Title: Medical Marijuana- the Best Alternative Medicine?
Is the concern surrounding the legalization of medical marijuana use founded in scientific proof, or is it just all about a bunch of hype created by people wanting to get high without the risk of getting caught? What are the options out there for marijuana users to medicate, without smoking it so our states don’t become over run with marijuana smoke if this is legalized? Are there truly proven health benefits received through the use of medical marijuana? What do medical experts say about prescribing medical marijuana? Is medical marijuana really a good alternative to prescription narcotics? What are the pros and cons of consuming medical marijuana? These are just some of the …show more content…
Users can choose from many different options when inhaling marijuana, one of which is using a vaporizer. (4) There are even pen vaporizers just like the cigarettes vaporizers that smokers use and this is often referred to as “vaping” When smoking marijuana, a series of cellular reactions in the brain occurs and causes the consumer to feel the “high” that comes within just a few minutes of smoking it. However, when consumed through food or beverages, it can take up to an hour or more to take effect. (8) With all of these medicating options for medical marijuana users available, their ability to medicate more discretely in now possible. Not all medical marijuana users use the drug to get high, there are thousands who truly use the drug out of necessity and the high is just part of the treatment. Sure, there are probably those out there that just prefer to stay high all the time instead of being a functional member of society. Just like any other group in history, there are people that give the rest of the group a “bad name”. You have to take the good and the bad with everything in life right? Medical marijuana users swear by the drugs treatment ability so much so, that they believe it could replace prescription narcotics as the best alternative, are they …show more content…
Do you remember the commercials we’ve all seen portraying an egg frying in a cast iron pan, with bold letters plastered accross it saying, “This is Your Brain on Drugs!”? Interestingly enough, there has been statements by medical professionals to the contrary. Igor Grant, MD stated in an article, “Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage. The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more imparement of higher mental function. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage”.(3) UCLA found that there is absolutely no risk of lung cancer related to smoking marijuana. However, a British study was also performed in 2002, that stated that 3-4 joints or marijuana cigarettes each day was as bad for your lungs as smoking 20 or more tobacco cigarettes per day. Denis Petro, MD stated, “The estimated lethal dose of intravenous Marinol is 30 mg/kg (2100 mg/70 k/g_. Using this estimation of lethal dose, the equivalent inhaled THC would represent the smoking of 240 cannabis cigarettes with a total systemic absorption of the average 8.8 mg of THC in each cigarette. Since absorption is much less than 100%, the amount of smoked marijuana required to reach lethality is on the order of one to two thousand cigarettes. The physical impossibility of a fatal
Is the concern surrounding the legalization of medical marijuana use founded in scientific proof, or is it just all about a bunch of hype created by people wanting to get high without the risk of getting caught? What are the options out there for marijuana users to medicate, without smoking it so our states don’t become over run with marijuana smoke if this is legalized? Are there truly proven health benefits received through the use of medical marijuana? What do medical experts say about prescribing medical marijuana? Is medical marijuana really a good alternative to prescription narcotics? What are the pros and cons of consuming medical marijuana? These are just some of the …show more content…
Users can choose from many different options when inhaling marijuana, one of which is using a vaporizer. (4) There are even pen vaporizers just like the cigarettes vaporizers that smokers use and this is often referred to as “vaping” When smoking marijuana, a series of cellular reactions in the brain occurs and causes the consumer to feel the “high” that comes within just a few minutes of smoking it. However, when consumed through food or beverages, it can take up to an hour or more to take effect. (8) With all of these medicating options for medical marijuana users available, their ability to medicate more discretely in now possible. Not all medical marijuana users use the drug to get high, there are thousands who truly use the drug out of necessity and the high is just part of the treatment. Sure, there are probably those out there that just prefer to stay high all the time instead of being a functional member of society. Just like any other group in history, there are people that give the rest of the group a “bad name”. You have to take the good and the bad with everything in life right? Medical marijuana users swear by the drugs treatment ability so much so, that they believe it could replace prescription narcotics as the best alternative, are they …show more content…
Do you remember the commercials we’ve all seen portraying an egg frying in a cast iron pan, with bold letters plastered accross it saying, “This is Your Brain on Drugs!”? Interestingly enough, there has been statements by medical professionals to the contrary. Igor Grant, MD stated in an article, “Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage. The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more imparement of higher mental function. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage”.(3) UCLA found that there is absolutely no risk of lung cancer related to smoking marijuana. However, a British study was also performed in 2002, that stated that 3-4 joints or marijuana cigarettes each day was as bad for your lungs as smoking 20 or more tobacco cigarettes per day. Denis Petro, MD stated, “The estimated lethal dose of intravenous Marinol is 30 mg/kg (2100 mg/70 k/g_. Using this estimation of lethal dose, the equivalent inhaled THC would represent the smoking of 240 cannabis cigarettes with a total systemic absorption of the average 8.8 mg of THC in each cigarette. Since absorption is much less than 100%, the amount of smoked marijuana required to reach lethality is on the order of one to two thousand cigarettes. The physical impossibility of a fatal