?Introduction Marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, is taken from the leaves and flowering tops of the Cannabis Sativa plant. It also comes in a more concentrated, resinous form, called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid called hash oil. Marijuana in the Philippines is also called Aunt Mary, Bud, Dope, Grass, Hash, Herb, Kush, Mary Jane, Pot, Smoke, Weed, and many more.
Last February 17, the Philippines’ Health Secretary, Enrique Ona, told reporters that the Department of Health is neither for nor against medical marijuana, but said that more studies are necessary before the controversial treatment is approved. A bill that would legalize the usage of medical pot was filed in the House of Representatives by Isabela representative Rodolfo Albano III; he also cited a recent statement from CNN’s medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta that “[for some patients] medical marijuana is the only thing that works. ” Background of the Study.
Marijuana is believed to originate in the Himalayas, from where it got spread by people and animals. It is believed that the Aryans, who invaded India, took hemp seed with them to sow for fiber throughout Europe and the Middle East. Ancient records suggest that marijuana was being cultivated in China as early as 2800 B. C. for fiber and people of China used to eat marijuana seed up to 8000 years ago. It is worthwhile to note that hemp seed had been admired since bygone days for medicinal properties and is still cultivated in places such as the Middle East, India, and Mexico.
Various methods of smoking marijuana include rolling it into joints or blunts, smoking through a pipe or bowl, through a water pipe (or “bong”), or a vaporizer are also common methods. While marijuana is most often smoked, it can also be ingested. The drug can be ingested alone or cooked into food, most notoriously in “hash brownies. ” In addition, it can be used to brew tea or “bhang,” a highly potent beverage originating from India. The effects of smoking are typically felt within a few minutes and can peak in 10 to 30 minutes. Short-term effects from smoking generally wear off within 2 to 3 hours.
And when eaten, the effects do not appear for 30 to 60 minutes, but can last up to 6 hours. It is important to note, however, that the effects of the drug can be very different than expected if the marijuana has been laced with other drugs. Negative Arguments 1. Brain Abnormalities Teenagers who smoked marijuana daily for three years performed poorly on memory tasks and showed abnormal changes in brain structure, according to a North-western Medicine study. Researchers in Chicago observed the brains of teenagers who were heavy users of marijuana.
In those individuals, memory-related structures in the brain appeared to shrink and collapse inward, possibly indicating a decrease in neurons. These abnormalities were recorded two years after the teens stopped using marijuana, possibly indicating long-term effects, and look similar to schizophrenia-related brain abnormalities. The brains were shaped more abnormally for individuals who began marijuana use at a younger age, according to the reports, which suggest that memory regions of the brain are more susceptible to the drug at earlier ages. (NEWSDESK, 2013) 2. Cancer Risks.
According to a report, smoking marijuana can be more dangerous than smoking cigarettes and can more like trigger cancer. Just three ‘joints’ a day can cause the same amount of damage to the lungs as an entire packet of 20 cigarettes. Research suggests that young marijuana smokers may also be at greater risk of thoat and gullet cancers. The foundation found that tar for marijuana joints contain 50% more cancer-causing toxins than cigarettes made from tobacco alone. The British Lung Foundation says that when cannabis and tobacco are smoked together, the harmful effects are significantly worse.
Determining whether marijuana really causes cancer is difficult because users of marijuana also smoke tobacco. (Shovelton) 3. Respiratory Illnesses A 2011 systematic review of the research concluded that long-term marijuana smoking is associated with an increased risk of some respiratory problems, including an increase in cough, sputum production, airway inflammation, and wheeze – similar to that of tobacco smoking (Howden & Naughton, 2011).
Risk of respiratory effects from inhaling marijuana smoke are heightened by the more intensive way in which marijuana is smoked — when smoking marijuana compared to tobacco, there is a prolonged and deeper inhalation and it is smoked to a shorter butt length and at a higher combustion temperature (Moir, et al. , 2008; Wu et al. , 1988; Tashkin et al. , 1991; Benson & Bentley, 1995). Positive Arguments 1. Marijuana as a treatment for nausea and vomiting The anti-nausea effects of medicinal marijuana are well known both scientifically and among users who have experienced relief from nausea and vomiting.
Smoking medical marijuana provides superior treatment for vomiting when compared to THC ingested orally. THC also improved appetite and reduced weight loss in patients living with AIDS, as a 2007 study showed. Medical marijuana is even effective for some patients whose nausea does not respond to traditional antiemetic medications. In one study published in the New York State Journal of Medicine, fifty-six patients were treated whose nausea symptoms had not responded to traditional antiemetic drugs.
Of these fifty-six patients, 78% saw improvement after smoking medical marijuana. (Pain Management of America) 2. Chronic Pain Treatment Chronic pain treatment and management are challenging for patients and doctors, but medical marijuana may be able to provide chronic pain relief where many traditional chronic pain medications do not. Medical marijuana as a chronic pain management tool can reduce patients’ pain and improve quality of life, without the same serious side effects associated with use of some pharmaceutical pain relievers.
People with chronic pain can often manage their pain using medicinal marijuana while regulating their own dosage in order to avoid side effects. Cannabis is even seen as an effective treatment for one of the most mysterious and challenging types of chronic pain, chronic neuropathic (nerve injury) pain. In 2006, medical marijuana was named the most promising treatment for neuropathic pain by a group of elite pain researchers convened at a MedPanel summit. (Pain Management of America) 3. Medical Marijuana as a treatment for Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer and Chemotherapy.
Cancer patients can benefit from using medical marijuana, whether as an alternative cancer treatment or to help mitigate unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy. Even lung cancer patients can use medical marijuana– studies show that smoking marijuana does not cause cancer. In fact, studies show that marijuana slows the invasion of cervical cancer and lung cancer cells. Cannabidiol, one of the five cannabinoids found in medical marijuana, also inhibits tumor growth in leukemia and breast cancer.
Patients undergoing cancer treatment often use medical marijuana to reduce vomiting and nausea, for which purpose it is highly effective. In a review conducted by the University of Arkansas, cannabinoids significantly reduced vomiting and nausea in breast cancer patients following breast surgery. In addition, medicinal marijuana can serve as an appetite stimulant to improve cancer treatment related anorexia. (Pain Management of America) Conclusion.