As we all know Marijuana legalization has long been a matter of conflict. Legalizing and regulating marijuana will bring one of the nation’s largest cash crop under the rule of law. This will create jobs and economic opportunities in the formal economy instead of the illicit market. A new search reveals that marijuana can effectively treat both pain and insomnia in people who want to avoid prescription and over the counter pain and sleep medications- including opioids. Many people have used marijuana, or cannabis to treat their ailments for at least 3,000 years.
What is Marijuana?
Marijuana or marihuana is a name for the cannabis plant and more specifically a drug preparation from it. Marijuana as a term varies in usage, definition and legal application around the world. Medical cannabis or medical marijuana is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. Preliminary evidence suggests that cannabis can reduce nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy, improve appetite in people with HIV/AIDS, reduces chronic pain and muscles spasms.
A study published in ‘Journal of Psychoactive Drugs’ looked at 1,000 people taking legalized marijuana in an American state. They found that among 65 percent of people taking cannabis and 80 percent of them found it is very helpful. This results in 82 percent of people who were taking marijuana were able to reduce pain or they have stopped taking the counter pain medications, and 88 percent of people were being able to stop taking opioid painkillers. 74 percent of 1000 interviewees bought it to help them sleep, 83 percent of them said that they had reduced or stopped taking painkillers or prescription sleep aids.
The study suggested that cannabis could lower opioid use but the researchers said that more research needs to be done to understand the therapeutic benefits of cannabis.
Benefits of Marijuana:
- Slow and stop cancer cells from spreading
- Prevent Alzheimer’s
- Treat Glaucoma
- Relieve Arthritis
- Control Epileptic Seizure
- Ease the pain of multiple sclerosis
- Soothe tremors for people with Parkinson’s disease
- Help with Crohn’s disease
- Decrease anxiety
- Protect Brain after a stroke
Traditional over the counter medications and painkillers can help but they may also have serious side effects. Opioids depress the respiratory system, meaning that overdose may be fatal. “People develop tolerance to opioids, which means that they require higher doses to achieve the same effect. This means that chronic pain patients often increase their dose of opioid medications over time, which in turn can increase the risk of overdose,” said Julia Arnsten professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
She further said that sleeping pills can lead to dependence, and can also cause grogginess the next day, interfering with people’s work and social lives. As a consequence, many people have started taking marijuana to help with their symptoms of pain and insomnia.
