Name Name of the Professor
Course no Date Marijuana Medicine
The term marijuana refers to the components of the hemp plant cannabis sativa after they dry .The use of the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its extract is what is called marijuana medicine. According to the U.S Food and Drug Administration, this usage is illegal. The usage of some processed extract is legalized by the federal law. These are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It is compound of marijuana that increases desire for food and reduces nausea .It also act as an analgesic and an anti-inflammatory drug. The other one is Cannabichromene (CBC) which has the same function in addition of being an antiepileptic drug(Owen, Sutter, and Albertson, 4 ).
Marijuana plant has been used for many years as a herbal medicine .In the ancient world marijuana plant was used to treat different ailment .In china it was used to treat menstrual disorder. In Egypt it was used as an antihelmithic drug .There is clear documentation of its use as a herb drug. The argument in the modern medicine is the balance between the benefits of marijuana and the health risk it has to the user(Owen, Sutter, and Albertson). In America, 23 states and Washington Dc has legalized the usage of smoked marijuana in variety of medical conditions. The federal is still clear, that the use of marijuana is illegal. According to the Director National Institute of Drug Abuse, the call for the legalization and the acceptance of usage of marijuana as a recreational drug is evident and there need for people to have enough information on both its adverse health effect and possible medicinal benefits .I feel that, marijuana medicine should not be legalized until is proven to be safe and reliable(Lynne-Landsman, Livingston, and Wagenaar ,16).
In this essay explain the adverse effect of marijuana to support my position. Then I will discuss the opposing position. Finally I will give the probable action that could be taken and the way forward.
The health adverse effects of cannabis are many and life threatening .as a result, the use of marijuana should be highly regulated. These health effects depend on the compound of the plant consumed. The most researched product is the TCH is responsible for marijuana toxicities(Volkow et al.12).
Marijuana abuse has both short term and long term effects to a person wellbeing .In addition, researchers have focused on its effect on vital organs which including ,the brain, heart and lungs(Volkow et al,.).
Cognition is affected by marijuana intoxication .Several changes in the brain occurs .A person becomes crowded in mind .There is poor orientation in time, person and place. Concentration span, judgment and speech is also affected. There is mixed feeling in different users, some may be euphoric and relaxed while others may be nervous and anxious. Various factors influence influences how long the effect will last. They include the strength of the product, the forbearance of the user and method of administration. My question is, are all these factors put in consideration when bill are passed to legalize the use of marijuana? Furthermore, research shows the user does not get total tolerance. When tested they have significance impairments(Marmor).
Every government puts measure to reduce traffic accidents. Considering that there is impairment in decision making, poor orientation in time, position and person, accidents on our are many, true to my words studies have shown that about 97 % the user drive while under influence of the drug(Marmor) The argument is that when compared to alcohol marijuana causes less impairment, the facts remains that it causes an increase of 2-3 fold of accident in our road. Should we still go on and legalize its use? Then there would be an increase considering that the probability of and individual causing a fatal accident is directly related to the level of THC in the blood. This would be the case if everybody can get access to this product at disposal. In addition, an individual with tolerance may respond poorly in case of emergency, due brain impairment remains(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla). Rarely does a person abuse one drug. Many marijuana users use abuse alcohol, it doubles the tragedy in our road causing more accidents(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla, 14).
With persistence use of marijuana, the impairment becomes irreversible. Although some study shows that the brain function may normalize after the discontinuation, slow processing of data may be evident for many years but it may not be easy to notice but in moment of truth when the brain is overworked, they are detected when the person fails to make the right decision(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
In support of my position, I compare the brain to a computer and should not be tempered with. The changes in the brain are as a result of stimulation of cannabiniod receptors by the THC. Through the study of the physiology of the brain, it showed less function in the part of the brain involved in memory. Persistent use of marijuana reduces the size of hippocampus and amygdala where most of the cannabinoid receptors are located(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
This part of the brain undergoes changes during development. Long term use of marijuana could result in permanent changes in these vital parts of the brain leading to adverse cognitive complications later in life. More research showed that chronic users also have large cerebellum it results from lack of regulation in transportation at the synapses .When all these factors are combined they show that chronic use of marijuana can have dangerous damage the brain .this could be the case if its usage is not regulated(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
Vital organs of the body are not spared, the toxins in the marijuana smoke irritates and damage the ciliated cell lines the bronchioles , without the cilia the lung respiratory tract is unable to propel dust and other foreign body away from the lungs. These individuals are prone to respiratory tract infections. They are constant patient of cough. Inflammation leads to chronic changes causing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis. Law makers could be trying to some problems while creating more. Furthermore smoking marijuana interfere with innate immunity of the lung .it impairs the function of alveolar macrophages. These cells engulf microorganisms. As a result, these people are prone to respiratory infections(Owen, Sutter, and Albertson)
When one mention cancer, death rings in our mind .Marijuana smoking is risk factor in cancer especially cancer of the lungs, head and neck. This is caused by gene mutation of cells in the respiratory tract .These cells become premalignant before turning to invasive cancer. Although few study have been done, it is well know that smoke has hydrocarbons which are carcinogenic. Cannabinoid is used to control pain in cancer patient but there is risk of having more cancer patient if its use is not regulated by the law(Owen, Sutter, and Albertson). Hypertension is becoming a global problem. We can only think of a way forward to reduce its comparison but not the vice versa .Hypertension comprise the function of the heart especially in those individuals having preexisting heart anomalies. Use of marijuana is a risk factor for development of hypertension. There is 4.8 fold increases in cases of cardiac arrest in those who smoke compared to non smokers. There was also dosage relationship in this study. That’s why I support the limitation in marijuana consumption(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
Study on reproduction indicated that they are cannabinoid CBI receptors in the sperm and the ovum. There is also endogenous cannabinoid ligand. Synthesis and degradation is well regulated for normal reproduction to occur. If this harmony is disturbed hypothalamus –pituitary –gonadal cycle is interfered with leading risk of infertility or impotence. Studies were done on animals but this could happen in human being .California teratogenic information service reported that the frequency of birth defect did not increase in marijuana smokers(Volkow et al.) .
There is rise of lymphocytic defect in the cord blood of infant and an increase in specific cardiac defect such ventricular septal defect. Lymphocytes are involved in body immunity. Compounds in the marijuana crosses the placenta barrier during pregnancy .They can cause intrauterine growth restriction and cognitive problem or even intrauterine fetal death due to preeclampsia. If licensed drugs which are discovered to be teratogenic are removed from the market why should we not think of using marijuana only when benefits outweigh the risk(Owen, Sutter, and Albertson).
Health should be holistic; psycho-social health is one of its components. Use of marijuana leads to dependence and relapse in smokers(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).If a person start smoking at an age of 18 years there is a 9 %probability of addiction compared to 18% if a person start to smoke before this age .withdraw symptoms such as apprehension, disturbance in circadian rhythm and bad temper are contributory(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
It is not very clear where depression and apprehension leads to use of marijuana. Research showed that marijuana active neuroendocrine stress pathway which is regulated by endogenous cannabinoid. This interference leads to depression and anxiety. This is supported by MRI imaging of frontal and limbic system which showed decreased activity in chronic marijuana users(Marmor).
High dose of marijuana is risk factor of psychosis which is a disconnection from the reality; this could be terrifying or could lead to risky behavior. The outcome could be psychotic disorder or schizophrenia which causes impaired thinking, perception one becomes antisocial. It can be the primary cause or unmask the condition in a predisposed person. Marijuana increases the risk of schizophrenia by 1.4 fold. In addition there is high rate of decrease in brain volume in schizophrenic marijuana users compared to non users. The number of patient in the rehabilitation centers is increasing due to drug abuse. In these error of technology with require good brain that can make good decision and prevent mental disorder ,therefore use of marijuana medicine should be regulated(Marmor).
Interference with the function of the brain will affect the academic performance of an individual. Good performance is influenced by many factors, proper reasoning and decision making is one of them .Marijuana use has been implicated with poor performance in school and lack of discipline among students(Volkow et al.).

According to a 21-year longitudinal study of 1265 New Zealand adolescent, it was found that marijuana use is associated with abuse other drugs, felony ,despair and suicidal behavior. We don’t want to destroy our youth so lets us standardize marijuana use(Volkow et al.).
Drug abuse ,marijuana being as an example, leads to other adverse outcome such spread to of disease .With the error of HIV and AIDS we should be very carefully with drug abuse .Addicts can exchange drug for sex .this can lead to spread of this disease. In addition, early drop from school will result to an unemployment, unplanned pregnancy and low social economic status. Efforts to eliminate HIV could be frustrated by allowing Cannabis medicine(Marmor).
If the use of marijuana is not regulated drug cartel can uses this opportunity and illegally traffic other hand drugs into the country. Without strict measure the drug can be exported to other countries where regulations are standardized leading to a global problem of drug abuse especially in the third world countries(Volkow et al.)
Finally, if everybody gets access to strong analgesia for mild pain, then what could happen in severe pain in chronic diseases such as cancer? The quality of life could be interfered with in palliative care. This is because human being has a tendency of using what will alleviate the pain very fast. Marijuana should be used appropriately in order to benefit individual who must use it. It would be very difficult to control its usage if everybody is allowed to use it. If ordinary over-the –counter non inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are misused, I fail to understand what will prevent the misuse of marijuana .unlike the NSAIDs marijuana has euphoric effect thus high likelihood of abuse .Its use should be regulated if were to avoided body tolerance(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).

Use of marijuana is associated with Amotivational syndrome where by an individual loses interesting in what is doing .These people may drop from school, work or failure perform their family responsibilities. There is no enough evidence to support it(Marmor).
Studies have shown that in smoking of cannibas can predispose patient who are on chemotherapy or those who are immunocompromised to rare diseases such as chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.It can occur after contamination of marijuana by aspergillus fumigatus. Of the 21 marijuana smokers tested 11 had precipitins to aspergillus(Marmor).
Studies have shown marijuana smokers are prone to upper lobe disease which has been referred to as marijuana lung .It is explained by deep when smoking which puts the smoker at a risk for bleb rupture leading to pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
There are also medical conditions that limit the use of even the prescribed cannobinoid products. They include: Current, past or family history of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, hypertension, severe cardiopulmonary anomalies, pregnant and breast feeding women and in chronic renal or hepatic diseases. Careful precaution should also be taken in asthmatic, in panic disorder, former drug abusers or patient on antidepressants. The general public may not have this information or if they have it may be insufficient. As a result it would be safer enough if cannibas compounds are only taken with doctors prescription in order to worsening of these conditions or even death .There should be fall up for complication and advice on the of heavy machine or driving those on other medications should be advised accordingly to avoid drug interaction(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla). All these may not be possible if marijuana medicine is legalized even to illiterate people

In legalizing the usage of marijuana the law makers in these state argued that the total social cost of trying to control its usage is vey huge. They said law abiding individual age in prison for harming nobody. Police spend a lot of time for hunting the users’ .According to F.B.I; in 2012 65800 people were arrested for possessing marijuana, the time could be used in other important issues. In my opinion prevention of dire outcome that could be cause by the abuse of marijuana is very important.
According to the American civil liberties union, $ 3.6 billion are used in enforcing this law .The figure may be huge but the cost of failure to regulate marijuana use might be higher. Many people who are arrested may land into prison but the booking tarnishes their names. As a result they experience challenges when they are searching jobs. In opposition to this argument, I think a marijuana misuse may cause psychoses. These individuals may not even look for that job. The drug policy alliance reported that war on drug has failed despite costing the country $51. Three decades effort to control marijuana has no fruits. 30 million American use marijuana .If this is the number what would the result if no regulation? The figure would be large .After tracking about 30,000 individuals,2012 human watch reported that 90% of those marijuana users who had no history of crime did not commit crime in future.
There was also a claim that the enforcement was an act of racism .The enhancement targeted the Mexican immigrant and African Americans. Comprehensive 2013 report showed blacks were 8.3 times more likely to be arrested.

Racism should be addressed without legalizing the use of marijuana .Although marijuana has a lot of side effect; few medical uses have been documented and are the basis of some state in America in legalizing its usage
It has been used as an antiemetic drug in treatment of adverse effect on antineoplastic drugs .When given in law doses it may synergize the effect of other drugs it is also used in other diseases such as AIDs and hepatitis to treat nausea. High dosages are used causing more side effect .In addition together; it is inferior to standard antiemetic drugs such as metoclopramide(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).We should stick to approved drugs with fewer side effects.
THC is an appetite enhancing drug that can be used to treat anorexia and cachexia.When used in small frequent adding to a maximum of 20g, it doubles the appetite in an individual and the results are evident after six weeks especially in AIDs patients. After use for seven months, the patient retains a steady body weight. It also enhances appetite in Alzheimer disease patient. Abuse of marijuana enhances spread of AIDSs(Volkow et al.) .Our focus should on how to avoid spread of the disease other than treating the symptoms.
Compounds of marijuana such as THC, nabilone and cannabis are used to treat spasticity in multiple sclerosis or damage in the central nervous system. It also alleviates ache, tremor paresthesia and ataxia improves .It is also thought to treat urine incontinence. With legalization of usage of marijuana, more accident could leading to many people having spinal could injury. Clinical studies indicate that marijuana is useful in treatment of movement disorders such dystocia and tardive(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).

There may be partial or total control of symptoms. It can be used to treat dyskinesia in Parkinson disease due to levodopa adverse effect. On the other hand marijuana abuse interferes with brain function which could later in life predispose one to movement disorder(Thomas, Kloner, and Rezkalla).
Relieve of chronic pain is one of the major consideration in call for use marijuana medicine .It is used In chronic ailment such as cancer ,rheumatoid arthritis, chronic bowel pain and neuralgia(Volkow et al.). It is an important use. My argument is that marijuana should be regulated to be used appropriately
Because cannabis reduces intraocular pressure, it is used in treatment of glaucoma. It decreases the pressure by 25-30%. Other drugs can be used to treat glaucoma(Marmor).
For many years marijuana has been used to treat epilepsy. The evidence is based on studies done in animals. It also enhances the effect of other antiseizure drugs. Marijuana has been used to treat complicated seizure disorders. Unfortunately cannabis may precipitate seizure(Marmor).
Comparing the adverse effect of marijuana and the basis of the argument by those who are advocating for legalization of the marijuana medicine , I will support my argument that marijuana medicine should not be legalized. It can cause most the disease than it is thought to treat .allowing use of a cannibas medicine will not be a solution to racism. We should focus of employing more police to curb the vice .public education on the harmful effect should be emphasized. Future research should compare long term cost with day to cost in control of use of marijuana Work Cited
Lynne-Landsman, Sarah D., Melvin D. Livingston, and Alexander C. Wagenaar. “Effects of State Medical Marijuana Laws on Adolescent Marijuana Use.” American Journal of Public Health 103.8 (2013): 1500–1506. Web.
Marmor, J B. “Medical Marijuana.” The Western journal of medicine 168.6 (1998): 540–543. Web. The authors start by summarising the back ground information.They then give the context,which is followed by research methods.Potential therapeutic application of marijuana is explained.They also explain the harmful effect of herbal marijuana .Details on smoking marijuana are given.They also focus on marijuana research ;its limitation and challenges.They explain the limitation and challenges in prescription of marijuana drugs.and they conclude by summarising the above details .This article is agood source of information of therapeutic use and adverse effect of marijuana.

Owen, Kelly P., Mark E. Sutter, and Timothy E. Albertson. “Marijuana: Respiratory Tract Effects.” Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology 2014: 65–81. Web. The authors gives background on marijuana.They graphically represent the number of marijuana users in america. They explain the pharmarcology of marijuana,its absorption and metabolism and the physiology.Adverse effect of marijuana is explained ,effect on respiratory tract,neoplastic effect and effect on immune system and other effects such baro trauma effect .They conclude by admitting more research should be done to understand the effect of individual cannabiniod.
Thomas, Grace, Robert A. Kloner, and Shereif Rezkalla. “Adverse Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Peripheral Vascular Effects of Marijuana Inhalation: What Cardiologists Need to Know.” American Journal of Cardiology 2014: 187–190. Web. The article explains adverse effects of marijuana, such as addiction,effect in brain development,its possible use as agateaway drug,effect on school pertformance and lifetime achievement,risk of motor vehicle accident and risk of cancer and other effect on health .It also covers limitation in evidence and gap in knowledge .Clinical conditions with symptoms that can be alleviated by marijuana are discussed.It then summarises by an overview .The article has recommedable information on marijuana.
Volkow, Nora D. et al. “Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use.” New England Journal of Medicine 370.23 (2014): 2219–2227. Web.