Marijuana effects on health are hot topic these days. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announce a massive report based on the comprehensive studies of recent research on the health effects of marijuana. Nearly 100 conclusions are drawn up after 10,000 studies of analysis. Considering that the legalization of marijuana is still very arguable topic across the United States, these scientific report could help us with the attitude on this subject.
The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids
Cannabis is a drug derived from the plant Cannabis sativa. It is most commonly used in the form of marijuana, which is produced from the dried leaves of the cannabis plant. The statistic says that the cannabis is most commonly used the drug in the world. Only in the United States, nearly 22.2 million people reported using it. A number of prior studies suggested that the use of cannabis can have negative implications for health. This National Academies report, titled as The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research – confirms it.
The report summarizing the current state of evidence of marijuana effects on health divided into 11 chapters. Some of the key findings are next:
- Therapeutic Effects – Evidence has shown that the use of cannabis has a positive effect on chronic pain by reducing it. This is especially indicative for adults with multiple sclerosis-related muscle spasms.Preventing effects has for the patients on chemotherapy as well.
- Injury and Death – Use of cannabis increase the car accidents. Unexpectedly cannabis overdose injuries among children are more frequently in the states where is legalized.
- Cancer – Surprisingly, but there is no specific evidence that marijuana directly causes lung and head cancers.
- Heart Attack, Stroke, and Diabetes – It is still an unclear connection between stroke and diabetes with use of cannabis, although there is an inclination for triggering a heart attack.
- Respiratory Disease – The risk of chronic bronchitis is increased with cannabis smoking. However, still is uncertain whether it causes asthma and some other pulmonary disease.
- Immunity – The report suggests more researching on this topic, as there is no enough data to conclude what are the marijuana effects on the human immune system.
- Mental Health – research confirms the link between cannabis and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and social anxiety.
- Prenatal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Exposure – evidence for now only showed that smoke marijuana during pregnancy cause the lower weight of babies, but need more research on other health conditions.
The most important conclusion of this report is that the cannabis often increased the risk, but it is not the direct cause of any health condition. Scientists also suggest more research on this topic, as they can’t always access to all types of marijuana that people use.