Legalizing medical marijuana for children

Introduction

Marijuana is often consumed for physiological effects which include heightened mood, relaxation and increase in appetite. It also has some side effects which includes several problems like decreasing short term memory and impaired motor skills. Marijuana is used for recreational, medical and religious purpose. Marijuana can be consumed by smoking, vaporizer, marijuana tea and with food items (Teicher, et.al., 2006). The paper will discuss the positive and negative aspects of medical marijuana and whether medical marijuana should be legalized for children.

Positive effects of medical Marijuana

Patients with various medical problems such as: Dravet syndrome, loss of appetite, respiratory diseases, depression, weight loss, nausea, insomnia, injuries and body pains, infections, cancer and many more are treated with marijuana (Teicher, et.al., 2006). In kids autism can be treated using medicinal marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol is the primary active component of certains strains of marijuana that helps in treating diseases. In this way when Marijuana is used in  controlled amounts and conditions in order to treat patients.   Cannabis was able to help with these symptoms, and has helped resolve illnesses like Cancer to a great extent.

 Based on the studies, it feels safe in saying that marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes implying an important positive impact (Teicher, et.al., 2006). It is found that despite the many rumors and false reports, cannabis does not, in fact, cause cancer.

Yet, there could be several ill effects of the usage of Marijuana. It can cause problems like addiction and can prove fatal to the patients. It can also lead to Alzhiemers and several side effects and so its usage should be restricted only to chronic cases. Otherwise, even when used in controlled conditions and controlled quantities Marijuana can prove to be harmful.  It is recommended that there be completion of several formalities and analysis before placing a  patient for treatment with Marijuana involved in it and also it has become essential to be able to find ways in which only the required components can be extracted from Marijuana and used in medical treatment in order to minimize the side effects. (Teicher, et.al., 2006).

Negative effects of marijuana

Consumption of marijuana has immediate effects includes lack of physical coordination, rapid heart beat, depression, panic attacks, disorientation etc. (Davis and Lurigio, 1996). Smoking is a major cause of cancer. Hence smoking of marijuana can also lead to changes of causing cancer. There are also high chances that it could lead to respiratory decease like bronchitis, lung infection etc. When used for children, it should be strictly under supervision of guardians.

Marijuana also changes the structure of sperm cells and also causes infertility in men. It also has similar effects on women's menstrual cycles (Larry, 2010). Marijuana messes with brain cells. It blocks formation of memory. To put it in simple terms it make the hard drive of our brain corrupt and has no capacity to store data. It also messes your brain cells and spoils response to stimuli (Larry, 2010).

Conclusion

Based on the above arguments marijuana has a lot of cons but if used effectively it can be of great medical help. It is very important like nuclear energy which can be used for positive and destructive purpose but it is difficult to ignore the use of nuclear energy, using the same analogy marijuana has to be used for positive purpose and medical treatments of children and there should be enough legal mechanism to ensure that it is used for the right purpose and prevents the use of marijuana for destructive purpose.