Top 10 marijuana’s public health pros and cons
Blumenauer was a 24-year-old Democratic state representative from Portland in 1973, when he voted for a law that made Oregon the first state to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.The bill’s floor manager was then-Rep. Stafford Hansell, a Republican from Eastern Oregon.
Possession became a traffic-type infraction punishable by a maximum fine of $100. Lawmakers raised the maximum to $1,000 in 1989, although the full amount is rarely levied.
Lawmakers voted in 1997 to recriminalize possession as a low-level misdemeanor, but opponents petitioned to put it on the ballot in 1998. Marquis says district attorneys recognized that voters would reject it and they did, at the same time they approved marijuana for medical use.
Measure 91 would not change a 2010 ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court, which held that workers can be fired for drug use even if they hold medical-marijuana cards. Opposing campaigns in the Arizona ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana will be featured as presenters along with neutral experts at the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) voter-education exercise this week.
1.Treats Migrains
Marijuana has proven time and time again to be extremely beneficial in treating ailments such as epilepsy, chronic pain, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV, cancer and many more. What we must consider now is its use in treating illnesses that might not manifest themselves physically.
Migraine frequency decreased from a group average of 10.4 migraine days per month to 4.6 migraine days per month.This first clinical evidence for the use of cannabis as a migraine treatment showed a 56 percent reduction in total migraines.Chemicals in cannabis could be effective at treating painful migraines, research has revealed.And cannabinoids, the compounds in marijuana that make you feel high, may even be better at treating pain than recommended migraine medication. Mental illnesses come in many shapes and forms, ranging from insomnia to schizophrenia, and each diagnosis can have completely different effects on the people dealing with these challenges.
2.Slows down Tumour growth
we all have cancer cells in our body. However, there are some foods you can eat that can slow the growth of cancer cells. Of course, we are not discounting modern cancer treatments like chemo and radiation that have helped many patients enter remission. But including these antioxidant rich foods in your diet has proven cancer-cell-slowing effects, and including them in your diet is easy. Now Mirny and colleagues have discovered, to their surprise, that the “passengers” aren’t there just for the ride. In sufficient numbers, they can slow down, and even stop, the cancer cells from growing and replicating as tumors. Increased awareness of your surrounding environment and noticing things around you nobody else usually does such as noises or movements. For example you may be engaged in conversation with someone but you can hear and understand several conversations around you between other people that you’re not actually having to focus on , or you recognize patterns or trends in sounds that nobody else does.
3.For ADD and ADHD
Research about the consequences and effectiveness of using marijuana to treat children, teens, and young adults is mixed.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)is a mental health condition affecting around 6-9 percent of children and young adults, and about 5 percent of all adults around the world.
Currently, medical marijuana is legal in 23 states, and parents and medical marijuana advocates alike have touted the compounds found in pot, known as cannabinoids, for treating kids with epilepsy as well as autism, attention deficit disorder, muscular dystrophy and the pain and nausea of cancer.
Many people have asked me whether medical cannabis might be able to help someone who has debilitating ADD/ADHD, and if I would be willing to facilitate the treatment.Because one of the known side effects of recreational marijuana is the possibility of reducing attention, memory, and cognitive function (especially in children), one could reasonably ask if it is wise to entertain this as a viable treatment modality for such patients. After contemplating this topic extensively, I am now ready to share my current perspective. Because HIV/AIDS is one of the enumerated debilitating medical conditions under Florida law, a person with debilitating ADD/ADHD symptoms suffers from a medical condition of the same kind or class as one of the listed conditions. If all other criteria are met, including determining that the potential benefit of medical cannabis outweighs the potential risks, this ADD/ADHD patient would have a qualifying medical condition.
4.Prevents Seizures
Medical marijuana advocates like Nicole Nazarene said making the drug legal would help provide passionate care for sick and suffering Ohioans such as her daughter who suffers from epilepsy.Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil opposed the legalization effort. Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the United States, according to the National Institute on alcohol and abuse alcoholism. It’s legal for those 21 and older. Only about 22% of adult women and 11% of adult men are lifetime alcohol abstainers. The medical use and health benefits are quite huge.
- Help to treat Glaucoma
- Help reverse the carcinogenic effects of tobacco and improve lung health
- It can help control epileptic seizures
- Decreases the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet’s Syndrome
Legal marijuana is also a problem of public health. While individuals may now have the right to choose to use the drug, the rest of us are not able to choose not to be impacted. The most obvious risk is the possibility of impaired driving. Drunk drivers cause thousands of accidents, injuries and deaths every year. High drivers stand to cause even more.
5.Relieves symptoms of chronic diseases
“Some research suggests that marijuana smokers are diagnosed with depression more often than are nonsmokers — particularly regular or heavy marijuana users. However, it doesn’t appear that marijuana directly causes depression. It’s likely that the genetic, environmental or other factors that trigger depression also lead to using marijuana. For example, some people may use marijuana as a way to cope with depression symptoms. Each state with legalized medical marijuana has its own list of qualifying conditions, and these lists are likely to vary between states. These lists can be obtained easily online or from one’s health care provider.
Medical marijuana is the medical use of the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant to relieve symptoms of, or treat diseases and conditions. The Cannabis plant was used medically for centuries around the world until the early 1900s. If you are plagued by chronic pain, neuropathy or sleep disorders – and want to avoid taking toxic, addictive drugs – you won’t want to miss this life-changing program.
6.Treats Glucoma
Glaucoma is a disease resulting from progressive optic nerve damage. It’s most severe symptoms are a loss of vision and potential blindness. This disease the third-leading cause of blindness in the United States is marked by increased pressure in the eyeball, which can lead to vision loss. In the early 1970s, scientists discovered that smoking marijuana reduced pressure in the eyes. Glaucoma, an eye disease that increases pressure in the eyeball and even leads to loss of vision, responds well to weed. Studies show that marijuana helps decrease the pressure inside your eye. Smoking marijuana may also help slow the progression of glaucoma. Some studies also suggest that marijuana is a safer mood altering substance than alcohol. While more than 17.6 million Americans are addicted to alcohol according to the NIAAA, only 9% of heavy pot users are at risk of becoming addicted. Unlike alcohol, you can’t overdose on cannabis and early research shows very few conclusive long-term effects of smoking pot.
7.Prevents Alzhiemer’s
Chemicals in marijuana may help protect brain cells from the inflammation that often leads to Alzheimer’s disease. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom that marijuana smokers are forgetful and may be doing lasting damage to their brains.Activating the cannabinoid receptors on the nerve cells by exposing them to marijuana compounds prevents the accumulation and toxicity of beta-amyloid. The compounds help the cells get rid of beta-amyloid that otherwise builds up within them and eventually kills them.
8.Calm those with Tourrette’s and OCD
He started out his medical career in the usual way, offering the standard pharmaceuticals and surgeries to his patients, until he came to understand that medicine had gotten it all wrong, that many types of people’s chronic pain, particularly back pain, are caused by repressed emotions that produce stress on the physical body, leading to chronic pain.
9.Relieve PMS
Patients have long turned to alternative therapies for pain management, including acupuncture, reiki, diet and other methods. Due to the addictive nature of opioid painkillers, many patients do not want to get into a cycle of carefully killing their pain while running the risk of becoming addicted, having to detox, and then being left without a way of managing their crippling pain.
We have written before about using weed marijuana to relieve PMS and PMDD symptoms. It’s one of our most commented on posts, at least in part becauselike much of our site, which provides the most comprehensive resource on PMDD and PMS on the web it’s one of the few on the web on the subject of cannabis and PMS or PMDD.
10.May treat Multiple Sclerosis
Many medications are effective in treating multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society continues to seek out better treatments for the common symptoms of MS, including stiffness, pain, and spasticity. And one possible treatment is medical marijuana.
If you have multiple sclerosis, you may want to think it through before you say, “yes.” If you ask experts. whether alcohol and MS mix, the answer is, “it’s complicated.” Like a lot of things in life, there are some pros and cons to the issue.
credit:marijuana.com
