Washington state and Colorado have given marijuana a legal status. Other states are equally interested and are thinking of doing the same. People are now realizing the medical implications of marijuana. There are some accepted health benefits of marijuana. Dispensaries for recreational marijuana have come up in Colorado as it is legal there. However, medical marijuana has its own benefits.
As marijuana has been stamped as Schedule 1 Controlled Substance, it requires to be tested meticulously with utmost care and attention. But some marijuana studies conducted in the recent times demonstrate great potential and promise for fulfilling medical requisites. Marijuana can truly contribute to the progress of medicine. Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN is regarded as an expert who has changed his mind about the efficacy of marijuana in treating several medical conditions effectively.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is America’s top physician who has completely changed his stance and is up in total support of medical marijuana in treating few serious medical conditions effectively. Dr. Gupta is a well-known medical correspondent in CNN. He had previously underestimated the efficacy of marijuana. However, recently he found the scientific literature on marijuana’s role in the clinical world as reasonably unimpressive. He now realizes that the claim by legitimate patients that their condition and symptoms got alleviated thanks to the assistance from medical marijuana, was right.
Marijuana’s Plus Points
The use of medical marijuana and its effects were well documented in the case of a three year old child who went from having 300 seizures a week to just three a month under the treatment.
Dr. Gupta adds that unlike cocaine, other narcotic drugs or even cigarettes, marijuana does not have a high addiction potential.
Is it Safe then?
The doctor’s latest post has brought forward some of his concerns about the usage of marijuana for medical purposes. Being a father, he has expressed his inhibitions about the administration of the drug to young children, as it may have long-lasting effects on a developing brain. These effects range from lowering of IQ to serious disorders like schizophrenia.
Addiction is definitely a concern, as one person overdoses on a prescription drug every 19 minutes. However, Dr. Gupta did not find a single case of OD-ing on marijuana, which is encouraging. Another issue is the lack of research investment and opportunity into medicinal marijuana.
Reception of the Idea
Marijuana is legal for medical use in the District of Columbia and 20 other states including California, Arizona, Connecticut, Alaska, Delaware, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, New Jersey, Michigan, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Washington State. Maryland has a proactive hospital-based program for medical marijuana. Different states crack down differently when it comes to limits of prescribed quantity, and also the conditions for which it is allowed to be prescribed. These are usually confined to chronic pain, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, and caner.
Prestigious medical bodies like the New England Journal of Medicine have conducted surveys which show an unequivocal amount of support for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. More than 75% of doctors expressed willingness to use marijuana to treat a hypothetical sixty eight year old patient suffering from breast cancer which had metastasized to the chest, lungs and spine.
This support, however is not echoed by all famous agencies, with big names in the business like Mayo Clinic openly declaring that they do not support the implementation of medicinal marijuana in any form, state or purpose in hospitals’ treatment regimes. The chief reason stated for adopting this stance is the high probability of psychological damage or disease, and the addiction-prone nature of subjects under the age of 25.
Dr. Gupta sees no end to this battle of two conflicting viewpoints but foresees medical marijuana usage in clinics to increase by at least a certain amount over the next few years.
Author Bio: Charlie Brown is a journalist, blogger and writer. He is presently actively pursuing the growth of recreational marijuana dispensaries across the country.
