Using Marijuana As An Alternative Medicine

Would you prefer marijuana for medical use? Does your country support or allow marijuana? What diseases can this plant cure? Can this medication be the answer? Marijuana is also known as Cannabis. It is a psychoactive medication from the Cannabis plant. This plant is utilized for therapeutic or recreational purposes. The primary psychoactive piece of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of 483 known mixes in the plant, including something like 65 different cannabinoids. It can be utilized by smoking, vaporizing, inside sustenance, or as a concentrate. The lawfulness of cannabis for therapeutic and recreational use shifts by nation, as far as its ownership, appropriation, and development, and how it tends to be consumed and what medicinal conditions it very well may be utilized for. Uruguay and Canada are the main nations that have completely authorized the utilization and clearance of recreational cannabis across the country. Nations that have authorized the therapeutic utilization of cannabis incorporate Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Thailand. Others have progressively prohibitive laws that just permit the utilization of certain cannabis-inferred pharmaceutical medications, for example, Sativex, Marinol or Epidiolex.

Medical marijuana can be prescribed to treat muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, poor appetite or weight loss, nausea from cancer chemotherapy, to kill cancer cells and slow tumor growth, reduce anxiety and relieves pain. The side effects of marijuana are minimal when used at low doses. A Cannabinoid or CBD it is one of the most common substances of marijuana, which is famous as a treatment for epilepsy. The CBD impacts the brain without making the person high. Another element of marijuana is THC which can also be used for medical purposes. THC is responsible for pain purposes and has some properties that make a person high. Scientists and other researchers said that using marijuana in medical purposes is beneficial and helpful but of course with certain limitations. The use of marijuana does no harm to the lungs not unless you smoke tobacco. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that using marijuana can even increase lung capacity. Marijuana can also be used to treat and prevent eye diseases. It decreases the pressure inside the eye that prevents the damage of the optic nerve and causing loss of vision. However, Marijuana has some benefits including relief for long term pain but smoking cannabis can have some bad effects on your health including breathing problems or it will come to worse because marijuana comes from the dried flowers of cannabis plants. It has more than 500 chemicals. Cannabis can have psychoactive or mind-altering effects on you.

Here in the Philippines, our president considered marijuana as drugs and the people also because marijuana has a lot of bad effects when you smoke it like bloodshot eyes, dizziness, depression, fast heartbeat, hallucinations. Marijuana can also affect judgment and coordination, which could lead to accidents and injuries. When used during the teenage years, when the brain is still developing, marijuana might affect the IQ and mental function. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana can be addictive and could be considered a 'gateway drug' to using other drugs. Experts believe that higher THC levels and increased usage could increase the likelihood of physical dependence. You may have trouble stopping, crave it when you cannot have it and need more of it to achieve the same effects.

Using marijuana as an alternative medicine for drug prescribed medicines can help cure or treat diseases but it also has side effects on our body. One of the most common side effect experienced by patients is hunger. People who use medical marijuana often feel a surge in appetite and appreciation for food. This is also known as 'munchies'. For some patients this side effect is bad but for some people, it is the very reason why they use marijuana as medicine in the first place. Certain illnesses result in reduced appetite, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy or those with Anorexia, HIV or AIDS, severe nausea, and cachexia or wasting syndrome benefit from this side effect. The next commonly experienced side effect is dry mouth, also known as 'cotton mouth'. Patients experienced persistent thirst and sticky mouth often referred to as “the pasties”. Unfortunately, just drinking water as a way to alleviate it does not really do anything significant to relieve it. Drinking anything with caffeine can actually dry out your mouth even more. Chewing, eating candies, and drinking herbal teas and cough syrup can help to alleviate dry mouth. Another well-known aftermath of medicinal marijuana consumption; is the reddening of the eyes. There’s no need to worry because this aftermath will not cause any fatal damage to the patient’s health, and will only last for a short time. The redness of the eye occurs because of the THC component found in marijuana that the patients consume, this is a factor on why blood pressure decreases after the consumption, and at the same time this will reduce the intraocular pressure of your eyes, which results in the expansion of blood vessels that cause the sclera of the eyes to look more in a shade of red. To alleviate this aftermath you can buy over-the-counter eye drops on local drugstores nearby. You must also restrain yourself from touching your eyes to prevent further irritation. Another aftermath is Drowsiness. This aftermath can cause conflict on your schedule, affecting your work, your daily routines and etc. There is also a probability that your mind and body will not function well. For some people, this is an advantage especially to those who experience insomnia. Preferably you may consume medicinal marijuana in the evening or before you go to bed, for you to avoid experiencing this kind of complications.

Over the last few decades, many agencies see the potential use of marijuana in different medical conditions including therapies that the FDA has approved. But what is the FDA’s take on the legalization of marijuana? According to their website “The FDA has not approved marijuana as a safe and effective drug for any indication.” however, they approved three drugs that can be given to people by prescription. They are named “Dronabinol” or also known as THC, Nabilone and Epidiolex.

According to drugbank.ca (2019), “Dronabinol (marketed as Marinol) is a synthetic form of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC), the primary psychoactive component of cannabis”. And due to its tendency to stimulate one person’s appetite and it stops someone from vomiting, it’s been approved for use with patients with AIDS that lost weight due to anorexia and as a back-up medicine for nausea and vomiting for patients that underwent chemotherapy for cancer in which conventional antiemetic treatments did not work for them. Nabilone is also a synthetic form of one of the primary components of cannabis which is also used as a backup medicine for nausea and vomiting for patients that underwent chemotherapy for cancer and conventional treatments did not work for them but this is twice as active than Dronabinol. Epidiolex, a drug that is made from the pure substance cannabidiol and is manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals is regarded as the first cannabis-based medication that the FDA has approved and is now available by prescription. This drug is consumed orally. It is approved to people that are at least 2 years of age and older and is approved for treatment of two epileptic syndromes: Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Even though they approved these said substances, they still don’t see marijuana being used as a safe and effective drug for any treatment and there is still a lot of research needed for it to become viable. We all know that war on drugs is one of the societal issues that the government try to get rid the most because of its capability to destruct the lives and dreams of many.

Recently, legalization of medical marijuana has gained the attention of government and several debates had begun. Political leaders, government officials, health care providers, and medical organizations take different views on the benefits and risks of medical marijuana when legalized. Proponents state that marijuana has valid medical uses and further research should be pursued while opponents list concerns about health risks and the 'gateway' effect of marijuana that can lead to more dangerous drug abuse and other issues. The legalization of marijuana can bring both favorable and unfavorable effects on society and the environment so this matter should be discussed thoroughly. The Philippine Government is very much aware of this and decided not to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes despite the efforts of the different organizations and other countries in convincing the government to legalize it. In conclusion, although, there are some advantages of legalizing marijuana in the country, the harms and dangers of legalization supported by medical evidence affecting health as well as social problems are significant. Therefore, it is highly recommended that marijuana should not be legalized in the Philippines. If only people can use it in moderation then there is a high possibility for it to be legalized but we all know how people in our country can be abusive and addictive at the same time. As for us, we think medical marijuana is okay but people who are proven to need those will be the only ones to receive too. We all wait for change to come but always remember that it can only happen if we contribute and seek one goal and that is to build a peaceful society for the next generation.