Recreational marijuana and its legalization can be driving many people to try this treatment option. However, the fact is that the medical use of cannabis is not a new thing. The use of this plant for treatment can be traced the olden days when marijuana was prescribed for digestive issues, pain relief, and even psychological problems, just to mention a few conditions. There are proven health advantages which can be traced to several of the active ingredients which are in marijuana.
The different forms
When you make up your mind to try medical marijuana, you need to know that it is available in diverse forms. It can be smoked, eaten in a form that is edible or ingested in pill form. You can as well get the product in any form that interests you. While to some people the pill makes the process feel more medical, others prefer to smoke it while much more prefer the marijuana to be added to brownies, cookies or chocolate bars. Marijuana in pill form is known as dronabinol or nabilone.
The various kinds of ailments
Medical marijuana can be utilized to treat a wide range of ailments like nausea, chronic pain, the effects of various progressive diseases as glaucoma and multiple cases of sclerosis. A medical marijuana investment is worth making if you have psychological disorders such as PTSD or post-traumatic stress problems. Medical marijuana is always utilized when treating patients suffering from chemotherapy as it helps to stop nausea as well as vomiting.
Treating eye conditions
Medical cannabis has been utilized for many years in the treatment of glaucoma. This is an eye problem that causes elevated eyeball pressure, and it can cause blindness. It is important to understand that while marijuana can help to reduce the intraocular pressure, the fact that it has to be consumed many times in a day can cause the mood-altering effects. Critics argue about the plant’s effectiveness, especially considering the effect on the user’s ability to function properly.
Stimulating appetite
Appetite stimulation is one of the effects of marijuana use. Cannabis users find that they get a case of the “munchies” when they’re done smoking. This quality has made it the clear solution for patients that have HIV/AIDS or other medical conditions that bring about suppressed appetite.
Marijuana can relax muscles that are tense and making it an active treatment for patients with problems like MS and other types of muscular disorders. Medical cannabis is thought to offer an effective treatment for people with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s. It is also effective in reducing psychological stress by treating mood disorders, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The risk of drug addiction from using other drugs to treat is symptoms can be higher.
Nationwide Survey records that Fewer Teens Think Marijuana Is Harmful
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the results from the 2013 Monitoring the Future (MTF) research, which asks more than 40,000 8th, 10th, as well as 12th graders about alcohol, drug, and cigarette use. The study talks about both good news and areas for concern.
First of all, scientists are concerned that only about 40% of 12th graders-that’s 4 out of every ten teens-believe using marijuana constantly can hurt you. That’s 60% who think marijuana is not dangerous! This perception that marijuana use is not bad is tied to the increases in teens’ use of the drug several years ago.
Science shows that constant marijuana use can be dangerous to your health and your future. THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, can damage the developing teen brain, yet teens don’t understand the connection between marijuana use and the brain’s ability to learn.
Marijuana use is also putting teens at risk for car accident-since the drug impairs motor coordination as well as reaction time. With medical marijuana being more accepted and some states making marijuana legal to use, it’s difficult to get these messages to teens. It’s further complicated by the recent legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington.
There’s other news that worries scientists too: Teens continue to abuse Adderall at a high rate. That drug is usually prescribed for people with ADHD-and when used as prescribed; it can help. But more than 7% of high school seniors say they use Adderall to get high or for other nonmedical reasons.
But the survey tells us that teens are getting smarter about a lot of drug use. Cigarette smoking and alcohol use continued to decline in 2013. Also, fewer teens used K2/Spice (sometimes called synthetic marijuana), inhalants, cocaine, and heroin. Fewer teens are abusing prescription painkillers like Vicodin, and very few teens are using bath salt.
One last note: As cigarette smoking is down, a lot of teens are still “smoking” by making use of a hookah (water pipe)-in fact, over 1 in 5 seniors say they have used a hookah in the previous year. Tobacco is no less dangerous in a hookah.
How would you tell teens that marijuana is dangerous to their health? How would you change their minds if they think marijuana is not harmful? How would you tell teens that smoking a hookah is only as bad for their health as smoking a cigarette?
