Pros And Cons Of Marijuana Tolerance - Assignment Example

 Pros and Cons of Marijuana Tolerance Introduction Marijuana is a drug that has a scientific name Cannabis Sativa. The drug has been popular all over the world, and there are believes that it can cure a number of diseases. Doctors recommend it for patients who suffer from cancer as a pain reliever. Experts suggest that there is tolerance to marijuana that is the same as tolerance to other drugs such as heroin and cocaine. There is, however, a natural limit that the body has the effect of marijuana. Being marijuana tolerant means one needs more of the drug each time he/she uses it to get high. The paper sets out to discuss the pros and cons of marijuana tolerant and if it is healthy for the person. Part 1 There is an overwhelming reduction of the laws on marijuana use in America. Medical marijuana has been recommended and permitted as part of the law in most of the states. There is an overwhelming evidence on the kind of pain marijuana reduces when one is sick. Marijuana curbs the pain, nausea and vomiting cancer and AIDs patients have as a result of their treatment. The signs and symptoms of Cancer and HIV/AIDS are significantly reduced by use of marijuana. The grass helps to prevent the spread of the cells that causes cancer. The chemical in marijuana prevents the spread by turning off the Id-1 gene found in cancer cells. The gene makes more copies of itself, hence causing the spread of disease. Medical marijuana is recommended and prescribed by many doctors to their patients all over the world. It is safe and efficient and does not have any side effects to the patients who use it on a daily basis. Marijuana has less toxic to the body than the drugs the hospitals prescribe to the patients as a pain reliever. Cannabis sativa has been smoked all over the world for many years, and there has been no report of lung cancer from the use of the drug. The drugs calm the body, and it is a great recreational activity. There is more threat from air pollution in a busy city than there is from smoking marijuana or using cannabis Sativa in any form. Patients who have a prescription of cannabinoids; either the smoked marijuana or marijuana pills have an excellent and improved immune system. Their immune systems are better than those from patients that receive placebos. The underweight patients also have an advantage as they gain four to five pounds more compared to patients that receive placebos (Amar, 2006). Consumer reports on the patients that take marijuana believe that patients suffering from terminal AIDs disease or the last stages of cancer have many benefits from smoking marijuana than any substantiated health risk. The risk of the substance affecting them negatively is slim compared to what the patients gain from using Cannabis Sativa. The federal laws should relax against physicians who prescribe marijuana as medication to their problems and diseases. The lack of withdrawal symptoms suggests that there is no addiction to marijuana, and one can stop using the drug and not suffer any symptoms afterwards. Marijuana tolerance creates an equilibrium and not addiction to the drug. There is change in how the body absorbs marijuana. It is one of the marijuana tolerances. The body adapts to the reception of the drug, and there are no major effects of the drug in the body. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition that makes the doctors and physicians advice medical marijuana to their patients. There is, however, a problem as the high people get from THC has them get temporary impairments of the mind. It may seem to be a drawback to the people using marijuana, but it is therapeutic to have memory loss. It helps for people who have trouble in forgetting painful memories. The patients that suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are perfect for using this type of treatment. Problems with nightmares, agitations and flashbacks can have a solution by using marijuana (Amar, 2006). Marijuana is a perfect appetite stimulant for people who have a problem with eating disorders and appetite problems. The sick individuals who experience problems with eating can have THC capsules that help them in regaining their appetite. Marijuana can help with breathing problems in asthma patients. There is a support in this issue that dates back to the 1970s. There were trials that showed smoking marijuana could help with breathing problems. There has however been no inhaler that contains THC and experts says modern day vaporizers might be the solution to the problem. Glaucoma’s pressure may be relieved by the use of marijuana and THC. The symptoms of glaucoma can have a reduction by the use of medical marijuana. Marijuana is also a source of sleep aid. It helps people who have a problem with sleeping disorders to sleep well. The use of marijuana can cure Alzheimer disease. It is a suggestion from a study done in Scripps Research Institute led by Kim Janda. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, slows the formation and growth of amyloid plaques by blocking enzymes in the brain that causes the disease (Gordon, Conley & Gordon, 2013). People suffering from inflammatory bowel disease have a solution in the use of marijuana as treatment. THC from marijuana interacts with the body cells that play a part of the immune in the gut area to help control bowel diseases. There is an increase in the permeability of the cells in the stomach, thus allowing bacteria into the gut thus causing inflammation. The chemical from marijuana bonds with the ones from the guts making them tighter thus reduces the permeability of the gut walls thus reduces the diseases. Part 2 The initial laws on the relaxation of marijuana have led to tolerance rate increment. People now are taking a high dose of marijuana that is not good for their health. The USA government, however, urges to have studies that will help discover the amount of marijuana one needs in their system before it is declared an overdose (Aggarwal, 2009). There is an urge to review the status of marijuana as a schedule of controlled substances and not recommended for everyone interested in using it. There is, however, much scientific evidence regarding the safety of marijuana use both clinically and at a person’s leisure. The experts strongly support the exception of a criminal prosecution from the federal government for people who use marijuana. It is because there is no dangerous effect resulting from the use of the drug. There is no other drug or medicine discovered yet that has the same kind of mechanism and effect as marijuana. A drug like Dronabinol that has a prescription for capsules has a distinct disadvantage of having synthetic THC, which is one of the many therapeutic benefits found in the Cannabis Sativa plant. Approximately 10% of the people that use cannabis Sativa has a psychological dependence on the drug. People become dependent on the drug to reduce pain and suffering when they are sick. There has however not been any evidence of addiction of the plant from the users (Drake, 2002). There are disadvantages that come with long-term use of marijuana. There is a loss of coordination and distortion in people in terms of vision, time, hearing, increased appetite, and relaxed muscles. A person’s heart rate can increase or speed up from the use of marijuana. The people who use marijuana risk getting a heart attack for the first time users. The memory loss clears afterwards after the drugs clear the mind. The active ingredient in marijuana affects the hippocampus part of the brain. It affects how memory formation in the brain (Borgelt, 2013). The use of marijuana causes a loss of balance in a person as the active ingredient THC messes with the human brain area cerebellum. It is the part of the brain that is responsible for posture, balance, coordination, and reaction time. There is a problem with balance and walking when this part of the brain has interference with the use of Cannabis Sativa. Clumsiness and inability to talk properly are because of the effect from the use of marijuana. The use of cannabis Sativa may increase the level of depression in a person. There is, however, no comprehensive and conclusive evidence to prove this fact (Budney, 2007). Experts, however, say that it is true. Depression from the people who use marijuana has an association with the youth who have an ability to get the mental illness. The long-term use of marijuana causes depressive symptoms from the people who have an individual gene with the risk of depression. 20% to 30% of the people who use recreational marijuana react with an intense form of anxiety, distrust, fear or panic after taking or smoking the drugs. It is reported to be one of the most common side effects from the use of marijuana. Acute psychosis is also one of the reactions a person may get from the use of marijuana for a long time. There is a link associated with marijuana and psychosis that may have an association with the signs and symptoms experienced. The people that use marijuana have altered senses and always have a change of mood after smoking the drug. Teenagers and adolescents who use marijuana for a long time may impair their brain function and development. The persons may have a reduction in thinking, memory and the ability to learn. The effects may be permanent in a person, or it may be long term. Women who choose to use marijuana during their pregnancy may make their children have a problem in development (Gordon, Conley & Gordon, 2013). The children from a mother who was using marijuana have behavioral and brain problems. There are several parts of the baby’s brain that gets affected by the mother’s use of marijuana. Paranoia is one of the effects from the use of marijuana. The persons have extreme and very unreasonable distrust of others. Patients with schizophrenia using marijuana have a worst case of paranoia and distorted thinking. There is a belief that marijuana is not an addictive drug, but there are studies that show it is addictive. The studies show that 10% of the people who use marijuana for a prolonged moment of time get addicted to the drug (Treloar, 2004). The users who get addicted to the use of marijuana report the effect of the drug to their lives. There is lower life satisfaction from the persons who use marijuana. There is also poor mental and physical health of the people who use the drug. The drug use destroys relationships, whether it is with their families, friends or lovers. There is also less career and academic success of the people who use marijuana (Budney, 2007). The use of marijuana has an association with long-term illnesses. A study shows it increases infertility in the male users. It makes them have lower sperm count. Marijuana smokers have the same effect as those of cigarette smokers. The smoke from cannabis Sativa has the same amount of toxins as those from cigarette smoke. Marijuana causes sleeplessness, decreasing the taste in the mouth, and bad temper in the people who use it. The effect of marijuana on the people that use it can turn suicidal if it goes on for a long time (Treloar, 2004). The behavioral interface of the people using marijuana is weird social behaviors. The interaction between long-term marijuana users and other people is wanting as they find it difficult to have a conversation with the non-users (Borgelt, 2013). The young minds that use marijuana while experimenting lose interest in doing any other thing apart from smoking Cannabis Sativa. Part 3 The drug users are very different from cigarette smokers who have an addiction to nicotine. Other drugs like nicotine, hard drugs, and alcohol pose withdrawal symptoms, but marijuana does not have such effects when one decides to stop using the drug. There is a pattern of drug use in America that does not have any gateway effects from them. There has been a popular acceptance for the gateway effects, but scientists who work on them have always had their doubts (Aggarwal, 2009). Other drug users can use the same knowledge and continue using hard drugs like heroine thinking they have no adverse side effects. The doubts have a justification in that the people who have the initial predisposition to using drugs and those that get an opportunity to use drugs are more likely to use marijuana or hard drugs. More people prefer to use marijuana because it is more available than the hard drugs. The approval by the state to use medical marijuana has led to fewer teenagers trying to experiment with the drug. There have been studies suggesting there is a memory loss from the use of marijuana when the brain is still developing. It is the reason the legal age to use marijuana is legally twenty-one years old for many countries around the world. There could be a cognitive impairment due to the blockage of memory formation in adulthood. It happened when the person who had exposure to marijuana did it in the adolescence stages. The other drug users might find this information appealing and try to experiment with heroine and nicotine when they are adults. Conclusion Many pros and cons are associated with marijuana tolerance especially medical marijuana for the terminally ill. The benefits of using marijuana are many, and the understanding of marijuana increases with the increase in the use of marijuana. The long-term use of marijuana can be dangerous to someone’s health as we have seen in the cons of using marijuana for a long term. References Aggarwal, S. K. (2009). Medicinal use of cannabis in the United States: Historical perspectives, current trends, and future directions. Journal of opioid management, 5 (3), 153–68 Amar, B. M. (2006). Cannabinoids in medicine: a review of their therapeutic potential. Journal of Ethno pharmacology, 105 (1–2), 1–25 Borgelt, L. M. (2013). The pharmacologic and clinical effects of medical cannabis. Pharmacotherapy, 33 (2), 195–209. Budney, A. J. (2007). Marijuana dependence and its treatment. Addiction science & clinical practice 4 (1), 4–16 Drake, B. (2002). The Marijuana Food Handbook. Seattle: Green Ronin Publishing. Gordon A.J., Conley J.W., & Gordon J. M. (2013). Medical consequences of marijuana use: a review of current literature. Curr Psychiatry Rep 15 (12), 419. Treloar, C. (2004). Barriers and incentives to treatment for illicit drug users. Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing, National Drug Strategy. Read More