The Scientific Proof behind Marijuana Effects on Humans - Essay Example

The Scientific Proof behind Marijuana Effects on Humans College The Scientific Proof behind Marijuana Effects on HumansMarijuana is a mixture of shred leaves, stem, and flower buds of the Cannabis sativa plant. In the year 2010, a survey was carried and it was found out that over 17.4 million people in the United States confirmed that they had used marijuana in the previous month (Research and markets adds report, 2013). Besides that, the National Institute on Drug Abuse states that marijuana is the most frequently used illicit drug worldwide, however, there are reports that cannabis may possibly soon be obtainable in the National Health Service and has been classified as a Class C drug that has left several people perplexed regarding the health dangers and advantages of this drug. Marijuana is frequently smoked, however in some cases it can be eaten, blended with food, or prepared as a tea, generally, smoking marijuana will activate effects more rapidly and as expected as compared to eating or drinking it. On the other hand, it takes 2-3 hours after eating marijuana for effects to be realized, and these might last a little longer, for instance, up to 3 hours for smoking and 4 hours if marijuana is eaten. In the past, before efforts to regulate the use and transactions of marijuana, people could use marijuana for various reasons including leisure and for treating various ailments. However, the freedom to use it resulted in various bad outcomes that necessitated the development of control mechanisms. For example, the unchecked use of marijuana was associated with increasing crime levels. In order to curb the bad trends that were developing due to uncontrolled marijuana use, various efforts were made in order to reduce the use of marijuana. Before the 20th century, various drugs and substances were widely used especially in the US. These include; opium, morphine, coca, heroine, tobacco and marijuana among others. There were no laws regulating the use of these drugs and thus people would use them freely and for various reasons (King County Bar Association, 2005). The regulation of marijuana in the US began in the mid 20th century when various associations and groups began calling for government ban and regulation of the drug. After years of pushing and pulling, the government finally complied by enacting various laws that were supposed to regulate the use of all substances including marijuana. Since then, there have been opposing calls regarding these laws, and the outcome of these has been the adoption of medical marijuana in many states. Pros and cons of Marijuana The debate on the legalization of marijuana to be used as a medical substance has lasted for a very long time whereby there are those who are for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, and there are others who strongly are against its legalization. The argument on either side is based on the benefits and risks associated with such a move whereby those who think that legalizing marijuana for medical use is beneficial support its legalization, however, those who think that it would be more risky to legalize marijuana oppose the move. In order to understand the raging debate over legalization of marijuana, it is critical to understand the different views expressed by both sides and it is only after establishing the underlying points and issues that we can be able to have an insight into the debate surrounding marijuana in the United States. Pros of Marijuana There are advantages of marijuana as espoused by the supporters of its legalization whereby the scientific studies have proved that marijuana has some medical value. This is not a new idea because marijuana has been used in the past for medical purposes in the treatment of various ailments classified under therapeutic and palliative groups. In addition to that, smoked cannabis is not only safe but is also effective in the treatment and management of diseases and conditions such as; nausea, pain, AIDs-related weight loss, and palliative care diseases (Hall & Degenhardt, 2003). Nevertheless, marijuana usually makes a person feel high, or have a sense of well being that is why it is abused (Kutz, 2009)., additionally; marijuana relieves pain, control nausea in addition to increasing appetite. Moreover, scientists have discovered more than 400 chemicals in marijuana whereby about 66 compounds, known as cannabinoids, are distinctive to marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is the most famous cannabinoid whereby research has indicated that THC is joined to nerve cells in the body that contain cannabinoid receptors, thus, when THC unites with a nerve cell, it alters the movement of that nerve cell (Leonhart, 2012). Additionally, THC has been identified to reduce pressure in the eyes, increase unease, and cause paranoia, but other cannabinoids generate diverse effects and may neutralize THC, for example, Cannabidiol decreases nervousness and paranoia. Therefore, the amounts of THC to other cannabinoids differ by the nurtured damage, meaning the psychological effect of using marijuana depends on a particular section at hand. Cons of Marijuana Marijuana may cause mental illness whereby people who smoke or ingest it are at risk of severe neurosis, or experience a momentary break of reality, therefore if induced neurosis takes place more frequently in new user or in those individuals who are prone to mental illness. Latest studies emphasize that cannabis users are six times expected to develop schizophrenia than those not using it. Additionally, a study issued in the British Medical Journal, discovered that one in ten people who use cannabis before the age of 15 develop schizophrenia by the time they reach the age of 26 years as compared to three per cent of those teenagers who do not use the drug. On the other hand, another study performed by connoisseurs at Australias Institute of Victoria showed that adolescent girls who used cannabis were more prone to experience despair and nervousness as compared to other adolescents (Greenbaum & Dedrick, 2007). This implies that daily intake of cannabis was linked to a five-fold increase in the dangers whereas those who take the drug weekly double their likelihood of developing the illness. Those who smoke cannabis are more likely to develop lung cancer because it is harmful to lungs as compared to cigarettes. For instance, 3 cannabis joints a day are more likely to cause equal amount of harm to lungs as compared to the complete packet of 20 cigarettes in respect to the British Lung Foundation whereby it discovered that tar from cannabis joints have 50 percent more toxins that cause cancer than cigarettes from tobacco only. This is because users opt to gulp four times more deeply than with tobacco resulting to high levels of respiratory conditions like bronchitis. Nevertheless, other studies prove that benzyprene, present in the tar of cannabis joints, are likely to transform the structure of one of the genes that repress tumors, making it highly risk for people who smoke cannabis joints because of the development of cancer. If constantly and frequently taken just as other drugs, a person may become addicted to marijuana for example, drugs like heroin, and cocaine activate a flow of chemicals in a certain part of the brain referred to as the pleasure centre. Connoisseurs emphasize that this is the feature of an addictive substance; moreover, animal tests have currently discovered that cannabis also generates a flow of chemicals in the similar part. This results to allegations that the drug ought to be more addictive than it was formerly thought, but detractors argue that there are several non-addictive drugs that equally arouse this chemical flow. Marijuana is capable of tempering with the users’ memory and concentration power because it generates a range of psychosomatic and physical effects that might not be predicted at particular times. A latest investigation carried out by Americas Johns Hopkins University indicated that frequent users of marijuana, for instance, those smoking up to 12 joints daily, even after withdrawing from smoking it for a month performed poorly in mental alertness tests than those who merely smoked on one occasion or twice a day. This made researchers to conclude that marijuana use may cause comparable alteration like those after a brain damage, in addition to that, a different study indicated that long-term marijuana smokers concentrated for a short period and had memory spans than short-term users. In the US, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was enacted to control the use of drugs and substances in the United States of America, however, the continued and uncontrolled use of various substances such as marijuana that had prevailed prior to its enactment resulted in various unexpected outcomes such as an increase in crime and addiction levels. Other reasons for the enactment included; adverse effects on education with students dropping out of school or performing poorly, increased family problems such as diversion of family resources into buying substances, reduced productivity in various sectors and development of society with many dependants (Parker, 2006) The CSA stipulates that no person is allowed to plant or conduct research on medical marijuana without the approval of DEA. This means that without a valid permission, scientists and researchers cannot conduct important studies on marijuana and its medical use. Importation of marijuana is also prohibited in the Act, which implies that getting cannabis to study is also problematic. The fact that one has to acquire the approval from DEA to conduct any study on medical marijuana means that even after being granted such approval, such studies will be controlled and monitored DEA. Thus, researchers will not have the liberty to conduct their studies as they deem best (Vastag, 2006). Conclusion People react differently whenever they use drugs, and it applies to marijuana because a person’s reaction to it depending on his/her strength of the marijuana taken and if the person ate or smoked it. Moreover, the legalization of medical marijuana in some states in the US has been effective in curbing the use of the drug. The stringent regulations provided by the CSA ensure that the system is not very vulnerable to malpractices, thus, legalization of medical marijuana in the US is a positive step towards controlling the use of the drug for personal reasons. After years of pushing and pulling for the legalization of marijuana, the government finally complied by enacting various laws that were supposed to regulate the use of all substances including marijuana. Since then, there have been opposing calls regarding these laws, and the outcome of these has been the adoption of medical marijuana in many states. References Greenbaum, P. E., & Dedrick, R. F. (2007). Changes in use of alcohol, marijuana, and services by adolescents with serious emotional disturbance: A parallel-process growth mixture model. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 15(1), 21-32. Hall, W., & Degenhardt, L. (2003). Medical Marijuana Initiatives: Are They Justified? How Successful Are They Likely to Be? CNS Drugs, Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 689-697. King County Bar Association (2005). Effective drug control: toward a new legal framework. Retrieved from http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/law/law_policy_proposal1.pdf Kutz, G. D. (2009). Fraud and Abuse Related to Controlled Substances Identified in Selected States. GAO Reports, 1. Leonhart, M. M. (2012). Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement of Five Synthetic Cannabinoids Into Schedule I. Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 41, pp. 12508-12514. Parker, J. M. (2006). Overview of Drug Control: A Regulatory Primer on Scheduling and Controlled Substance Regulations. Clinical Research & Regulatory Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 3/4, pp. 211-225. doi:10.1080/10601330601079851 Research and markets adds report: Medical marijuana growing in the US. (2013). Professional Services Close – Up. Vastag, B. (2006). US marijuana laws clamping the lid on pot research. Nature Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 12, pp. 1335. Read More