They call it “reefer,” the “ganja,” “grass,” “puff,” “bud,” “Mary Jane,” “pot,” “weed,” “marijuana,” and even “hero.” Many Amercians search far and wide to find something to relieve their intense physical pain, psychological trauma, or deadly loss of appetite and they find this relief in marijuana.
I myself am a Christian, and though many of my fellow Christians look down on the medicinal use of marijuana, I ask why?
The response is always that it has no benefits and that it will be abused. Abuse is a broad word. Medicines like Aderol (for ADD), Oxycontin (pain reliever), and Hydrocodone (pain reliever) are abused daily.
Even common products such as bath salts and sharpies are abused to get high. The abuse of the substance is inevitable, the same as all other products including Q-tips which aren’t supposed to be used to clean ears (its most common usage).
Marijuana is not chemically addictive, but emotional addiction is common. This addiction is similar to the addiction experienced by many Americans to their own prescribed medication even when taken as told.
According to “The British Journal of Psychiatry,” effects of it include slow reaction timing, drowsiness, impaired motor control, altered conscious state, feelings of well being, relaxation, pain relief, stress reduction, enhanced recollection, increased sensuality, increased awareness of senses, and increased creativity.
For example, a chemo patient who experiences extreme nausea, intense pain, and a fatal lack of appetite would be prescribed medicinal marijuana to increase appetite, relieve pain, and calm a nauseous stomach.
Some suggest that doctors and researchers will slow efforts to find cures to chronic illnesses if it was to be used as a medicine. This is not a cure; it is to be used to alleviate symptoms.
Why would this slow advancements in medicine to find cures? In the case of the chemo patient, her cancer wouldn’t be cured, but her stress and condition of living would be helped.
I firmly believe in the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Maybe it’s because I’m a liberal, or maybe it’s because I’m progressive.
Either way I lived my whole life with a mother who suffered an extreme back injury and had to deal with major back surgery resulting in two metal rods and six screws. I watched someone I love be in pain for so long it definitely made an impact on me.
If marijuana would help her pain and make her life just a little easier, than I’m behind the cause 100 percent.
