Is Marijuana Medicine? The Good & Bad

Marijuana users beware and do your research before you use marijuana as medicine!

The high may clear your mind or set you at ease. But new research details both the good AND bad of marijuana use.

When it comes to the effects of weed on your health, it’s true, there’s a lot of misleading information circulating around the Internet. So, in an effort to soothe the chatter, we did a little digging ourselves.

Marijuana has been used as medicine

Believe it or not, marijuana has many positive effects on your health.

In fact, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that cannabinoid receptors discovered in an emotional hub of the brain in mice soothed anxiety. It also impacted the flight-or-fight response. It could be highly important for understanding how cannabis exerts its behavioral effects,” Dr. Sachin Patel, senior author of the study, said in a press release.

When it comes to sickle cell disease (SCD) for example, many sickle cell disease patients use marijuana for its medicinal benefits, according to an anonymous survey by researchers from Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University.

Acute pain is one of the main symptoms of SCD. It's a genetic blood disorder. Numerous episodes of acute pain can lead to chronic pain in these patients.

According to the authors, SCD patients seek out and use marijuana for two reasons. They may want to avoid opioid use. They may also find that other medications are ineffective in relieving their pain.

Of the total study population, 42% reported using marijuana within the past two years. Most of these patients used it for medicinal purposes to help with pain, anxiety, appetite, mood, and sleep.

Other experts argue that weed-based medicines such as Sativex are effective when treating MS symptoms including neuropathic pain and muscle spasms.

Another side of using marijuana as medicine

Meanwhile, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have revealed that it calms nausea and more.

“Certain cannabinoid drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to relieve nausea and vomiting and increase appetite in people with cancer and AIDS,” says the American Cancer Society.

Other reported benefits associated with marijuana use include:

Increased lung health
Nightmare control
Sleep apnea
Fibromyalgia
Chronic pain
Treatment of illnesses like: Hepatitis C, Bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson's

Potential health risks

On the flip side, pot use comes with a long list of potential health risks. The risks can be associated with medicinal or recreational use, according to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences.

"Many people are using cannabis and cannabis-based products for conditions for which there aren't good data," report co-author Sean Hennessy, a professor of epidemiology with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia said in a statement. "That's growing. That's only going to go up. It's not going to go down. The committee feels it's very important to develop the data so people know whether or not there's going to be benefit."

For example, despite popular belief, rolling a joint won’t soothe that dull achy pain piercing down your spine. According to the review, finding indicate conclusive evidence that oral – not smoked -- cannabis-derived drugs, containing THC, can ease chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Substantial proof also found that oral cannabinoids can effectively treat spasms from multiple sclerosis.

"Most of the data related to therapeutic use is not with smoked cannabis, but primarily oral forms," Hennessy said. "Some of them are mixtures of TCH and CBD, and some of them were CBD alone."

There’s still more research to dive into. It’s important to note that medical marijuana has been authorized in 28 states. Eight states have legalized recreational use. This is a trend we don’t anticipate slowing down anytime soon.