Compare And Contrast Prescription Painkillers Vs Medical Marijuana

Prescription Painkillers vs. Medical Marijuana Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 alone to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for an entire month. The United States of America is also responsible for more than 80% of the worlds prescription painkiller use. Prescription painkillers and medical marijuana are both forms of pain treatment and today I’ll be talking about the differences between the two of them when it comes to effectiveness, ability to regulate, and the negatives of each. When it comes to being effective, both prescription painkillers and medical marijuana get the job done, but both do it in different ways. When it comes down to it, prescription painkillers and medical marijuana are a lot alike; they both are used to relieve pain in a patient who is suffering from chronic pain, the difference is just how effective each one is at relieving pain. When it comes to prescription painkillers they are made in labs, so you know exactly what you’re getting, how much of it you’re taking, and what exactly it does to you. You know that this one pill will do exactly what you want it to do and that is, relieve you from the pain you have for a certain amount of time. The only thing a prescribed painkiller doesn’t do is also help with the depression that usually
comes with chronic pain.
When it comes to medical marijuana and relieving pain, marijuana is one of the best options because it only requires small potent doses to help relieve the pain instead of a steady schedule of pill popping. Unlike prescription painkillers, medical
marijuana is known to help with the depression that usually follows chronic pain. Medical marijuana is also proven to help with pain management better. Basically, the cannabinoids in marijuana bind to receptors in the brain and central nervous system, which then block pain signals in a manner completely different than prescription painkillers allowing for a more effective pain killing. Another known fact is that its literally impossible to develop a marijuana dependency whereas with prescription painkillers, more than 12 million people in the US reported nonmedical use of painkillers in 2010 alone because they got addicted to them while they were prescribed them. The ability to regulate each is where the big differences start to show up. Like I said before, prescription painkillers are made in labs. In these labs they weigh out everything to a precise weight and make sure that every pill is exactly what its supposed to be. It’s very easy to regulate painkillers because they are man made. Where marijuana is a plant, so it’s difficult to perfect the percentage of THC (active pain killer in marijuana) in every single plant. Sometimes you could be getting a plant with 15% THC and other times you could be getting one with 30% THC. It really isn’t that big of a deal but the higher the percentage the stronger the dosage. With that being said, sometimes you could be getting a larger dosage of THC or a smaller dosage of THC depending on how the plant was grown and taken care of. Another difference is that the Federal Drug Administration can approve or reject certain chemicals for prescription painkillers where as with marijuana it’s much harder to regulate exactly what is in each strain since it is just a plant. Though I’ve pointed out positives and negatives of both of prescription painkillers and medical marijuana, in my next paragraph I’ll be focusing on the negatives of each. Medical marijuana and prescription painkillers each have many negative side effects. Many of which that should make it very obvious as to which one is the better choice when it comes to relieving pain. The most known fact is that prescription painkillers are very addictive. In 2009, nearly half a million emergency department visits were made due to the misuse and abuse of painkillers. That’s more than 4 times the amount in 1999. Prescription painkiller overdoses are also one of the leading causes of death in the US. More than 100 people die because of painkiller overdose every day, and for every one that dies, 30 more go to the emergency room for misuse or abuse. Another negative is the amount of money thrown away on people’s addictions to painkillers. Last year alone, nonmedical use of prescription painkillers cost health insurers up to $72.5 billion in direct health care costs. Though medical marijuana has no proven dependency on it, it still has its negatives. Like, the killing of brain cells. Though the average human doesn’t quit reproducing brain cells until around the age of 30, anything that kills brain cells is not good for you. Marijuana users also report that they have more relationship problems, worst memory than before, and poorer physical health. Marijuana is also known to cause dry eyes, sore throat, and light-headedness at times. Marijuana also raises your heart rate, which raises your chances of having a heart attack by 4.8% for around an hour after you smoke but later goes back to normal. As you can see, prescription painkillers and medical marijuana are both effective when it comes to relieving pain but both have many differences when it comes to their effectiveness, the ability to regulate each, and the negative side effects. With over $72.5 billion dollars thrown away on the non-medical use of painkillers last year alone and medical marijuana still being illegal in 28 states, this world has a lot of fixing to do when it comes to killing pain in patients.

Works Cited
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"Medical Marijuana." NORML; Working to Reform Marijuana Laws. NORML, n.d. Web.

"Prescription Painkiller Overdoses." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 03 July 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2013.