 "Photo: Brandon Andreski")
Marijuana is considered a dangerous and addictive mind-altering substance that should be outlawed. The stigma surrounding this drug hinders many to see the medicinal benefits patients have experienced from it.
Though there is sill much ongoing research, studies have exposed the possible health benefits of marijuana. In the March 1999 Institute of Medicine Report titled “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base,” researchers found that the active components of marijuana, cannabinoids, are potentially effective in treating pain, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite caused by AIDS, among other symptoms.
Other studies have shown that cannabis helps patients suffering from glaucoma, a common cause of blindness, by lowering fluid pressure in the eye. They have also revealed the ability of cannabis to alleviate muscle pain and spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis.
California, which legalized the use of medical marijuana in 1996, has approved the use of the drug for conditions such as arthritis, cachexia, epilepsy and cancer.
While the controversy of using marijuana as a medicine persists, the plant’s medicinal value was discovered in oriental and Middle Eastern countries thousands of years ago. The Chinese acknowledged its benefits more than 4,000 years ago, concocting parts of the plant to make sedatives and painkillers to treat nausea, fevers and ulcers.
Ancient herbalists made ointments to heal burns and wounds from the roots of the plant. Physicians from the classical and Hellenistic eras also recognized its healing abilities as well as the Arabs who started using cannabis around the mid-1200s.
\The medicinal use of marijuana in Europe may have begun around the 13th century, and rumors exist of even Queen Victoria drinking marijuana tea to mitigate menstrual cramps.
According to the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration, medical marijuana already exists. It exists in the form of a pill called Marinol. Marinol is available in all 50 states through prescription and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Its active ingredient is a synthetic form of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the compound in smoked marijuana that is found to treat distressing symptoms.
It is considered the safer and legal alternative to actual marijuana, which poses similar health risks as tobacco smoke when inhaled. Despite its benefits, the pill seems to have a slow onset of action and low absorption rate.
Amid the debate over the purposes of cannabis, researchers have found that this substance may help treat ailments in children as well. In an interview with MSNBC, Dr. Claudia Jensen, a practicing pediatrician from the University of Southern California, advocates the use of medicinal marijuana for the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and teens.
“It needs to be evaluated by a physician before its recommended to a child or adolescent,” Jensen said. She recommends patients ingest the prescribed cannabis rather than inhale it.
“Smoking marijuana has such a sort duration, it only lasts an hour and a half to two hours, plus there is the stigma of the child smoking anything but smoking pot is such a difficult social issue to deal with,” Jensen said. “When they ingest cannabinoids or cannabis compounds, for example marijuana, it lasts a lot longer. They can get all the way through the day with a single cannabis cookie or a piece of toast - with cannabis peanut butter on it in the morning before school. They don’t have to get stoned; it’s dose related.”
By ingesting the cannabis, patients get the benefit of being able to focus and refrain from being impulsive and angry to be relaxed and pay attention in school. Cannabis for the treatment of ADD and ADHD would be more effective and pose fewer side effects than the commonly prescribed Ritalin.
Although medical marijuana has been legalized in 14 states, federal law considers the drug an illegal substance. In the past, federal officials have raided cannabis dispensaries and arrested suppliers and clients. However, under new guidelines issued by the Obama Administration, federal drug agents must not prosecute patients and suppliers who conform to state laws.
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