the endorphin system),

the pharmaceutical market put everyday Americans at risk of becoming drug abusers.Although prescribed for pain, opioids’ psychological effects which infiltrate into the user’s brain disrupting the reward pathway lead it to become such an addictive drug. The opioid epidemic has been wreaked havoc on the U.S. population with an estimated 2 million Americans suffering from substance abuse disorders related to prescription opioid medication and over 115 Americans dying from opioid overdoses daily (Opioids NIH). Regardless of the high prevalence of addiction and the exorbitant number of deaths occurring each day within the U.S. due to opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, it is classified by the drug enforcement administration as a Schedule II drug whereas marijuana which has no recorded deaths and a relative lower scale of dependence is still addressed as being more dangerous and having more abuse potential. Opioids have a chemical makeup similar to endorphins and when ingested attach to the receptors in the reward center of the brain making the receptors less sensitive. The repeatment of this process leaves patients vulnerable to developing a dependence and abuse, accounting for the 21 to 29 percent of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misusing them. Continuous and unabating evidence displaying that medical marijuana has the capability to treat the same symptoms as opioids without the high toxicity and scale of dependence of opioids.  Medical marijuana’s use to treat pain effectively represents a safer alternative to treating patients and an opportunity to dig the U.S. out of the opioid epidemic. (marijuana has no overdose level so even if it is potentially overprescribed it wont end up in another epidemic with high death rates)

Medical marijuana’s low scale of dependence and toxicity relative to opioids currently present in the pharmaceutical market make it a safer alternative that can be used to fight the devastating opioid epidemic. The legalization of marijuana in individual states has seen a decrease in opioid related deaths within those states. In Livingston et al.’s study observing the effects of cannabis legalization on opioid-related deaths in individual states that have enabled the legalization of recreational marijuana it was seen that there was a statistically significant reduced trend of opioid-related deaths showing a decrease of about .7 deaths per month compared to the baseline period (Livingston 2017). This study displaying that there is a correlation between opioid-related deaths and cannabis legalization spurs the possibility of federal legalization of medical marijuana substituting opioids and subsequently overcoming the opioid epidemic. The positive effect of cannabis legalization on decreasing opioid related deaths is not merely seen in the subsequent years following legalization but this propitious result is sustained.  An analysis performed to examine medical cannabis laws that enable access within individual states and state-level death certificate data in the United States from 1999 to 2010 displayed that those states which had medical cannabis laws enacted saw a “24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws” (Bachhuber 2014). Aside from the fact that medical marijuana has therapeutic benefits which alone advocate for its federal legalization, the demonstration of its ability to fight the problem, being the opioid crisis, created by a painkiller that it could replace further bring to light that medical marijuana is unjustly classified as a Schedule I drug.  

Lack of federal legalization and the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug have caused stagnant progress towards knowledge being gained on cannabis and its medicinal properties. Marijuana’s classification creates a bureaucratic barrier impeding research, as investing in research runs the risk of legal prosecution and punishment, thus discouraging research. Federal legalization would open the door for federal funding being invested on research intended to advance However, in order to take a step towards the federal legalization of medical marijuana societies’ views on medical marijuana consumption must begin to change. (talk about how marijuana doses can become more consistent)

(talk about how states who legalize marijuana gain economic profits and where those profits are allocated) (where newfound profits could be allocated by federal gov)

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