The Pros And Cons Of Marijuana

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, over 11 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have used marijuana in 2015 (1). Marijuana has been highly debated in recent years. New research has led to conflicting opinions on the benefits and risks of cannabis. This so-called gateway drug is the most commonly used illicit drug in the united states. The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington in 2015 has created a snowball effect on many states who now allow medicinal and or recreational use of the drug. With legalization and popularity soaring pregnant women have begun using the drug to ease pregnancy symptoms and illnesses. Minimal research exists on the effects marijuana has on the fetus, but advocates

Marijuana is the dried leaves of the cannabis plant. Marijuana contains around four hundred chemicals and over eighty of them are unique to the plant. The unique chemicals, cannabinoids, have been linked to treating pain associated with chemotherapy, AIDS, diabetes, and neuropathic pain (“Medical Marijuana” 1). The most common way to use marijuana is smoking it, but smoking can be damaging to the lungs. Marijuana can now be prescribed in many forms such as pills, edibles, topical lotions, and vapors. These forms are healthier for the lungs and can be prescribed in doses. In 1973, President Richard Nixon established the Drug Enforcement Administration to combat the large-scale drug problem in America. Nixon used his executive order and gave oversight of all anti-drug efforts to the attorney general, John Mitchell. He created a schedule of drugs that would allow the government to classify drugs based on their acceptable medical use and their potential for dependency. Mitchell placed marijuana as a schedule I drug, where it still sits today. The U.S Drug Enforcement Agency defines schedule I drugs as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential

Nausea and vomiting are common side effects of pregnancy that are sometimes overlooked. Erin Hildebrandt, writer and mother of five, struggled with extreme weight loss and morning sickness during her pregnancies. She was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe pregnancy sickness that involves constant morning sickness (Hildebrandt 52). When Erin was thirty-two weeks pregnant with her second child she lost over thirty pounds and decided to give cannabis a try. After trying wristbands, herbs, yoga and other possibly dangerous prescribed medications, marijuana was the only thing that worked. Ten weeks after her first dose of cannabis, Erin had gained seventeen pounds over her pre-pregnancy weight and gave birth to a healthy nine-pound baby. The effects of cannabis use during pregnancy are unclear. Dr. Angela Zhang, DO, is a Family Practice specialist in Newcastle, Washington with many years of experience. After viewing many studies, she came to the conclusion that “prenatal marijuana use isn’t associated with differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes at birth, in the neonatal period, or in childhood through age 3 years” (Zhang 462). The results of Dr. Zhang’s analysis mean that children with mothers who used marijuana while pregnant didn’t have abnormalities with behavior problems, language, or sustained attention and memory tasks. One study evaluated by Dr. Zhang was