Although many marijuana doctors and users believe smoking pot has no negative effects, scientific research indicates that marijuana use can cause many different medical problems.
Marijuana is one of the most commonly used drugs in the U.S. When you smoke it, it begins to affect users within 30-60 seconds and can last for 1–2 hours. When it is administered orally, such as capsules, edibles or tincture the effects take longer to begin, but usually last longer. Click here for more information on the necessary steps to get your medical marijuana card in Florida.
The active ingredient in cannabis is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC which acts on cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors, but other areas of the brain have few or none at all. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement. There are many different marijuana plant strains you can use to treat a variety of medical conditions using medical cannabis. We recommend you check with a licensed medical marijuana doctor who can assist you.
Marijuana can be administered in a variety of way as discussed earlier. This can again be done with CBD and or THC and applied orally, using inhalation, creams, patches, suppository form and more. It can also be added to liquids such as a drink or apply directly to your hot bath water. Get your medical marijuana card today!
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
- Short-term memory problems
- Severe anxiety, including fear that one is being watched or followed (paranoia)
- Very strange behavior, seeing, hearing or smelling things that aren’t there, not being able to tell imagination from reality (psychosis)
- Panic
- Hallucinations
- Loss of sense of personal identity
- Lowered reaction time
- Increased heart rate (risk of heart attack)
- Increased risk of stroke
- Problems with coordination (impairing safe driving or playing sports)
- Sexual problems (for males)
- Up to seven times more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections
than non-users (for females)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
- Decline in IQ (up to 8 points if prolonged use started in adolescent age)
- Poor school performance and higher chance of dropping out
- Impaired thinking and ability to learn and perform complex tasks
- Lower life satisfaction
- Addiction (about 9% of adults and 17% of people who started smoking as teens)
- Potential development of opiate abuse
- Relationship problems, intimate partner violence
- Antisocial behavior including stealing money or lying
- Financial difficulties
- Increased welfare dependence
- Greater chances of being unemployed or not getting good jobs.
Depending on the quality and amount consumed as well as route of administration, marijuana can produce a feeling of euphoria by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine. When smoked or vaped, the feeling of euphoria can happen within 30 seconds or so. When ingested orally, it takes much longer, even hours, for the drug to signal the brain to release the dopamine according to recent study and research.
States around the country including Florida have legalized medical marijuana. The American public largely supports the legalization of medical marijuana. At large percentage of the public believes the drug should be legal for medical uses, and recreational pot usage is less controversial than ever, with at least 60 plus percent of Americans in support. Even though some medical benefits of smoking pot may be overstated by advocates of marijuana legalization, recent research has demonstrated that there are legitimate medical uses for marijuana and strong reasons to continue studying the drug’s medicinal uses.
Even the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse lists medical uses for cannabis. There are at least two active chemicals in marijuana that researchers think have medicinal applications. Those are cannabidiol (CBD) which seems to impact the brain without a high— and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which has pain relieving properties and is largely responsible for the high. But scientists say that limitations on marijuana research mean we still have big questions about its medicinal properties. In addition to CBD and THC, there are another 400 or so chemical compounds, more than 60 of which are cannabinoids. Many of these could have medical uses. But without more research, we won’t know how to best make use of those compounds. More research would also shed light on the risks of marijuana. Even if there are legitimate uses for medicinal marijuana, that doesn’t mean all use is harmless. Some research indicates that chronic, heavy users may have impaired memory, learning, and processing speed, especially if they started regularly using marijuana before age 16 or 17.
Please visit our website to learn more or contact All Natural MD today to get started today! We have locations all over the State of Florida to assist you with your medical marijuana doctor certification and ID card. These locations include Sarasota and Bradenton located at:
Of course, the study couldn’t determine whether the users were like this to begin with or if these characteristics were somehow related to their smoking. Marijuana is safer than alcohol. That’s not to say it’s risk-free, but cannabis is much less addictive than alcohol and doesn’t cause nearly as much physical damage. Disorders like alcoholism involve disruptions in the endocannabinoid system. Because of that, some people think cannabis might help patients struggling with those disorders. Research published in the HRJ found that some people use marijuana as a less harmful substitute for alcohol, prescription drugs, and other illegal drugs. Some of the most common reasons patients make that substitution are that marijuana has less negative side effects and is less likely to cause withdrawal problems. Some people do become psychologically dependent on marijuana, and it is not a cure for substance abuse problems. But from a harm-reduction standpoint, it can help. Still, it’s worth noting that combining marijuana and alcohol can be dangerous, and some researchers are concerned that this scenario is more likely than one in which users substitute a toke for a drink.
Qualifying Medical Conditions for Marijuana Card in Florida:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Anxiety
- Anorexia
- Arthritis
- Back Pain
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Chronic Pain/Severe Pain
- Crohn’s disease
- Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Lyme Disease
- Migraines
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Muscle Spasms/Chronic Muscle Spasms
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizures
- Severe Nausea
- Sickle Cell Anemia
- Spasticity
- Any other ailment/condition of the same severity/symptoms, when determined by a physician’s opinion that the medical use of marijuana would surpass any potential health risks a terminal condition/terminal illness
Please visit our website to learn more or contact All Natural MD today to get started today! We have locations all over the State of Florida to assist you with your medical marijuana doctor certification and ID card. These locations include Sarasota and Bradenton located at: