Marijuana, the age old question: should be legalized or not?

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive drug (a chemical substance that affects the brain functioning) derived from the cannabis plant, known for centuries and used for its physical and mental effects, such as euphoria (extreme happiness), perception change, relaxation, pain relief and appetite stimulation.

If marijuana effects cited above seem to be joyful and harmless, it is not the case at all; several side effects have been noticed since its discovery by the western world in the 19th century, these effects where witnessed on the local users especially in India; e.g. memory troubles, impaired motor performances, persistent laziness, anxiety and delusions, which led to a pejorative and strict reception by european countries and USA compared to tobacco or alcohol.

Irrespective of these side effects that pro-marijuana people believe they could be avoided by moderated consumption, there are numerous efforts to legalize marijuana, or at least to give the medical use of it a special statue. Medical marijuana stands for the usage the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its extracts to treat or restrain symptoms of some chronic painful diseases.

Modern researches have highlighted at least two active cannabinoids in marijuana that may have beneficial medicinal applications. Those are Cannabidiol (CBD) which seems to affect the brain without causing the high, and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which has pain relieving properties and is responsible for the high.  

Scientists urge to conduct more and more researches about marijuana chemical components, side effects of each one, effects-dosage correlation and large-scale clinical trials, knowing that there are more than 60 cannabinoids that may have also a medical application, these researches would also appreciate benefit/risk Marijuana usage for several diseases, and lead to an advantageous consumption.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some medical benefits that have strong scientific-backed evidence. For others, there are reasons to continue conducting research. 

 

Marijuana as a treatment for neuropathic pain: It is not a secret that psychoactive drugs as anticonvulsants and antidepressants are used on large scale to treat chronic and neuropathic pain, this type of pain is related to somatosensory nervous affection, which makes relieving such pain a challenge for doctors, unlike nociceptive pain where the cause can be individualized and treated.

The usage of medical marijuana has been miraculous for so many patients who suffer from Trigeminal neuralgia, multiple sclerosis and pain caused by some types of cancers.

 

It may be the next solution for glaucoma: One of the first invoked reasons to defend the medical marijuana is to treat and prevent the eye disease glaucoma, which is characterized by high pressure in the eyeball, damaging the optic nerve and causing blindness.

Marijuana decreases the pressure inside the eyeball, according to the National Eye Institute: "Studies in the 1970s suggested that marijuana, when smoked, decreased intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with normal pressure and those suffering from glaucoma."

The research found also that when marijuana is smoked or when its active ingredient is taken (as a pill or injection) it decreases IOP. However, it only lowers IOP for a limited period of time—about three or four hours.

For now, the medical consensus is that marijuana only lowers IOP for a few hours, which means there's not a strong evidence for it as a long term treatment. Researchers hope that a marijuana-based compound could be developed that lasts longer as a valuable treatment for glaucoma.

Medical cannabis helps with muscular spasms: Due to its muscular relaxation effects, marijuana can be a major help with muscular spasms that are uncontrolled with usual treatments or related to Multiple sclerosis or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Marijuana may relieve painful symptoms of multiple sclerosis, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Jody Corey-Bloom studied about 30 multiple sclerosis patients with painful muscular spasms. These patients didn't respond to other treatments, but after using marijuana for a few days, they reported an improvement of their symptoms.

“We found that smoked cannabis was superior to placebo in reducing symptoms and pain in patients with treatment-resistant spasticity, or excessive muscle contractions,” said Corey-Bloom.

The THC in marijuana seems to block the receptors in the nerves and muscles to relieve pain and ease spasm. 

 

Marijuana DOES help control epileptic seizures: Cannabidiol (CBD), the other major marijuana compound that doesn’t cause the high, seems to help people with treatment-resistant epilepsy.

Marijuana affects the neurotransmitter GABA by blocking it, knowing that GABA molecule is a nervous exciter which is implied in seizure triggering. The result is increasing dopamine levels which normally GABA inhibits or regulates.

Marijuana usage helped some patients to decrease significantly the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet's Syndrome.

 

Marijuana’s active molecules stop cancer from spreading : Besides relieving pain of cancers as we said above, scientists reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD slow growth rate or even incite the cancerous apoptosis in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes. Other animal studies also suggest certain cannabinoids may slow growth and reduce systemic spread of some forms of aggressive brain tumors in mice or cell cultures, which is a strong reason to do more research.

Still, these findings in cell cultures and animals don't automatically mean the effect will translate to people; however, they make a strong indicator far more investigation. 

 

THC may slow the evolution of Alzheimer's disease: As a study led by Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute suggests, Marijuana’s active ingredient may have a beneficial role slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's disease,

The study found that THC slows the constitution of amyloid plaques by blocking the enzyme in the brain that makes them. These plaques kill brain cells slowly and are incriminated with Alzheimer's.

A synthetic mixture of CBD and THC seems to conserve memory in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Other studies suggested that a THC-based prescription drug was able to decrease conduct disturbances for dementia patients.

All these beneficial medical applications of marijuana are under researching, even if some of them have solid scientific-backed proves, further investigations and large-scale clinical trials are needed, as for any other treatment to get approved.

Answering the first question: Legalizing (or not) marijuana? It depends, taking account of wild known drawbacks and medicine beneficial applications -yet under research- medical marijuana should be considered as any other psychoactive drug; legalized but with strict prescriptions, precise doses and regular medical supervision, in order to avoid any side effect or misuse.