Medical marijuana is helping people for many more health problems than just pain
Kastalia Medrano
Posted with permission from Newsweek
On Wednesday, the health department of the state of Pennsylvania unveiled a landmark registry for its residents who use medical marijuana. The new website will serve as a one-stop hub connecting patients and caregivers to growers, dispensaries, labs and physicians. More than 100 doctors are already linked to the program, with another 200 currently in training. By May of 2018, applicants should be able to pick up their prescriptions anywhere in the state.
The developments are in keeping with the wave sweeping over the eastern seaboard as marijuana usage becomes increasingly mainstream. With the continued spread of legalization and the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, researchers now looking at what other health benefits the plant may have.
But finding that out is difficult. Marijuana is still a Schedule 1 substance and thus illegal at the federal level. But a growing number of states have marijuana initiatives on their ballots for the coming year. Because it is a Schedule 1 substance, it's difficult to get clinical studies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The catch here is that in the absence of enough federally funded research, marijuana lacks the grounds for getting the Schedule 1 classification overturned.
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Whether marijuana deserves that classification is a matter of debate. Schedule 1 substances are those that the federal government believes have a high potential for abuse and no medical benefit. This parameters are helpful when dealing with, say, heroin or bath salts, but many people argue that the classification is inapplicable to weed. Those who oppose the Schedule 1 assignment argue that marijuana is almost never physically addictive and in no way a 'gateway drug' to substances like heroin. Rather, it can provide an alternative to opiates, which are a gateway drug to heroin and fentanyl.
The medical uses of marijuana are an area of much interest. It's most commonly used to manage all different kinds of pain. It's also used to manage sleep-deprivation as well as nausea and loss of appetite related to chemotherapy or HIV/AIDS. But the full range of use may extend far beyond.
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