23 Health Benefits from Using Cannabis
Marijuana is now legal in 29 states in America and Washington DC.
Majority of Americans are glad about this news. 84% of the public said that this drug should be endorsed as it’s beneficial for medicinal purposes. Meanwhile, 61% stated that marijuana could be used for recreational usage.
While plenty of people smoke marijuana for leisure, plenty of researchers have stated that this drug can cure illnesses. They have found that using cannabis products could be beneficial for health. Even The NHIs said that it could provide health advantages.
This is because marijuana has two active chemicals – cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol – materials that researchers believe have medical purposes.
The cannabidiol can impact the brain without giving it a high while tetrahydrocannabinol can get you high as well as soothe any pain.
However, many researchers state that further studies need to be done to learn more about marijuana and its limitation. This is because aside from the mentioned elements, this drug has 400 chemicals and compounds that can provide medical benefits. But without deep understanding about the details, they can’t use them.
On the other hand, many scientists said that cannabis provides benefits and disadvantages. They stated that smoking it could potentially harm the brain, affect learning and processing.
But most academics support cannabis and say its benefits outweigh potential downfalls.
23 Advantages of Marijuana
It can treat chronic pain.
According to the National Academics of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, there was evidence that cannabis can get rid of chronic pain. There is evidence that cannabis can be a treatment for chronic pain, which explains the influx in medical cannabis users in North America.
It Can Treat Muscle Spasms
Different studies stated that this drug could cure muscle spasms, too. It is used as treatment for epilepsy. It can use to treat diaphragm and other kinds of contractions that require certain medications.
Marijuana can treat many kinds of muscle spasms.
It May Even Boost Your Lung Capacity
This statement is supported by the researchers of a study that has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research stated that marijuana couldn’t harm your lungs unless you smoke it with tobacco. Increasing your lung capacity is possible through inhaling. Moreover, there are different studies stating that marijuana smokers don’t have damaged lungs unlike tobacco smokers.
The researchers looking for heart disease risks tested the lung function of 5,115 young adults who used cannabis for over 20 years and found they don’t have an increase in lung capacity.
It Can Treat Glaucoma
There are several reasons why more and more countries and states have legalized medical and recreational cannabis. One of them is to treat and prevent glaucoma, which is an eye disease that can damage the optic nerve. According to the National Eye Institute, studies stated that marijuana, when inhaled, could lower the eye pressure.
It May Control Epileptic Seizures
Many studies have stated that marijuana can help people with epilepsy. Most people and researchers said that the drug could help control seizures. However, some of the scientists have said that they need to conduct more study about this drug to learn its effectiveness against this disease.
There are many people with this disorder that suffer from fewer seizures after they use cannabis. But there are also some who didn’t like to smoke because it does not improve their condition.
The effects of marijuana differ depending on the person, so those people should consult medical physicians first.
It Can Decrease Dravet’s Syndrome Symptoms
On the documentary entitled “Weed,” it followed Sanjay Gupta and the Figi family who use marijuana to treat their five-year-old child. They use the one with high cannabidiol and low THC, so their daughter won’t be high. The kid has Dravet syndrome a disease that can cause severe seizures.
According to the movie, marijuana helps the child decrease seizures from 300 to just once in a week. After the documentary, studies and usage gained traction.
The doctor who recommended the treatment to the family said that the cannabidiol in the drug helps the brain to prevent activities that cause seizures.
Gupta said, however, that there are some who don’t recommend marijuana for seizure disorders. It depends on the condition.
It Can Stop Cancer from Spreading
According to researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, marijuana can help slow the growth of tumor cells in the lab, but further research is necessary.
It can Decrease Anxiety
Scientists know that many people use cannabis to relax, but they also know that too much of it can increase anxiety. People react differently in different situations, so what some find calming and beneficial, others are negatively affected and paranoid.
Ella Childs, an anxiety professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of several studies, said that people need to smoke in moderation to not suffer from any unease.
She mentioned that the drug could prevent anxiety and constant worrying taking place. Moreover, she said that this might be the reason why therapists advised their patients to smoke.
However, taking too much pot can affect their condition, so moderation is needed.
It Can Slow Alzheimer’s Progression
In a study conducted by Kim Janda of the Scripps Research Institute shows that marijuana may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
A study published in Molecular Pharmaceutics supported the statement. The researchers found that the drug can block amyloid formation, an enzyme connected to the disease.
It Can Ease Sclerosis Pain
This drug can ease painful sclerosis symptoms, according to a study published at the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Jody Corey-Bloom, a researcher, studied 30 patients with sclerosis with painful contractions. The scientist instructed the sick people to learn the effects of the drug on their bodies. Bloom found out that the THC in the cannabis can relieve pain.
It Can Lessen the Side Effects of Hepatitis Treatment
Treating hepatitis C is complicated. People with this condition suffer from fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, appetite loss, and depression. Because of these side effects, many individuals stop their treatment.
However, according to a journal in the European Journal of Gastroenterology, 86% of patients with hepatitis who use marijuana didn’t experience the side effects often.
It Can Help With Inflammatory Bowel
People with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease use marijuana to improve their condition.
These are inflammatory bowel diseases and cannabis can provide relief for sufferers. The researchers of the University of Nottingham found that the THC and cannabidiol can block the compounds in the body and the intestinal cells that tighten them become less porous.
But the National Academies said the more research is needed. This is to identify the amount of THC and CBD.
Many studies also mentioned that pot could help the digestive system, which can improve overall health.
It Can Relieve Arthritis Pain
Marijuana can reduce inflammation lessen pain, and even promotes tight sleep. Therefore, it is best for those with rheumatoid arthritis.
Many researchers gave Sativex to their patients. It is a cannabinoid-based medicine. After a short period of time, people who use Sativex didn’t experience pain and improved their sleep as well.
Other studies have also found that cannabinoids in inhaled marijuana can decrease pain.
It Can Prevent Obesity
Marijuana smokers are less likely to get obese and have a better response to eating sugar-high food. In a journal published in the American Journal of Medicine, it suggested that marijuana users are skinnier and have better control of sugars and healthier metabolism than non-users. The study has 579 cannabis users and 2,000 people who had never used it.
The researchers found those who used cannabis were thinner as their bodies’ response to sugar was less drastic. The study hasn’t determined whether the users were slim to begin with.
It Can Boost Creativity
Cannabis can spur creativity. It can boost your brain’s creative sides and memory function. It shows that cannabis supporters are more fluent when speaking compared to non-users. The chemicals allow the mind to relax, helping it function better.
Since cannabis can improve brain function, it is often used by people who need to make better ideas. So, many people and artists smoke pot to have better decisions and create better art.
Experts believe that the chemicals and elements in the cannabis can help the brain run.
It Can Lessen Tremors
People with Parkinson’s disease who use marijuana have better motor skills than others. This is a large reason for political support of legal medical cannabis. Patients with this illness can suffer from mild to severe tremors, but it was lessened when they used cannabis regularly.
It Can Help People with PTSD
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies gave $2 million Colorado Department of Public Health to study the advantages of marijuana.
They want to know if the it can treat PTSD. There are states in Mexico that state that Mexicans use marijuana to alleviate stress caused by PTSD.
It Can Protect Your Brain
The University of Nottingham stated that marijuana could help protect the brain from stroke. However, this is proven to be effective in rats and monkeys. More studies are needed to be performed.
Many researchers are studying to determine if the drug can also provide the same effect on humans.
It Can Alleviate Concussion and Brain Trauma
Lester Grinspoon, a marijuana advocate and a Harvard professor request to NFL to start funding research into the cannabis’s ability to help the players to protect their brains. He said the athletes should use it to be safe.
He wrote a letter to the chairman of the National Football League to explain more about the advantages of cannabis for the team. He mentioned that despite the marijuana test, they should focus on giving the using cannabis to benefit players’ lives and health by potentially protecting them from the lifelong health implications of concussions.
It Can End Nightmares
Marijuana can disturb your sleep but can also eliminate nightmares. It can interrupt your REM sleep where bad dreams occur. With further research, cannabis can be used to treat people who suffer from sleep disorders.
It Can Stimulate Appetite
One of the reasons medical marijuana was popularized was for its usage by chemotherapy patients. According to the National Academies, the drug can reduce the side effects of the treatment. It can alleviate pain and stimulates appetite.
These are the reasons why several FDA-approved medicines containing cannabinoids.
It Can Help Stop Drinking
Marijuana is less addictive than alcohol. Thus, it is safer to consume.
Many researchers believe that cannabis can help people who suffer from this disorder. In the research published in the Harm Reduction Journal, it showed that people who use cannabis experience adverse side effects from withdrawal.
Some people can become dependent on marijuana, but this drug can cure alcoholic tendencies.
It Can Reduce Opioid Epidemic
Even though there are numerous reasons behind opioid epidemic, painkillers are the primary culprit. It’s dangerous to take these drugs as they can be addictive. However, marijuana can also treat pain, is less addictive and therefor less risky than opioids.
