According to The Office of National Drug
Control Policy, marijuana is the most common illicit drug used in the
United States. It places a significant
strain on our health care system, and poses considerable danger to the health
and safety of the users themselves, their families, and our communities. With the legalization of medical marijuana,
availability has become increasingly easy, and adults as well as children are gaining
access to this drug. Chronic, long-term
use of marijuana can lead to dependence and addiction, and it should not be viewed
as a benign drug.
Marijuana refers
to the dried product of the plant Cannabis sativa. Marijuana contains more than 460 active
chemicals and over 60 unique cannabinoids. The major active ingredient in marijuana is
δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is primarily responsible for its
therapeutic and psychoactive effects. Marijuana
can be used in several different ways, which include hand-rolled cigarettes or
cigars (i.e., joints, blunts) or a water pipe, inhaled through a vaporizer,
ingested in food, or applied topically as a balm (Seamon
et. al, 2007).
When used, the THC
from the marijuana acts upon cannabinoid receptors in the brain. These
receptors are ordinarily activated by chemicals that are naturally occurring in
the body and are part of a neural communication that plays an important role in
normal brain development and function (NIH, 2012). The greatest number of cannabinoid receptors
is found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thinking,
concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
Overactivation of these receptors due to marijuana use, causes the high and effects
that users experience, which include distorted perceptions, impaired
coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and disrupted
learning and memory (NIH, 2012).
Other serious adverse effects include cardiovascular, respiratory, and
long-term psychological conditions.
These altering
effects of marijuana are dangerous and toxic, especially to those adolescences of
school age. There has been recent
increases in use among the youth, and the highest it has been in eight years
for 10th and 12th graders. Additionally, in 2011, more than 18 million
Americans, 12 years of age and older, reported using marijuana within the past
month. Approximately 4.2 million people met the diagnostic criteria for abuse
of or dependence on this drug, and about 872,000 Americans reported receiving
treatment for marijuana use— more than pain relievers, cocaine, tranquilizers,
hallucinogens, and heroin combined (The Office of National Drug
Control Policy).
It is evident that
the use of marijuana can have some serious implications associated to it. Despite some viewpoints that marijuana is
harmless, this drug’s use can propose very real and serious harms. With the legalization of medical marijuana, and the
ease of access, this trend is cause for significant concern among young people,
their families, and communities. It is
important to teach of the effects and repercussions that marijuana use may
cause. Marijuana abuse can be dangerous,
and should not be taken lightly.
It is shocking how available marijuana is nowadays. I know multiple individuals who smoke it. I also know many who have gone to a physician solely for the prescription of medical marijuana. They go complaining of chronic pain in order to legally obtain it such as menstrual cramps and low back pain, even if the chronic pain is not actually there or that the pain could be managed through more natural means or a mild analgesic. I have been torn for a while on my personal opinion on the legalization of marijuana, I feel that it a wonderful substance when used therapeutically for those in chronic pain and terminal illness. But I have a problem with the deception of, more commonly younger individuals, "cheating" the system, especially when they turn around and sell it. Great Post Linda!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Linda and excellent comment Caitlin. Marijuana usage has been so prevalent for so long. Recently, a friend was describing to me how his grandmother reacted to him smoking weed on her back porch during a family reunion. She told him that she had seen him drink alcohol a plethora of times, and she had seen him smoke numerous occasions. She actually preferred the marijuana usage. She claimed that she has seen too many times him and his friends drink and "become stupid...violent." But when he smokes, he becomes calm and relaxed. It is a polar opposite. It was an interesting take from someone with a lot of life experience. I question how many others agree with this notion?
ReplyDeleteMarijuana can definitely be additive and lead to dependence. The big problem with marijuana, and many other class I drugs, is that the government refuses to perform long-term research with the drugs simply because they are illegal. I would dare to say that there are many medical uses of other drugs but that we cannot isolate these properties without doing the research. Also, since Luke brought up tobacco and alcohol, I would venture to say that although those two are legal there is evidence that they kill many more people than marijuana (http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death#sthash.0p7SEyQ5.dpbs). In my opinion, people are going to abuse drugs whether they are legal or not. America has recently tried to crack down with the war on drugs but we just keep wasting tax payers money and giving more power to those with access to the drugs. I say that we should legalize all drugs because it has been done successfully in other countries. Portugal legalized all drugs in 2001 and youth use of illegal drug use fell (http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html). Education is also imperative in order to curb drug use.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting, Linda. I have heard plenty of people say that marijuana is not addictive, not dangerous, and that it should be legalized. I have often heard people compare the use of marijuana to the use of alcohol. I think Luke brings up a great point about violence induced by alcohol and the relative calmness brought on by marijuana. I have also heard people make similar statements about alcohol and marijuana But could that be a blanket statement for any user of either substance? Both alcohol and cannabis are depressants. I also find it interesting when the statements of marijuana not being addictive are made. "In 2011, 4.2 million Americans met clinical criteria for dependence or abuse of marijuana in the past year—more than twice the number for dependence/abuse of prescription pain relievers (1.8 million) and four times the number for dependence/abuse of cocaine (821,000)" (http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends) Like Linda said, there are dangers to the use of marijuana and education is extremely important, especially with the change in climate and the changes to laws related to marijuana are discussed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, Linda.
ReplyDeleteIt is our responsibility as health professionals to provide honest and unbiased information. For this reason, we should obviously talk with patients about marijuana's benefits and side effects. However, much of what I see about marijuana seems misguided and puritanical. For example, I don't believe it is useful for nurses and health professionals to start with the straw man that marijuana is non-addictive and totally safe. I don't believe anyone could honestly present this information about any drug or supplement. Similarly, stating that marijuana is "bad" because it is used as a street drug is misinformation.
As Jordan states, there is little research into the health benefits of marijuana (or the side effects and other downsides). We do know that some marijuana research has demonstrated its ability to slow the growth of cancer cells, subdue side effects of chemotherapy, and decrease anxiety (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23386598). However, health care providers still feel confident standing against it even as they write scripts for opiods and amphetamines (to middle school children! even after knowing about the addictive potential!).
I think a lot of the talk about marijuana has shifted from medical benefits to hippie bashing or other political gamesmanship. Consider this food for thought as my closing: Professor David Musto writes,
The most passionate support for legal prohibition of narcotics has been associated with fear of a given drug's effect on a specific minority. Certain drugs were dreaded because they seemed to undermine essential social restrictions which kept these groups under control: cocaine was supposed to enable blacks to withstand bullets which would kill normal persons and to stimulate sexual assault. Fear that smoking opium facilitated sexual contact between Chinese and white Americans was also a factor in its total prohibition. Chicanos in the Southwest were believed to be incited to violence by smoking marijuana. Heroin was lined in the 1920s with a turbulent age-group: adolescents in reckless and promiscuous urban gangs.
Alcohol was associated with immigrants crowding into large and corrupt cities. In each instance, use of a particular drug was attributed to an identifiable and threatening minority group." David Musto, The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control 4 (1999).
Mauer writes that in the 1970s federal legislation reduced the seriousness of marijuana crimes with respect to other narcotic drugs. This change was not accompanied by new scientific data on the effects of marijuana consumption, but instead by new social data on the average marijuana user. By the mid sixties, marijuana had become a drug used mainly by white college students, and not the fabled drug-addled Mexican immigrants (which caused marijuana to be scheduled and criminalized in the first place). As a result, the power structures favored the reduction in penalties for marijuana use and by the 70s, the executive branch of the federal government favored decriminalization of marijuana. (source for all facts from Mark Mauer, Race, Class, and the Development of Criminal Justice Policy, 21 Rev. Pol’y Res. 79, 823 (2004))
One of the other issues with marijuana is poly drug intoxication. This complicates the issue because it makes it more difficult to point to one or another substance with cause and effect relationships. I was working with a patient in the neuro ICU last month who flipped his car multiple times. I went back to read his toxicology report. His blood had cannabinoids, benzos, and 3 times the legal limit for alcohol. Somewhere between two and three times the legal limit it becomes difficult to impossible to remember your name, let alone speak. Now add some benzos (which besides their own depressant effects, potentiates alcohol), and some pot for good measure, and what a party–that is until you end up in the hospital at age 23. This kid will likely need 24 hour care for the next 5 decades. The point of this story is to ask the question of what role marijuana played in this tragedy.
ReplyDelete