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My opinion on medical marijuana
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There’s little doubt about the dangers of opioid use, even when they’re prescribed by a doctor. For many people suffering chronic pain, prescription opioids have been the “solution” of choice advocated by their doctors and other medical professionals.
The recent opioid crisis shows the dangers of this solution very plainly. As a result, many opioid users are looking for a safer alternative. They want to say goodbye to opioid use, but they need another way to manage their symptoms.
Could medical cannabis be the answer?
The Dangers of Opioids
Most opioid users are aware of the dangers these substances carry. They are incredibly addictive, despite pharmaceutical companies’ claims to the contrary. The body develops a tolerance to them over time,
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Use of these substances over the long term results in dependency. Your body develops a tolerance, resulting in the need for a higher dosage. Some users mix different opioids, while others increase their doses.
At a certain point, your body becomes dependent on opioids. Without them, you cannot function normally. You’ll experience withdrawal symptoms. With opioid use, withdrawal can be deadly.
Withdrawal is experienced on top of the symptoms you were trying to manage. If you have chronic pain, for example, you’ll experience the withdrawal symptoms on top of your chronic pain.
Reducing Use and Dependency
For many opioid users, quitting “cold turkey” just isn’t an option. The risks of withdrawal are too significant. Your body is too dependent on the opioids. In addition, you’ll experience the symptoms you were trying to manage through opioid use.
Reducing or stopping opioid use has to be managed. Medical cannabis shows promise in this area. Many people are already suggesting it should be used in opioid use-reduction therapies.
Research shows patients who introduce medical cannabis into their treatment programs can reduce their opioid use by nearly 65 percent. People who were using multiple opioids were able to reduces doses of all opioids. Some were able to eliminate some of the opioids they were
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Some medical professionals still prescribe opioid treatments by default. Cannabis is an excellent alternative.
If you’re leery about opioid use, stop before you even start by trying medical cannabis instead.
The Safer Alternative
Although some people are concerned about the risks of cannabis, it’s proven to be much safer than opioids. It’s less addictive than opioids. It may even be less addictive than tobacco and alcohol.
It also requires much lower doses than is typical with opioids. A medical cannabis treatment can be just as effective with a much lower dose. In fact, some studies suggest higher doses have contradictory effects: A high dose of cannabis may increase pain, whereas a low dose reduces it.
Medical cannabis is also more affordable. You won’t feel pressure to find a less expensive alternative. Licensed producers also ensure the product you receive meets quality and safety standards as well.
Something to Consider
If you’re hoping to stop opioid use, or even avoid an opioid treatment altogether, consider medical cannabis. It’s the better
Almost one hundred years ago, prescription drugs like morphine were available at almost any general store. Women carried bottles of very addictive potent opiate based pain killers in their purse. Many individuals like Edgar Allen Poe died from such addictions. Since that time through various federal, state and local laws, drugs like morphine are now prescription drugs; however, this has not stopped the addiction to opiate based pain killers. Today’s society combats an ever increasing number of very deadly addictive drugs from designer drugs to narcotics to the less potent but equally destructive alcohol and marijuana. With all of these new and old drugs going in and out of vogue with addicts, it appears that the increase of misuse and abuse is founded greater in the prescription opiate based painkillers.
Opioid addiction is a tragedy that affects countless of Americans on a daily basis. Almost everyone is acquainted to someone, who suffers from opioid addiction. Everyone, but specifically family and friends of the victims to opioid addiction need to understand why their loved ones are so susceptible to becoming addicted to opioids. The word opioid in itself is complex to define, but it entails a variety of prescription medications. Most opioids are used as pain management medications and qualify as CII medications also known as narcotics. They are supposed to be used on an “as needed” basis, but that is not the case for many users of opioids. Opioids cause great fear in the health community because they are easily addictive and
Medical marijuana is becoming increasingly popular with patient with chronic pain, cancer, HIV patients, and patients with epilepsy. Patients who use medical marijuana are able to use many different forms of
By the year 2000 opioid medicine containing oxycodone etc., are being abused and misused and more than doubled in 10 years’ time.
Opioid’s chemical composition consist of many highly addictive substances which cause the human body to become quickly tolerant. Many opioid users become addictive to the substance because the doctors have been over prescribing. “In the United States, there were 14,800 annual prescribed opioid (PO) deaths in 2008” with the US having less restrictions (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). The United States have implemented more regulations so that “high levels of PO-related harms been associated with highly potent oxycodone formulas” will decrease (Fischer, Benedikt, et al 178). With the regulations, it does not change the fact that opioids are is destructive. The regulations assistance by lessening the probability of patients becoming addictive to opioid. There are numerous generations that are effected and harmed by the detrimental effects of opioids on opioid-dependent patients.
Medical cannabis is far less harmful than prescription opioids in terms of risk of dependence and overdose.
Opioids work by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors which are located on nerve cells in the body. When the drug attaches to the receptors it reduces the perception of pain, but it can also cause drowsiness, altered mental status, and nausea. Misuse and addiction to opioids are very common. According to the CDC 1,000 people annually are seen in the Emergency Department for treatment regarding misuse of prescribed opioids. Addiction occurs in older adults aged forty years and older more frequently than adults aged twenty to
In the United States, opioid addiction rates have majorly increased . Between 2000-2015 more than half a million individuals have died from Opioid overdose, and nearly 5 million people have an opioid dependence which has become a serious problem. The Center for Disease control reports that there are 91 deaths daily due to opioid abuse. Taking opioids for long periods of time and in
On the typical day, over 90 people will die at the hand of opioid abuse in America alone (National). In fact, as of 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were dependent and abusing opioids. The Opioid Crisis has affected America and its citizens in various ways, including health policy, health care, and the life in populous areas. Due to the mass dependence and mortality, the crisis has become an issue that must be resolved in all aspects.
Every year, 2.6 million people in the United States suffer from opioid abuse and of that 2.6 million, 276,000 are adolescents, and this problem is only escalating. An individual’s physical and emotional health suffers as well as their personal lives as they lose employment, friends, family, and hope. Opioid addiction begins with the addictive aspects of the drug. People easily become hooked on the relieving effects of the opioids and suffer withdrawal symptoms if they stop using the drug completely because their nerve cells become accustomed to the drug and have difficulty functioning without it; yet the addiction to the drug is only one aspect of the complex problem. The stigma about opioid addiction has wide-reaching negative effects as it discourages people with opioid abuse problems from reaching out.
Medical marijuana is referred to parts of herb cannabis that is used as a form of medicine or herbal therapy. These parts contain the compounds that produce the mild altering effect that recreational users seek when smoking or ingesting the plant. Researches have shown that it is able to provide chronic pain relief. Marijuana has been used as a folk or traditional remedy for a variety of health conditions for many of years. Medical marijuana is a management tool that can reduce patient’s pain and improve quality of life, without the same serious side effects associated with use of pharmaceutical pain relievers.
Many drugs that are prescribed by doctors have large warning labels on their bottle that list the various negative effects. When my brother would take the medications for his migraines, it would often leave him feeling spacey and disorganized. He would often refer to this spacey state as being in zombie mode. In this instance, the side effects caused by the medications were worse than the ailment they were curing. Christopher tried numerous medications in an attempt to find one that worked for his body. In his article The Woman with Knives in Her Neck, David Casarett explains, “of course, marijuana has side effects of its own, ranging from a dry mouth and rapid heart rate to confusion and paranoia. But one patient figured out a way to avoid those, through small frequent doses” (Casarett). When using smaller dosages of marijuana patients can avoid the side effects of being high that occur when overdosing on marijuana. Another way to avoid the unwanted feelings that can be caused by marijuana is to seek out stains of the plant with lower HTC levels. Once again, when compared to opioids, marijuana is the best choice. By legalizing marijuana for medical uses, patients would no longer experience the unfavorable side effects that are caused by the medications that doctors currently
Using the argument that marijuana will cause addiction upon the individual is purely inadequate to other drugs that come with the similar potential to cause addiction. All medications come with risk factors, it just depends on the whether the individual is responsible or irresponsible. For example, a responsible adult will take the drug for the amount of time prescribed and after the drug has taken its course of action he or she will cease taking the medication unless told otherwise by a healthcare professional. Prevention strategies for addiction include “Reducing the availability of excess prescription medications” (Addiction Prevention). With marijuana, yes, it may be more of a challenge just to cease from taking the drug but as mentioned above, responsibility and education of long term effects are essential to reducing the risk of becoming addicted just like other drugs.
"Marijuana as Medicine: Consider the Pros and Cons." Procon.org. 08 July 2009. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
There are many other uses for medical cannabis including treating symptoms of IBS, Chron’s disease and other gastrointestinal disorders, pain relief from cancer and multiple sclerosis, the prevention of Alzheimer’s and helping individuals suffering from ADD, seizures or Tourette’s. Unfortunately, the federal government fails to see the many benefits of cannabis and clear proof shown in the countless peer-reviewed studies done through the years and instead maintains its classification as one of the most dangerous drugs with no acceptable medical benefits. More and more states are taking steps to regain their rightful authority from an over-reaching federal government, and taking the necessary steps to offer relief to many patients suffering from a wide array of maladies.