Many people view drug addiction as a disease that needs healing. Many people suffering from substance abuse see their lives coming to a stall. Medical marijuana legalization, however, has seen to the use of medical marijuana to treat the untreatable. Research made proves that medical marijuana can be used to treat drug addiction. The study showed that cannabis did not direct to any physical dependency and hence superior to the other drugs. Some of the drug addictions people have include addiction to alcohol and opioid substances. The question, therefore, falls on how effective medical marijuana is in treating these drug addictions. Some of the reasons medical marijuana is considered active include;
Marijuana’s lack of dependency properties
Medical marijuana is scientifically known for its benefit in reducing chronic pains experienced by patients’ various conditions. Patients, therefore, use medical marijuana to treat their conditions as well as opioid side effects such as nausea. Such patients reported that the use of medical cannabis reduced their opioid dose or substituted the drug entirely.
Pain is the core reason why patients seek pain-relieving alternatives. Opioid substances including heroin are usually readily available and prescribed to patients. These medicine’s consumption is intended for shorter time lengths as per the doctor’s prescription. However, some patients end up taking them without a physician’s prescription. Some also consume a larger quantity than prescribed. This overdosing, in turn, makes these patients have a tolerance to the pain-relieving effects generated by the opioids. Subsequently, the patients see a need to increase the dosage and end up developing a dependency on the drug for pain relief.
Marijuana has been classified as a schedule-1 drug. Despite this, research does not identify marijuana to have any habit-forming properties. In fact, the long-term effects of marijuana on the human body are still unidentified.
Marijuana acts as a substitute for hard drugs and alcohol
Medical marijuana studies have shown that the recently legalized drug can serve as an alternative to other hard substances. Amanda Reiman conducts a case study on methamphetamine users seeking to practice harm reduction in San Francisco. Amanda is the author in the Harm Reduction Journal 2009 study cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs. In her case study, the methamphetamine users admitted that marijuana use gave them mindfulness. The users, therefore, would choose to stone and sleep as opposed to taking meth.
The use of medical cannabis also led to the reduction use of other drug substances such as tobacco, opioids as well as alcohol. For instance, patients who were addicted to alcohol confessed that medical cannabis had manageable symptoms, unlike alcohol. Also, unlike tobacco and opioids, marijuana studies do not show signs of drug addiction and dependability by users.
Studies indicate that an injection of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) assisted the user in eliminating the dependency on the hard drug substances. The THC also enhanced mindfulness and put the patient in a position where they could evaluate their lives. Therefore, many drug addicts who embarked on cannabis as a treatment showed faster treatment. Many deaths caused by hard drug use like opioids also reduced subsequently in states that legalized marijuana. Thus medical cannabis is an effective substitute for hard drugs and alcohol too.
Marijuana helps in the withdrawal stages of the hard drugs
Did you know that chances of retrogressing to hard drug use during the withdrawal stage are minimal for medical marijuana users? Well, some of the withdrawal symptoms experienced by these hard drugs like heroin include nausea. The addicts may also experience trembling, lack of sleep, and many other withdrawal conditions. Medical marijuana, on the other hand, is well-known to treat such conditions by inducing sleep and appetite. Therefore, medical cannabis is highly recommended for the treatment of drug addiction. It is typically a movement from one drug with harmful effects to one that does not have habit-forming properties.
Medical marijuana proves beneficial as it contains psychoactive properties. With a lack of relapse, drug addiction is reduced. The reason a majority of users fall back is due to severe withdrawals. Withdrawals can be both painful and uncomfortable to the users. Medical cannabis thus proves useful in drug addiction treatment. Moreover, medical marijuana does not contain any withdrawal symptoms when used responsibly and conservatively.
Medical marijuana is currently legalized for the treatment of many diseases including cancer, anxiety, and other chronic related diseases. However, with marijuana being classified as a schedule-1 drug, a barrier seems to have been created. This classification limits further research on the old drug’s full potential and capabilities. Despite this, people are fast appreciating the benefits that come with the use of medical cannabis. Moreover, people are looking forward to the implementation of recreational marijuana use. This application will see to the simplified accessibility of the amusing drug.
