Alfonso, Geonel Marko P.

2POL2
ENG4 March 6, 2014

Marijuana as a Medicine
“I knew and the world, that Herb was created for the use of man. Herb was here before
man, so that means if man can control quietly the laws of who created herb, because herb is not
an illusion, it was created by a divine man for divine purposes”-Bob Marley
Well this herb has many street names like: Weed, Pot, Dope, Ganja, Mary Jane, Blunt,
and many more. Do you have any idea on what type of herb this is? Well it is the infamous
Marijuana. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary Marijuana is a noun which refers to “the
dried leaves and flowering tops of the pistillate hemp plant that yield THC
(Tetrahydrocannabinol) and are smoked in cigarettes for their intoxicating effect”. Marijuana as
we all know is illegal many states and countries for Marijuana are known to be an addicting drug
that can disorient the thinking of people, it causes (time distortion, paranoia, some mental
distortions caused by heavy use of the drug). But did you know that Cigarette smoking causes
more deaths than Marijuana? Did you know that Marijuana can be good in Mental Health? Did
you know that Marijuana can be protective against the formation of cancer? Did you know that
rates of marijuana use among young people tend to decrease when a state adopts medical
marijuana? It may have some bad effects but haven’t many of us thought of its positive side or
good effects? Would Marijuana be considered as a drug if it doesn’t treat or cure anything? Well
can it still be used in medical procedures or treatment?
Today what I’m going to talk about is the use of Marijuana as a medicine and on how it
works in our body. Medicine Marijuana or Cannabis history dates back even thousand years ago
across many cultures. Now, can marijuana be used as a medicine? Well, it is used in treating
patients who have cancer, it is also used in people with AIDS, and it is also used treat pain and
muscle spasticity. So how does it help in treating cancer? It is said that Cannabinoids can serve
as appetite stimulants, antiemetics, antispasmodies, and some analgesic effects which is helpful
in chemotherapy by lessening chronic non-cancerous pain like nausea, and vomiting. It is also
used in treating Multiple Sclerosis as the combination of Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidol
extracts give relief to spasticity.
There are three strains of Marijuana and they are the Sativa, the Indica, and the Ruderalis.
How do they differ? They differ because of produced chemicals; Indica produces a higher level
of Cannabinol while sativa in the other hand produces a higher level of THC. Because of its
stimulating effect sativa is usually used in the morning it may cause a euphoric or what we call a
“High” sensation but it can also stimulate hunger making it a good instrument to treat people
with eating disorders or anorexia. While the Indica is more often used at night because it can
lower the cause of insomnia, but it has more of what we call “stoned” effect as it causes more
meditative sensation than euphoric level because it has a higher Cannabinol to THC ratio.
So if that’s the case why it isn’t legalized in many states? First, cannabis used in treating
cancer patients may have some more good effects than the other medicine but there are some
side-effects like dizziness, dysphoria, and also causes hallucinations. Second, why is it not used
in treating AIDS if it can be helpful? Well, it is because some researchers are bias when it comes
to this topic, it has also been used in few people and some data are not yet proven. It is also said
that it is difficult to predict the pharmacological response to cannabis because the concentration
of the drug depends on way on how one uses it (smoke, drink, or eaten).
Because of that there are many researchers that study Marijuana furthermore to broaden
the use of Medicinal Marijuana. It is also suggested that Marijuana may be feasible in treating
Parkinson’s disease but as the research goes they have noticed that people with these conditions
has not produced good feedback on the therapeutic effect of Marijuana. In 2003 a presented an
argument that cannabinoids might have useful future clinical applications in treating digestive
diseases. In 2005 it was proposed that Marijuana can be an alternative in treating bipolar disorder
because the existing medications were not that effective and for the reason that the researchers
had a strong argument about the certain issue. What could be next? Well as years go by more
states are legalizing it for medical use as technology evolves in the years I think that they can
improve the usage of the drug and lessen its side effects.
For me the reason why Marijuana is being banned in different countries is because it is
being abused by the people. But if it is used in a better way maybe more of us wouldn’t suffer
that much from such illnesses. And lastly I believe that everything that isn’t man made has a
purpose or use in our society. I didn’t talk about this because I want to legalize the use of illegal
drugs; I chose this as my topic to show you on why things should be moderately. I chose this to
present to you that everything is made with a reason and everything has a purpose. I hope that
you learned from my speech. Once again, Thank you for listening and Goodnight!