Post #3

Sarah Rodriguez

BBH 143- Post #3

June 1, 2013

                The article that I have chosen this week that directly relates to this week’s class is titled The Pharmacologic and Clinical Effects of Medical Cannabis. This article explains the different uses for medical cannabis, depending on different types of diseases, as well as the effects that medical cannabis has on the human body.  The article explained that scientist have developed several types of cannabiniod medicines to help treat different types of diseases. The types of cannabinoid medicines that are mentioned are Dronabinol, which is schedule III, Nabilone, schedule II, and Nabiximols, which is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  Although each of these medicines comes from Marijuana, which is a schedule I drug, all have been labeled with their own schedule.  The article explains that each of these drugs have primary psychoactive effects which help treat different symptoms in the body. For example, Dronabinol and Nabilone are able to treat nausea and vomiting which helps greatly with patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. These two medicines also help patients with anorexia because they allow them to want to eat again. Although these are big reasons that doctors proscribe patients with this medicine, the number one reason that doctors proscribe them is to help with pain and muscle spasms. The article talks about studies that show medical cannabis to show great improvements in many different types of pain and muscles spasticity.

                Although this article talks a lot about the positive effects that medical marijuana can have on the body, it also looks at the negative effects that it can have as well. The first health concern that doctor’s have found is that medical marijuana most commonly causes dizziness in its patients, which is a minor risk. But they have also found another health concern which scientist believe that when adolescents us medical marijuana it can increase their risk of developing schizophrenia, as well as impairments in memory and cognition.

                I believe that this article gave great insight to both sides of the argument as to whether medical marijuana is good or bad for the human body. After reading it, I will still stick to my opinion that marijuana should be decriminalized and used for medical purposes because there are so many more positive affects that it has on the body compared to the negative ones.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/10.1002/phar.1187/pdf