Medical marijuana legalization is rapidly becoming a hot button issue in various locales throughout the world, but things have reached a fevered pitch in America as well as Canada, where the recently adopted Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations is under fire (in Canada, that’s how they spell it).
A Little History
*Cannabis was frequently used in Ancient Greece for the dressing of wounds and to treat sores on animals. They also used dried cannabis leaves to get nose bleeds to clot.
*Marijuana has long been associated with numerous medical benefits, relieving pain, increasing appetite and improving mood for patients using it under prescription.
*Furthermore, cannabis has proven effective with reducing nausea and vomiting in chemo patients, relieve depression and increase appetite in people with AIDS, and to treat generalized pain and muscle issues.
Additionally, it’s long been believed that our bodies already manufacture marijuana-like chemicals that help regulate pain, swelling and numerous other processes. Actually, the evidence shows that marijuana can often assist those naturally occurring chemicals to be even more effective.
But many believe the potential benefits of medicinal marijuana usage fail to outweigh the dangers. One of the most common arguments against use of medicinal marijuana is that marijuana is a dangerous drug that we’ve become desensitized to the widespread use of, and that significantly less dangerous medicines are readily available which offer the same relief. Weed dispensary advocates tend to offer the counterpoint that marijuana is a natural solution to these health problems, and that synthetic, prescription medications are the real danger.
Anti-medical marijuana legalization advocates are also quick to point out the following bits of information:
*Marijuana can cause increased heart rate and sudden drops in blood pressure
*Smoking marijuana can potentially damage the brain, heart and lungs
*Especially dangerous for folks undergoing chemotherapy or suffering with AIDS, marijuana can impair the immune system
*Ingesting marijuana can impair learning, memory function, accuracy of perception, and judgment
*Smoking marijuana can produce cancer-causing compounds
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Medical marijuana legalization has already passed in at least 20 of the United States. Until scientists can offer more concrete information for or against it’s medicinal use, we’re just left with equally persuasive sounding hearsay.
This is a great source for more.
