By: Briana Nelson
When people hear the term marijuana, they tend to associate it with illegal business or high school stoners. However, they don’t see the positive effects that the substance may offer. The debate over medical marijuana has been a hot topic in the medical field for a very long time. Here are some of the pros and cons of using medical marijuana.
Currently, marijuana is available for medical usage in 44 of the US states, with the drug being fully legal in 17 states. In a medical setting, marijuana is most often used for pain control, oftentimes as a substitution for painkillers like Advil when a patient is unable to use those regular painkillers. Additionally, marijuana can be used to relax muscles, and has been said to aid in the relief of both tremors and chronic pain.
However, with the use of a drug like marijuana, there are some risks that come with it. Marijuana negatively affects the brain, so it's like a give and take relationship between the mind and the body: your body relaxes while your brain softens, resulting in effects on memory and cognitive ability. In addition, smoking the substance is harmful to the lungs and may
cause cancer and other lung issues.
(Above) Marijuana is available in many forms like edibles, oils, and regular pain relief treatment, so the smoking side effects may not be experienced.
Your body already contains marijuana-like chemicals, so with the use of marijuana, those chemicals are strengthened which allows the marijuana to alleviate pain. It has been found that marijuana doesn’t have to be smoked in order to be effective, and that it is safer than other pain medications like opium. All the effects of marijuana, both good and bad, are still being studied, however with marijuana being prohibited in some countries, it limits the substance’s availability for research.
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