Essay Sample on Marijuana Use in the Medical Field: The Advantages and Disadvantages

The need to do an analysis of both the importance and harmful effects of marijuana use is important in coming up with a research-based conclusion on whether the drug should be legalized or not. Marijuana use has both benefits and dangers to human health that need to be looked at as a way of assessing the logic behind its acceptance in the medical field.

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One of the medical risks of marijuana is that it blocks memory formation. Marijuana use introduces its active ingredient into the human body; the ingredient controls the hippocampus, which is the part of the human brain responsible for information processing (Austin, 2016). Marijuana use alters the function of this part of the brain leading to cognitive impairment, especially for a developing brain. This medical risk of marijuana use impairs the way teenagers reason due to the loss of age-related brain cells. When teenagers use marijuana for a long time, the effects on this part of the brain could lead to memory loss not only during teenage but also during adulthood.

Another risk of marijuana use is that it may lead to an increase in depression. Medical research carried out in the Netherlands showed that teenagers with genetic vulnerabilities are at risk of becoming depressed when they continuously smoke marijuana. For instance, people with a special serotine gene are at the greatest risk of being depressed if they use pot (Isaacs & Kilham, 2015). Since depression is a health risk that could cause the death of individuals, it is important that marijuana use is discouraged.

Again, marijuana use in large quantities may cause psychosis. When an individual uses large amounts of marijuana at a go, they risk suffering acute psychosis that includes loss of personal identity delusions, and hallucinations (Austin, 2016). This may put the lives of the smokers at risk as they may turn violent or cause accidents thinking that what they are doing is right.

However, marijuana use also has its positive contributions in the medical field such as treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Studies show that individuals with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease may greatly benefit from marijuana use as it is an easy way of treating such diseases (Welsh, Spector & Astaiza, 2014). This makes marijuana use acceptable in the medical field.

Again, marijuana stops cancer from spreading, which makes it a drug with medical benefit just like any other medical drug. Researchers from California lend credit to marijuana use as they prove that the drug can be used to control many types of cancer from spreading (Welsh, Spector & Astaiza, 2014). This boosts the acceptance of the drug as cancer has become a cause for concern in many countries.

Lastly, marijuana use may have other medical importance that is not yet discovered, making it an important resource for exploration in the field of medicine. For instance, according to a Scripps Research Institute researcher called Kim Janda, marijuana reduces the progression of Alzheimer's disease (Welsh, Spector & Astaiza, 2014).

In summary, Discussions on the legalization of marijuana continues in the medical field in many countries. Despite the medical importance of marijuana, many people feel its legalization will endanger the lives of people who may not use it for medical purposes or use it wrongly leading to addiction. Since the drug continuously becomes vital in controlling some of the diseases that were deemed untreatable. It is important that the controlled use of the drug is allowed. Almost all the drugs used in the treatment of various disease have health risks if used badly. Hence marijuana is not any different. A possible solution is to ensure that its use is restricted to medical purposes.

References

Austin, D. (2016). Behavioral Effects, Cognitive Effects, and the Physiology of Marijuana Use. Psychology & Psychological Research International Journal, 1(1). doi: 10.23880/pprij-16000109

Isaacs, D., & Kilham, H. (2015). Medical marijuana. Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health, 51(5), 471-472. doi: 10.1111/jpc.12874

Welsh, J., Spector, D., & Astaiza, R. (2014). The positives and negatives: How marijuana affects your brain and body. Retrieved from http://www.thejournal.ie/marijauan-health-effects-legalised-medical-negative-positve-1256236-Jan2014/