【Generic Drug】Can weeds replace all the medecine on the planet?
Can weeds replace all the medecine on the planet?
Marijuana is gaining popularity in the United States due to “recreational use” and “medical treatment.” The most common way of taking it is by smoking, but various products such as cannabis oil, vapes, edibles, and topicals.
Recreational use refers to smoking marijuana purely for pleasure. Medical marijuana refers to the use of marijuana for medical purposes. In other words, medical marijuana is used with a prescription from a doctor.
In this article, we will focus on the medical use of marijuana.
Can marijuana be used as medicine?
The answer is yes. As of 2018, 30 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. In addition, some countries such as Canada have also legalized medical marijuana.
What is it currently used for?
- Chronic pain
- Nausea and vomiting that occurs in chemotherapy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Spasticity
- Glaucoma
- Loss of appetite due to HIV/AIDS or cancer treatment
- Seizure disorder
- Arthritis
Medical vs recreational marijuana
Medical and recreational marijuana differ in many ways. Their legal status, cost, and availability vary from state to state. Additionally, their effects differ based on your personal needs and preferences.
For example, CBD products help treat anxiety disorders by altering brain activity without giving users a high. On the other hand, THC products may cause anxiety in some users and reduce cancer pain and nausea in others.
Medical marijuana refers to using the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its essential extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. This includes flowers, leaves, resin, and seeds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine. However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.
You might wonder how one drug can do so many different things to your body, but cannabis comprises hundreds of active compounds known as cannabinoids (including THC and CBD). These work together to create a unique effect on your body depending on its needs.
Currently recognized effects of marijuana
The use of marijuana carries both risks and benefits. Research has shown that marijuana effectively reduces chronic pain, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and muscle spasms. Marijuana can also help patients with sleep problems. Other research has shown that mood disorders such as depression and anxiety can be improved by using medical marijuana.
Most marijuana users enjoy the drug’s ability to induce a sense of euphoria, but that’s not all it does: Marijuana also impairs short-term memory, coordination, and judgment. Research has demonstrated that marijuana intoxication can negatively affect attention, psychomotor task ability, and short-term memory. The intensity of these effects depends on the amount of THC in marijuana.
While marijuana is not physically addictive, it can be psychologically addictive, and some people develop a dependency on it. The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which crosses the blood-brain barrier and binds to cannabinoid receptors in the brain. These receptors influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, body movement, awareness of time, appetite, and pain.
The potential of marijuana in the future
Cannabis research has shown that it has pharmacological effects on many diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders. However, there are many hurdles to conducting human clinical trials because of its illegality. The range of ailments that cannabis may be used for is extensive, ranging from gastrointestinal disorders to neurological conditions.
The problem is that most evidence comes from preclinical studies or observational data, which cannot be used to draw any firm conclusions about whether the drug directly affects symptoms. This is a problem because without randomized controlled trials — the gold standard in medicine — we can’t be sure that there is a drug effect and not just another explanation.
The bottom line
Medical marijuana is now legal in more than half of U.S. states, and that number is growing. Indeed, the practice of prescribing marijuana is snowballing. This growth has even attracted the attention of pharmaceutical giants. They see a lucrative new business opportunity and plan to cash in on medical marijuana patients.
In the end, marijuana is far from a “miracle drug” or wonder cure. It’s not necessarily a miracle drug to treat illness, but it could be valuable in treating some illnesses. It will be interesting to see if more people start choosing marijuana over medications and whether or not medical professionals will speak out on the subject.
That’s it for this time. Thank you so much for reading.
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