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Cannabis is a type of drug which is also known as weed, dope and pot which are the dried parts of flowers, seeds and stems of a cannabis plant. Cannabis is not only used in a single nation such as the United States, France and New Zealand rather in different parts of the world. The main problem lies in the legalization issues, as cannabis is not legalized in all nations such as China and Indonesia. On the other hand, certain nationals such as Canada, Mexico and many other nations have legalised the use of cannabis. One of the main reasons behind not legalizing cannabis usage is the rise of different kinds of health problems as well as issues including learning, psychological problems, attention and memory.
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement of the respective essay is to examine the issues that are faced in legalising the use of cannabis. The study is responsible for not only identifying the issues rather acknowledging the different uses of cannabis as well.
Issues of using Cannabis
In a recent survey, it has been found that the use of cannabis has multiple negative effects on human health which are explained in detail below:
Addiction: Addiction is one of the mention-worthy negative impacts on human health such as getting addicted to cannabis. As stated by Zhang et al. (2018), the individuals are found to be highly addicted after the consumption of cannabis and thus it is considered to be a drug. After the respective cannabis is used it becomes difficult for the consumer to have control over themselves in stopping its usage resulting in health issues. It can be said from the reports that every 3 out of 10 individuals who had consumptions of cannabis tend to have marijuana use disorder (Gracie and Hancox, 2021). It has also been estimated that 10% of cannabis users have a likelihood of becoming addicted to it.
Mental Health: The use of cannabis has direct effects on the functioning of the brain which creates even more mental problems and challenges for individuals, especially those who are highly addicted to cannabis (Cdc.gov, 2022). It has been observed from the reports that the intake of cannabis causes problems such as it affects the memory, attention, learning coordination, reaction time and emotions of the individuals. It has been observed that the youth is struggling to remember, and pay attention to the things, in their movement and has almost lost perception of time. However, it has been observed that these are the short-term side effects of cannabis. The use of cannabis also leads to various types of long-term side effects on the brain (Cdc.gov, 2022). Cannabis affects the development of the brain. It can be further argued that the use of cannabis especially before the age of 18 can affect the functioning of the brain affecting tiger learning and memory.
Poisoning
Cannabis is mostly an ingredient in smoking; however, the use of cannabis in smoking and other food items or drinks can cause different side effects. It has been observed that the use of cannabis in foods and drinks leads to different risks and it acts as a poison for the body (Cdc.gov, 2022). The intake of cannabis with food or drink can lead to serious injury and intoxicated effects which last for a very long time however depending on the amount of consumption of cannabis. It has been observed that there are many countries and states that have made cannabis legal which has increased the cause of poisoning among children.
Different uses of cannabis
Cannabinoids are counted to be the chemical compounds which are available in enormous number and is developed from the composition of cannabis. As per the view of Leung et al. (2018), one of the main use of cannabis is it is used by patients who are facing chronic pain. Cannabis is mainly used as a pain reliever for chronic pain as it consists of multiple medical product components that are responsible for decreasing the pain originating from chronic disease. Apart from this, cannabis is used as well due to its presence of positive features that are mainly used for medical purposes in order to cure the certain disease which includes:
Prevent diabetes: Diabetes is known to be a complicated disease which is of two types namely Type 1 and Type 2, yet the main reason behind its cause is not well known to date. According to the study by McMichael et al. (2020), research is being performed regarding investigating the coordination between the use of cannabis as well as diabetes. The main drawback in the respective is a lack of proper testing and research on the aspect of the possibility of treatment of cannabis by consuming cannabis in the form of medicine as prescribed by a doctor. In recent times, research has been performed by AMMC (American Alliance for Medical Cannabis) which is responsible for declaring the fact that in case of making medicines which are counted to be a medical products cannabis can be used. The respective ingredient is mainly recommended to be used as it provides assistance in stabilising the level of blood sugar as well as blood pressure (Healtheuropa.eu, 2019).
ADHD: It has been observed from the reports that people who have ADHD struggle to do different types of activities, especially those required to be done with their hands. Patients with ADHD have to face problems and have a lack of concentration which also affects their cognitive performance. However, it can be said cannabis is used for increasing focus and to help individuals with ADHD to develop their capabilities (Fischer, 2020). It can be further argued that the use of cannabis for the medical purposes of ADHD patients has been considered to be way safer than the use of Ritalin and Adderall.
Effectiveness in Hepatitis: The treatment of most complex diseases leads to different kinds of side effects which can be painful as well. The side effects of treatment of diseases especially those that require a very long process can also cause mental health issues, anxiety and psychological problems the treatment of hepatitis C has side effects like depression, nausea, fatigue and muscle ache (Dar et al. 2020). However, it has been observed that Cannabis has the components that can reduce the side effects of treatment and it also makes the overall treatment very effective.
Legalisation of Cannabis is more beneficial
The use of cannabis has several risks associated with it such as extended use of cannabis can lead to mental health problems, respiratory disease and testicular cancer among others which have to be mitigated as much as possible. This though cannot be the reason for the prohibition of the use of Cannabis in several parts of the world. The use of Cannabis offers several health benefits as well which cannot be ignored and must be considered. The use of Cannabis should be legalised due to this underlying reason of the multiple health benefits that are associated with it. If used in a proper manner, it can be used for the treatment of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain and even cancer. These benefits indicate that if its accessibility to young individuals is properly managed then it can prove to be of great benefit to the medicinal and healthcare sector.
Countries in this regard should try to optimise the use of Cannabis rather than prohibit its use completely. The healthcare sector should be encouraged to use it in their medicines to find solutions to several health problems that have not yet been found. Cannabis can be of great help in this regard as this is used in the composition and production of medicines can treat extremely critical diseases such as cancer as well (Fischer, G., 2020). The cannabinoids that are found in the Cannabis plants have been found to have evidence of killing some types of cancer-inducing substances and inhibiting their growth. Cannabis can also be used to prevent vomiting and nausea which is often an after effect of the chemotherapy treatment process. Rather than focusing on the negatives, countries should try to make the best use of the benefits and advantages that are associated with its usage in the healthcare industry.
Doctors, while prescribing cannabis or medicines that have been prepared using cannabis, need to be aware of the harmful effects of the usage of cannabis and must consider their past health history if they ever had any mental health issues. There are many countries around the world where the use of Cannabis has been legalised pertaining to the benefits that it offers especially in the medicine and healthcare sector. Further research needs to be considered in this regard. Cannabis is currently listed under the schedule 1 category by the administration of drug enforcement which needs to be reconsidered if further research has to be carried out to find other health benefits associated with its usage which can further increase the chances of its adoption and legalisation by realising its true potential and benefits.
Cannabis has always been a subject of debate across the globe for quite some time now. It is being debated whether the use of Cannabis should be legalised or prohibited. This essay dealt with this same debate where several factors associated with its usage were extensively analysed including its benefits and drawbacks. It can be concluded from this analysis that there are multiple benefits if the use of Cannabis in the healthcare sector due to which it should be legalised.
Cdc.gov, 2022. Marijuana: How Can It Affect Your Health? Available at https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/index.html [Accessed on 08.02.2022]
Dar, S.A., Bhat, B.A., Khanam, A. and Kousar, S., 2020. A clinical study on risk behaviors and seroprevalence of HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C among injection drug users on opioid substitution therapy: An observational study. Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, 36(2), p.146. Available at https://www.indjsp.org/article.asp?issn=0971-9962;year=2020;volume=36;issue=2;spage=146;epage=150;aulast=Dar [Accessed on 08.02.2022]
Fischer, G., 2020. The somatic and psychiatric burden of Austrian prisoners with substance use disorder illustrated by Hepatitis C infection and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Doctoral dissertation, Medical University of Vienna). Available at https://repositorium.meduniwien.ac.at/obvumwhs/content/titleinfo/5833519/full.pdf [Accessed on 08.02.2022]
Gracie, K. and Hancox, R.J., 2021. Cannabis use disorder and the lungs. Addiction, 116(1), pp.182-190. Available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.15075 [Accessed on 08.02.2022]
Healtheuropa.eu, 2019. Health benefits of cannabis that everyone should know. Available at https://www.healtheuropa.eu/health-benefits-of-cannabis/92499/ [Accessed on 08.02.2022]
Leung, J., Chiu, C.Y.V., Stjepanovi?, D. and Hall, W., 2018. Has the legalisation of medical and recreational cannabis use in the USA affected the prevalence of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders?. Current Addiction Reports, 5(4), pp.403-417.
McMichael, B.J., Van Horn, R.L. and Viscusi, W.K., 2020. The impact of cannabis access laws on opioid prescribing. Journal of health economics, 69, p.102273.
Zhang, Y., Chanana, K. and Dunne, C., 2018. IDMVis: Temporal event sequence visualization for type 1 diabetes treatment decision support. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 25(1), pp.512-522.
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