Medical Practitioners And Medical Marijuana

Most Medical Practitioners Support the Legalization of Marijuana

Legalizing marijuana has been one of the most debated topics in the United States for the last twenty years. In the beginning, marijuana was portrayed by religious factions and the government to be an evil narcotic, and they portrayed those who used it as violent gangbangers, focusing the negativity on communities of color. It was a reality of black and white: either a person loved marijuana, or they hated it.

Today, as more and more information is made available to the public, people have begun to understand this plant a lot better. With information comes knowledge, and with knowledge, comes support. In today’s world, the majority of medical practitioners all over the nation are fighting for legalization, saying that they feel it would be beneficial for their patients.

Marijuana could be the answer to many medical mysteries.

Marijuana has long been thought to be beneficial medically, and not just by the stoners of the world. Historical and ancient documentation from all over the globe and different time periods show that it has been used medicinally among healers and medical workers for centuries. (Sarris, 2020) Countless people today will tell you that they smoke or use marijuana for a multitude of symptoms and ailments, most commonly including depression, anxiety, appetite issues, seizures, and chronic pain.

But what they don’t know is that marijuana has shown potential medicinal benefits for a countless variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple varieties of cancers, Crohn Disease, eating disorders, Glaucoma, mental disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, and wasting syndrome. As it stands, 33 states have legalized medical marijuana, and more are following suit every year. (Medical Marijuana FAQ, 2018)

The support for legalization is unprecedented.

States that have embraced complete legalization have experienced boosted economies, better school programs, and a decrease in drug overdose and substance abuse. And with over half of the states legalizing medicinal cannabis, things seem to be on the rise for Mary Jane. Over 93 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana medicinally, and in early 2018, from February until May, a total of 966 addiction specialists took a survey that showed significant results supporting that they support using marijuana for their patients:

· 71% of the addiction clinicians supported medicinal cannabis

· 69% stated it is safe to use when it is not abused.

· 59% stated that there is not enough research.

Because of a lack of research, a lot of them were concerned about using marijuana, stating that it was switching from one addiction to another. (Lawson, 2019) But not all doctors see it that way. I interviewed Melissa Cameron, a Family NP, to get a good idea of what doctors are saying about legalizing marijuana. says: “It (marijuana) would have to be controlled the same as narcotics to decrease and control dependency.”

She believes that dependency can be controlled, and that legalization would help decrease the current opioid problem. “Substance abuse problems – That’s a catch-22. The US will always have an abuse problem, legalizing marijuana would help decrease the current problem but could potentially increase the overall abuse if it’s not controlled from the beginning.” (Cameron, 2020)

“The majority of drugs prescribed have dangers, whether they are controlled substances, blood pressure medications, or chemotherapeutic agents. The key to prescribing and recommending any medicine or marijuana is education. Giving your patients the information needed. Risks, benefits, why it was chosen, how it will help if it can’t cause harm. When you take an oath, you have to teach. You have to provide risks and benefits along with the danger. Addiction and dependency are discussed in the beginning. You have to trust your patient to make the right decisions with their medications.” (Cameron, 2020)

So why isn’t Marijuana an FDA-approved ‘medicine?’

Because marijuana isn’t federally legalized, and it is classified by the DEA as a Schedule 1 narcotic, research needed for FDA approval is hard to do. As crazy as it sounds, the federal government considers marijuana as bad of a narcotic like heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. Due to this classification, special licenses must be obtained by researchers before studies can be done on marijuana. (NIDA, 2019)

Due to these special licenses being expensive and hard to get, the clinical trials on humans needed before the FDA can approve any kind of medication simply does not exist yet for the cannabis plant. However, the FDA has approved certain medications that have specific cannabis for a few medications for severe forms of epilepsy. Progress on research will continue to see obstacles until marijuana is recognized by the DEA as something other than a top-level narcotic.

However, isolated studies by researchers in areas that have more freedom do support that the medicinal use of marijuana can be beneficial to mental disorders such as schizophrenia and social anxiety. Unfortunately, because research has just begun to happen, all of the information we have is considered premature and is still weak. (Sarris, 2020)

That hasn’t stopped some states from expanding their terms of legalization in their states. In 2019 New Jersey passed legislation that allowed opioid dependency disorder to be a qualifying illness to be able to be prescribed medical marijuana. They also expanded the legislature to include medicated assisted treatment for opioid-dependent people. This was a big win for the New Jersey marijuana movement because before only people who had become dependent on opioids for chronic pain treatment of musculoskeletal disorders could receive medical marijuana. (Jaeger, 2019)

Doctors, psychologists, and addiction clinicians mostly agree: Research and knowledge are the keys to unlocking a future where marijuana can be used safely as medicine.

No matter how strong the support for legalizing marijuana is, most doctors agree that knowledge is the key. Research has been scarce, so some doctors are still uncertain about dosages for their patients. But with time, this issue will be solved as more research is conducted on the effects of marijuana in medicine. But there is one thing that is clear: most doctors would rather recommend marijuana if they had the ability to.

“I would recommend it to my terminally ill patients, and also to my Failure to Thrive patients for an appetite stimulant. I currently prescribe Marinol to my California patients for appetite and it works great.” NP Melissa Cameron states. As time goes on, marijuana will hopefully be recognized as not a harmful narcotic, but a beneficial medicine for those in need.

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

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References

Cameron, M. (2020, May 18). Family Nurse Practioner. (K. Martin, Interviewer)

Jaeger, K. (2019). Opioid Addiction Is Now A medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition in New Jersey. Retrieved from Marijuanamovement.net: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/opioid-addiction-is-now-a-medical-marijuana-qualifying-condition-in-new-jersey/

Lawson, K. (2019, July 10). Most Addiction Specialists Support Legalizing Medical Marijuana Study Finds. Retrieved from Marijuanamomement.net: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-addiction-specialists-support-legalizing-medical-marijuana-study-finds/

Medical Marijuana FAQ. (2018). Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/medical-marijuana-faq

NIDA. (2019, July). Marijuana As Medicine. Retrieved from drugabuse.gov: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine

Sarris, J. S. (2020, January). Medicinal cannabis for psychiatric disorders: a clinically-focused systematic review. Retrieved from https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2409-8#citeas