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
administration of the drug that causes medical marijuana to be the snake oil of the 21st century.
The DEA support for the placement of marijuana (cannabis) on the list of Schedule 1 drugs puts marijuana with the likes of Heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), peyote, methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine "Ecstasy." The CSA (Controlled Substance Act), which is administered by the DEA, is the statute establishing the federal U.S drug policy, which regulates various substances. The CSA claims Schedule 1 drugs are known for abuse-potential and lack medical merit. This in turn means the DEA considers marijuana to have no currently accepted medical use. Marijuana should have been re-classified and removed from the list of Schedule 1 drugs before any consideration was made in the legalization voting. Until the CSA and the DEA remove marijuana from the Schedule 1 list it should not be available for medical use.
Many argue that since marijuana is found naturally it is therefore safe to use. The same argument was made for tobacco, which when it was introduced was believed by physicians to cure sickness and protect against diseases. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that modern medicine finally revealed the truth about tobacco’s addictive and carcinogenic qualities. This parallels perfectly to the case of marijuana. Just because it is found naturally, does not mean it is good for you. Marijuana causes an intoxicated or high sensation that impairs one’s judgment and motor skills. If one is found with marijuana in their system while driving they can receive an OUI (Operating Under the Influence). There are many parallels between tobacco’s story and marijuana.
Both at one time were considered harmless as they are found naturally in nature, but marijuana can negatively affect people in several ways.
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
functions may last a long time or even be permanent (Abuse, Health, & Services., 2016). No matter how much control you think you may have over marijuana, it can and will control your life if used long term. Even President Bill Clinton knew it was wrong to smoke marijuana when his answer was ‘I didn’t inhale’ when asked about whether or not he ever smoked marijuana.
Marijuana has been fast paced through voters and legislations for approval for medical reasons. The lack of oversight on how the plant is grown is an overwhelming concern. Medical marijuana can be a very lucrative business. To say people would not invest into medical marijuana for profit would be an understatement. Allowing uneducated, untrained, or uncertified people to venture into the marijuana business would allow anyone with the desire to open a greenhouse able to produce marijuana plants. Proper protocols along with rules and regulations need to be initiated before allowing the growth of marijuana plants legally. Even though several states have passed the legalization of medical marijuana, the majority of regulation lands at a town or city level. The lack of regulation, along with the rapid growth of the medical marijuana business, has left communities scrambling to rewrite laws and ordinances and regulate medical marijuana in the community. For example, a county in Michigan had 229 registered medical marijuana patients in 2011, this has grown to 19,455 patients in 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Marijuana is grown as a plant which would make investment through pharmaceutical companies very rare as this cannot be patented. Chemicals or pesticides used to grow the plant are unknown and unregulated. Not knowing how the plant is grown and harvested will affect the plant. Because it cannot be patented, this would easily allow smaller companies to process medical marijuana. Before utilizing marijuana for medical reasons further testing needs to be completed on it to determine whether or not it is a candidate for medical reasons. As Berlatsky (2012), writer of the book Marijuana stated, “Not only is there a need for more research on any possible medical benefits, but also on identifying the chemicals within marijuana associated with any benefits, appropriate dosage levels, and safe means of administration, should medical benefits exist”. Marijuana currently has no medical accepted use per the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Marijuana needs to be tested in the same rational way any other drugs are tested. Also, according to Berlatsky (2012), “Emotional testimony and personal opinion should not dictate medical treatment”. Allowing marijuana to be voted on for approval through a ballot or passed by legislation could completely bypass the proper testing process.
The way marijuana is administered into the system can widely affect the results. Cannabinoids, which is the chemical component of cannabis, can cause issues with patients. The rapid rise and fall of cannabinoids within the blood levels can cause an intoxication effect. This is what ‘recreational’ users prefer. Medical marijuana is proposed to relieve pain, nausea, other side effects of medical treatments, as well as some disease symptoms, not the effect of getting ‘intoxicated’ or ‘high’. Allowing people to legally get ‘intoxicated’ or ‘high’ is not the proposed point of medical marijuana, although this will be taken advantage of.
The lack of determination on how marijuana is administered has demonstrated that additional research is needed.
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
determine.
Whether you smoke it, take it in a liquid form, or spray it in your mouth, you are administering a narcotic drug that is in the same category as heroin, ecstasy, and LSD. If marijuana is going to be used for medical purposes, several steps need to be taken to not only ensure its medical benefits, but that it is regulated and administered correctly. Research needs to be completed to confirm that the side effects are safe or will not last a lifetime. Provide a way to administer medical marijuana properly so that it can be a benefit and not a burden. In fact, as stated by Berlatsky (2012) in the book Marijuana, “Emotional testimony and personal opinion should not dictate medical treatment”. Lastly, once all research results are concluded, a decision needs to be made as to whether or not to remove it from the Schedule 1 list. Until then, it should not be available for ‘medical’ reasons until all research is complete and an educated decision backed with scientific research can be provided. Marijuana has been fast paced through voters and legislations for approval for medical reasons. The lack of oversight on how the plant is grown, how marijuana is administered and the safety of its side effects has shown that additional research is needed to gain solid results, do not allow medical marijuana to be the snake oil of the 21st century.