Introduction
Marijuana is a product that is widely used across the world because of its health benefits while at the same time some considers it as a special drug especially young adults and adolescents. Research has revealed that there are currently about 20 million people who are using marijuana across the US with ages ranging from 12 years to older. Regardless of the high number of individuals using marijuana today in the US, only 25 States have passed laws that allow the people to use marijuana for different medical conditions. On the other hand, 16 states passed laws that allow marijuana to be used for cannabidiol (CBD) because there are about 100 cannabinoid chemicals in the plant. Research has related cannabinoids with various therapeutic values especially when it comes to treating several health conditions such as obesity, addiction, nausea, epilepsy, autoimmune disorders, and nausea among several other conditions. Nevertheless, regardless of the benefits that are associated with marijuana, there are substantial evidences that prove that its long-term use can be harmful with the main risks including respiratory diseases and chronic bronchitis episodes. At the same time, women who are pregnant were found to have lower birth weight for their babies because of the use of marijuana.
Annotated Bibliography
Lopez, G. (2017, Jan 14). The benefits and harms of marijuana, explained by the most thorough research review yet. Vox.
The author of this article has evaluated the results of the researches that have been conducted on the use of marijuana. Based on the research that have been conducted by National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering and some other 10,000 studies that have been published since the year 1999, the results reveals that there are strong benefits and in equal measure several downsides of its uses. According to the articles, marijuana seems to be a promising drug to treat some health conditions such as cancer patients, chronic pain and multiple sclerosis. However, they also found that marijuana usage poses great risk for respiratory diseases especially for those who are smoking it. The other negative benefits that was associated with it include-pregnancy related problems, psychosis and schizophrenia. This article is important because it is mainly focused on scientific studies of marijuana thus will be used to understand the benefits and risks of marijuana based on scientific evaluation.
Armand, W. (2016, Aug 21). Marijuana: Health effects of recreational and medical use. Harvard: Harvard Health Publications.
In this article, the author has evaluated the long term and short term effects of the use of marijuana. According to the study, marijuana has the potential of making people feel more relaxed due to the fact that it relaxes the brain senses while causing distortion. At the same time, the other short term effects of marijuana are that it has the potential to impair coordination, memory, thinking, and judgment. All these effects can only be felt for a period of four hours after someone uses marijuana or can go up to a period of 12 hours. On the other hand, the author found that some of the long-term impacts are the ability of THC to irritate the lungs leading to breathing problems such as bronchitis, cough and excess mucus. At the same time, it can cause some other worse conditions such as cystic fibrosis and asthma. In regards to medical benefits, marijuana has been found to relieve several symptoms of various medical conditions. However, regardless of the benefits associated with marijuana, the studies have revealed that its usage is still illegal on the federal level because of concerns regarding its potential risks which might outweigh the benefits. This article is important because of its broad nature of tackling the issue of marijuana. The author decided to take a different approach of evaluating the potential risks and benefits of marijuana in short term and long term basis. The article will therefore be used when conducting a research on the short-term and long term effects of marijuana.
Bonander, R. (2010, Oct 19). The health benefits and risks of marijuana. Fox News Health
In this article, the author has evaluated the active ingredient that is found in marijuana cannabinoid known as THC especially its risks and medicinal values. Based on her evaluation, she found that there is potential of marijuana overdose though there is no evidence that shows that a person has died from it thus the reason it is considered among the safest drugs. Nevertheless, THC has the potential to impair the memory with abuse of marijuana leading to permanent memory damage. When marijuana is smoked, it has the potential to fight opportunistic infections and diseases. For instance, it can suppress some conditions such as lymphoma or HIV. This article is important because it evaluates both the risks and benefits of using marijuana thus will be used as a source of reference during the study.
MedMar Medical (2013). Medical marijuana: Benefits-risks. Retrieved from
This article evaluates both the short term and long term effects of marijuana. According to the article some of the short term negative impacts of use of marijuana include: panic, hallucinations, memory problems, anxiety, increased heartbeat, difficulty thinking among many other problems. The studies revealed that about 17% of individuals who regularly uses marijuana experience one or more of these symptoms. On the other hand, the long-term effects of marijuana use include suppression of the immune system, inability to understand various things, chronic bronchitis, lack of motivation, mucus, increased risk of bladder, testicular and lung cancer among many other negative impacts. This article will be used during evaluation of the negative impacts of marijuana.
Sifferlin, A. (2016, Aug 11). 7 scientific effects of marijuana that experts want to study. Time
In this article, the author has evaluated the need for scientific study of marijuana making claims that the government has been a major barrier. The author believes that despite the fact about 20 states in United States have legalized marijuana there is still a strong need for scientific study because a lot is not yet known about it. Through the extensive studies, it will be easy to identify if marijuana is an effective therapy to be used by cancer patients. At the same time, it is important to understand the ways in which it affects the brain plus the amount of dosage that should be offered to patients according FDA regulations to avoid cases of overdose that may cause harm to the patients. This article is important because it outlines both the benefits and risks of medical marijuana while a conclusion by the author calls for a need for further investigation to be conducted to evaluate marijuana use.
Literature review (comparison of the study)
Lopez (2017) found that marijuana is a promising medical drug that can be used to treat some health conditions such as cancer patients, chronic pain and multiple sclerosis. However, they also found that marijuana usage poses great risk for respiratory diseases especially for those who are smoking it. On the other hand, Armand (2016) found that the short term effects of marijuana are that it has the potential to impair coordination, memory, thinking, and judgment. These are similar sentiments that MedMar Medical (2013) found after their study. According to them, short term negative impacts of use of marijuana include: panic, hallucinations, memory problems, anxiety, increased heartbeat, difficulty thinking among many other problems. Bonander (2010) also found out that THC has the potential to impair the memory with abuse of marijuana leading to permanent memory damage. When marijuana is smoked, it has the potential to fight opportunistic infections and diseases which reveals its positive impacts. Lastly, Sifferlin (2016) thoughts were that the impacts of medical marijuana should be studied in details to help in eliminating some of its hazards while at the same time encouraging its benefits to a wider population.
Final analysis
After studying various articles that addresses the benefits and hazards of medical marijuana, one can say that there is a need for further studies to be conducted on the use of medical marijuana. This is the only ways in which all the possible long-term risks can be eliminated while the government can take a stand regarding whether it is important to prove it for use by the public or not. Nevertheless, currently, marijuana has helped and is helping several people especially cancer patients to minimize their pain.
References
Armand, W. (2016, Aug 21). Marijuana: Health effects of recreational and medical use. Harvard: Harvard Health Publications.
Bonander, R. (2010, Oct 19). The health benefits and risks of marijuana. Fox News Health
Lopez, G. (2017, Jan 14). The benefits and harms of marijuana, explained by the most thorough research review yet. Vox.
MedMar Medical (2013). Medical marijuana: Benefits-risks. Retrieved from
Sifferlin, A. (2016, Aug 11). 7 scientific effects of marijuana that experts want to study. Time