Medical Marijuana: Benefits and Challenges

This assignment delves into the complex topic of medical marijuana, examining both its potential benefits and drawbacks. It explores how medical marijuana use can affect healthcare costs, highlighting arguments from both proponents and opponents. Additionally, the assignment addresses the issue of socioeconomic disparities in access to medical marijuana, emphasizing the racial discrimination embedded within the US legal system.

1Running head: PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Appropriate use of the pharmacology........................................................................................3
Relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and the use of the
pharmacology.............................................................................................................................4
How the topic affects communities and organizations..............................................................5
Inequities regarding access to pharmacological treatments.......................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Medical marijuana or cannabis is cannabis and cannabinoids that are recommended as
a pharmacological agent for treating multiple health conditions. The use of medical marijuana
has not been rigorously tested due to different restrictions and regulations across
communities. The present paper would discuss the topic of medical marijuana in details. The
first sections of the paper would describe the appropriate use of the medical marijuana, and
the relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and the use of the
pharmacology. Further, the paper would highlight how the topic affects communities and
organisations. The inequities regarding access to treatment form the subsequent section of the
paper. A conclusion is provided summarising the key points discussed in the paper.
Appropriate use of the pharmacology
Marijuana, or cannabis, is a psychoactive drug extracted from the Cannabis plant
intended mainly for recreational use. Marijuana plants have hundreds of chemicals, termed as
cannabinoids, of which the most important one is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). The use of
marijuana for the medical purpose has drawn significant attention in the recent past across
countries against the growing body of research, and countries such as Australia, Canada,
Belgium, Germany, Spain, Netherlands have legalised medical marijuana (Hill, 2015).
There is a rich pool of studies that support the use of marijuana for medical purpose.
Medical marijuana is the use of the Cannabis plant as a physician-recommended herbal
therapy and synthetic cannabinoids. Anecdotal evidence indicates that marijuana can be
useful for treating different medical problems such as nausea and pain during chemotherapy,
loss of appetite in patients with HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, and inflammatory bowel syndrome
(Kamienski & Keogh, 2017). Some other research highlights that medical marijuana is
effective in cutting down seizures in people suffering from epilepsy. In addition, the same

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agent is also useful for easing symptoms of multiple sclerosis such as pain, spasm, frequent
urination and muscle stiffness. According to Whiting et al., (2015) medical marijuana can be
the choice of treatment when usual treatments fail to address arthritis, glaucoma, migraine
and anorexia. Tentative evidence points out that medical cannabis is useful for reduction of
posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. However, evidence to support and confirm this is
limited. Reviews have indicated that cannabis is safe for use as a pain reliever, and in
palliative care, it can be safer than opioids. Researchers from across the globe are engaging in
advanced research to explore the potential use of marijuana for medical treatment. For
example, recent studies carried out on animals point out that marijuana might aid in killing
cancer cells and reduce the size of tumours. Scientists are accomplishing preclinical and
clinical trials to treat symptoms of illness such as substance abuse disorder and mental illness.
Relationship between quality patient outcomes, patient safety, and the use of the
pharmacology
Cannabis has an excellent safety profile as reported by (Moini, 2017). As per the
researchers, marijuana is safer than a number of theraperutic formulations when speaking in
strictly medical terms. By measures of rational analysis, medical marijuana can be used in a
safe manner under rigorous medical supervision. Marijuana is a powerful drug with different
effects on the human body which are to be scrutinised further. While cannabis has a high
estimated lethal dose, there has been no reported case of a lethal overdose of medical
marijuana. The concerned authorities have raised legitimate concerns regarding the impact of
the prolonged use of cannabis. The FDA has given approval of using derivatives of cannabis'
psychoactive cannabinoid by classifying them as Schedule III drugs.
Extensive research and anecdotal reports point out that medical marijuana holds
potential to have a toxic and fatal effect on the human body if not consumed in safe doses. A
study conducted by Pacula et al., (2015) aimed at assessing the adverse impacts of medical

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marijuana on patient outcomes. The paper provided evidence for harms of cannabis treatment
in adults suffering from chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, Dementia or Tourette
syndrome. The research was a systematic review of literature than highlighted that majority
of the adverse events were of moderate to low gravity. The most serious adverse effects were
depression, confusion and CNS side effect. In this regard, Whiting et al., (2015) had
undertaken an extensive systematic review for evaluating the evidence for the adverse effects
and benefits of medical cannabinoids across multiple indications. The study considered
twenty-eight databases from which relevant studies were considered. Adverse effects were
reported in as many as 62 studies encompassing 127 reports. Speaking in general terms,
medical marijuana had an association with greater risk of adverse effects. 14 adverse effects
were specifically reported. These were dizziness, disorientation, confusion, euphoria,
drowsiness, dry mouth, asthenia, paranoia, hallucination, anxiety, balance issue, fatigue,
nausea and somnolence. However, there was no evidence of differences in relation to adverse
impacts on the basis of mode of administration and cannabis.
How the topic affects communities and organizations
The use of marijuana have created a stir within communities as concerns have been
aroused related to social and health impact. Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal
drug in the US. In the year 2008 marijuana accounted for almost 17% of substance abuse
treatment admissions in the country. In the year 2009, about 17 million people aged 12 and
older, had used marijuana in the previous month. The legalisation of marijuana remains a
controversial issue in some states of the country. The fact that contributes to the debate is the
use of the drug for medical purposes. As per the reports of National Institute on Drug Abuse,
the users of this drug without medical regulations have experienced negative impacts
affecting work or education performance. The most important social issues related to impact

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of marijuana on judgement or perception. The same has been a cause of rebellion, aggression,
delinquent behaviour and poor social relationships (Valencia et al., 2017).
D'souza and Ranganathan (2015) pinpointed that politicians are looking forward to
the end of the proscription of using marijuana to understand whether extensive marijuana use
without medical regulation can lead to less crime and more revenue. It is also expected social
chaos would change its nature due to anti-legalization critics. Legalisation of marijuana
evokes debate as the cost of healthcare is greatly affected. If medical marijuana is available
more readily, fewer people would be needing specialised treatment and urgent care. This
would possibly reduce the cost of healthcare for patients using the drug as well as others.
This is the main aspect behind the opposition to the legalisation of medical marijuana (Pacula
& Smart, 2017).
Inequities regarding access to pharmacological treatments
Socioeconomic inequalities are evident along class lines and race in the United States
in connection to use of medical marijuana. The irony is that medical marijuana is legal only
for a particular rank of middle-to-upper class Americans. For accessing medical marijuana,
one needs to have an official government-issued photo identity proof. This implies that the
marginalised, poor and immigrants are still facing criminal consequences for possessing
marijuana (Valencia et al., 2017). For underprivileged and unskilled workers, cannabis
remains as illegal. It is known that Black population have fewer chances of having valid
identity proof as compared to the White population. The US criminal justice system adds to
the issue since it is predominantly unequal in nature (Lankenau et al., 2017).
Conclusion
The medical use of marijuana has been a much-disputed topic in the past one decade
after extensive research came into limelight regarding the extensive use of the drug. While

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some of the noteworthy benefits of the drug are well established, the ill effects of the same
have also been documented across the literature. Use of marijuana has a social impact across
communities, mainly pertaining to healthcare. Racial discrimination related to use of
marijuana in the US is tangible. The difference between important medication and dangerous
narcotic is skin-deep. Reforms in policies are warranted in relation to the legalisation of
medical marijuana in future.

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References
D'souza, D. C., & Ranganathan, M. (2015). Medical marijuana: is the cart before the
horse?. Jama, 313(24), 2431-2432.
Hill, K. P. (2015). Medical marijuana for treatment of chronic pain and other medical and
psychiatric problems: a clinical review. Jama, 313(24), 2474-2483.
Kamienski, M., & Keogh, J. (2017). Pharmacology Demystified. 2e. McGraw Hill
Professional.
Moini, J. (2017). Focus on Pharmacology: Essentials for Health Professionals. Pearson.
Pacula, R. L., & Smart, R. (2017). Medical marijuana and marijuana legalization. Annual
review of clinical psychology, 13, 397-419.
Pacula, R. L., Powell, D., Heaton, P., & Sevigny, E. L. (2015). Assessing the effects of
medical marijuana laws on marijuana use: the devil is in the details. Journal of Policy
Analysis and Management, 34(1), 7-31.
Valencia, C. I., Asaolu, I. O., Ehiri, J. E., & Rosales, C. (2017). Structural barriers in access
to medical marijuana in the USA—a systematic review protocol. Systematic
Reviews, 6, 154.
Whiting, P. F., Wolff, R. F., Deshpande, S., Di Nisio, M., Duffy, S., Hernandez, A. V., ... &
Schmidlkofer, S. (2015). Cannabinoids for medical use: a systematic review and
meta-analysis. Jama, 313(24), 2456-2473.