National Academy Of Sciences Cited Pros and Cons From Marijuana Use

A new report from National Academy of Sciences, last Jan. 12, 2016, states that current medical science has proven that there are legitimate medical uses for marijuana and cannabis-derived drugs.

According to WebMD, the use of marijuana has shown a conclusive and substantial scientific evidence to effectively treat chronic pain, calm muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis and easy nausea from chemotherapy. However, there is little to or no supportive evidence that proves other therapeutic claims.

Marijuana use comes with pros and cons. It has lots of potential health risks whether it is used for medicine or in recreational purposes.

Sean Hennessy, co-author of the report and a professor of epidemiology in the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, said, "Many people use cannabis-based products for conditions for which they are not good data."

Medical marijuana has been authorized in 28 states in the United States and 8 states have legalized recreational pots. The trend in using pots is not going away but rather, continuously going high. "This must be met with hard data on benefits and harms.", Hennessy added.

The data of people who uses cannabis is growing and is not dropping.

Following the extensive review of all available medical research, the National Academy of Sciences released the Health effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

The review found several types of symptoms and illnesses that the oral-cannabis drugs conclusively ease such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and substantial evidence that it can also effectively treat spasms of multiple sclerosis.

Either oral or smoked, cannabis is also effective treating chronic pain in adults.

"Most of the data related to therapeutic use is not with smoked cannabis, in oral forms. Some of these mixtures of TCH (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (Cannabinol), and some of them were CBD alone", Hennesy said.

There is also moderate evidence that cannabis or cannabis-derived products can help people who have trouble in sleeping due to health problems like sleep apnea, fibromyalgia or chronic pain, and limited evidence or no use in treating glaucoma and depression linked to chronic pain.

Other claims such as treating anorexia, Tourettes's syndrome, irritable bowel, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or neurobiological problems such as epilepsy or Parkinson's disease have no evidence to support.

But even more so, using of marijuana can do many side effects to health. According to Drugfreeworld.org, the use marijuana is not only harmful to the pot user himself but also to the society.

Several research conducted clearly shows that marijuana has the potential to cause problems into the daily life amidst its medicinal properties. Relevant data shows 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least 27 days out of 30 days before being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory and learning were seriously diminished.

In addition, postal workers who are found positive to use marijuana had 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries and a 75% increase in being absent at work.