Medical cannabis

Medical marijuana, aka medical cannabis, is cannabis and cannabinoids that are given by doctors to their patients.^[1][2] The use of marijuana as a medicine has not been tested much because it can be difficult to get enough of it to test and because of other governmental regulations.^[3]

Medical cannabis can help with nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy. It can improve appetite in people with HIV/AIDS. It can reduce chronic pain and muscle spasms.^[4]

Short-term use makes it more likely that there will be side effects. Common side effects include feeling tired, dizziness and hallucinations.^[5] Long-term effects of marijuana are not clear. Concerns include memory problems, risk of addiction and children taking it by accident.

The Cannabis plant has been used as medicine for thousands of years in many cultures. Its current use is controversial.

Medical marijuana can be given in different ways. They include vaporizing, smoking dried buds, eating foods that have cannabis in them, taking capsules or using lozenges.

Recreational use of marijuana is illegal in most parts of the world. The medical use of cannabis is legal in some countries, including the Czech Republic, Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. Australia is working to pass a law that will allow the use of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes.^[6] In the United States, federal law says all use of marijuana is illegal. But more than 30 states and the District of Columbia no longer arrest people for having medical marijuana, as long as they follow a state's medical marijuana rules.

1. ↑ Murnion, B. (2015). "Medicinal Cannabis". The Australian Prescriber. 38 (6): 212–215. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2015.072. PMC 4674028. PMID 26843715.
2. ↑ "Marijuana as Medicine". The National Institute on Drug Abuse. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
3. ↑ "Release the Strains". Nature Lexicon's. Retrieved May 4, 2017.^{[dead link]}
4. ↑ Borgelt, Laura M.; Franson, Kari L.; Nussbaum, Abraham M.; Wang, George S. (2013). "The Pharmacologic and Clinical Effects of Medical Cannabis". Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy. 33 (2). Wiley Online: 195–209. doi:10.1002/phar.1187. PMID 23386598. S2CID 8503107. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
5. ↑ "Cannabinoids for Medical Use". JAMA Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
6. ↑ Australia to Give Green Light to Medical Cannabis (Report). CNN. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.