THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ON MARIJUANA

­­To some, medical marijuana is a contradiction in terms, immoral or simply illegal..... But to Aldrich and numerous people in the United States and around the world, marijuana, or cannabis, represents an essential medicine that alleviates debilitating symptoms..... Without it, these people wouldn't be able to treat their conditions..... Aldrich thinks he would be dead without marijuana. Others, like Dr. Kevin Smith, who was also featured in these pro-medical marijuana ads, can't treat their conditions for fear of breaking the law..... Smith says that, save for a trip to Amsterdam where he tried marijuana, the autoimmune disorders he suffers from have prevented him from sleeping soundly through the night for the last 20 years.....In states in which it's legal, doctors recommend medical marijuana for many conditions and diseases, frequently those that are chronic..... Among them are nausea (especially as a result of chemotherapy), loss of appetite, chronic pain, anxiety, arthritis, cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, ADHD, epilepsy, inflammation, migraines and Crohn's disease..... The drug is also used to ease pain and improve quality of life for people who are terminally ill.....
The body of research surrounding the medicinal value of marijuana is extensive..... Much of it concerns THC, one of the cannabinoids in marijuana..... THC is what causes people to feel "high" and also what gives cannabis some of its medicinal properties, such as increased appetite..... The human body produces endocannabinoids, its own natural version of cannabinoids..... Studies show that the endocannabinoid system helps to regulate the body's responses "to a variety of stimuli" [source: Nature]..... The body will produce endocannabinoids when needed, but sometimes the effect is very brief..... Endocannabinoid receptors are found throughout the body but are especially prominent in the brain..... The cannabinoids in marijuana, like THC, bind to these receptors, producing various effects, some medicinal, such as reducing pain or anxiety, but also the feeling of being high..... Besides the aforementioned medical uses, research has shown that cannabinoids slow the development of certain cancers [source: Armentano­].....



So how, exactly, does medical marijuana work to treat these conditions? Why, if this medicine is so effective for some people, why does it remain controversial and, in many places, illegal?.....take a look at the medical, legal, and practical issues surrounding medical marijuana in the United States.....examine why some people, like Burton Aldrich, depend on it to live normally.....also examine some of the intriguing intersections between pharmaceutical companies, the government and the medical marijuana industry.....

Then there is Marinol, which the DEA describes as the already existing, legal form of medical marijuana [source: DEA]..... Approved by the FDA and used for treatment of nausea in cancer and AIDS patients, Marinol is a pill containing a synthetic form of THC..... The DEA says that the legal use of Marinol is analogous to morphine being a legal, safe alternative to smoking opium or heroin [source: DEA]..... (Morphine is one of many approved medicines extracted from opium.).....


But some experts consider Marinol and other synthetic substitutes to be less effective -- and more expensive -- than marijuana..... Medical marijuana advocates say that Marinol is a less complete version of marijuana, lacking some of the compounds that make marijuana medically beneficial [source: NORML]..... Smoking herbal marijuana provides patients with a faster acting medication, one whose dosage they can easily regulate..... Marinol may also be more psychoactive than traditional cannabis and present its own set of side effects [source: NORML].....


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