Out of the Weeds; The truth on Marijuana
As someone who uses weed for chronic pain and PTSD, I am one of the many people who benefit from the legalization and use of weed both THC and CBD chemicals found naturally in the marijuana plant like many others around the world. Therefore, writing about my experiences and the positive effects I’ve researched make me feel inclined to share as it is proven to help people who’ve had various positive outcomes. As a beginner herbalist myself, I feel the mass majority of benefits in herbs are not highlighted enough in the mainstream and can have potential to be more effective than pharmaceutical drugs which can have devastating overdose risks, as well as other negative impacts on one’s health. Just the other day someone informed me of how a relative of theirs has gone from being prescribed oxycodone now switched to weed and has seen huge benefits. This is an ongoing narrative I’ve heard many times now at this point.
There are an increasing amount of illnesses and health conditions that weed is being found to help with. This is not medical advice, but as more research comes out on this natural remedy, the specific proven uses are now abundantly clear. Weed has proven to have anti-cancer properties and can help fight certain types of cancers. Along with alleviating chronic conditions such as MS and the muscle spasms that come with it, weed helps people with PTSD, depression, reduce hepatitis C side effects, Parkinson’s, ADHD, alcoholism, glaucoma, sleeping problems, regulate seizures, regulate and prevent diabetes, and promote weight loss. The list is seemingly endless, and more people than ever are choosing weed over the aged pain reliever.
Along with these uses, weed use has been found to have a positive correlation with intelligence in some studies though more research needs to be done. Want to raise your GPA without taking Adderall? The answer might surprise you. With highly subjective and stigmatized studies done for years, new studies and revisiting poorly analyzed older studies are proving to show again and again that weed may possibly increase cognitive function. One Harvard study reveals that it may. A small study originally consisted of 24 starting participants, over a three-month period, with 11 making it to the return at the end of the testing time period. The participants for the study were prescribed medical cannabis for “either anxiety, chronic pain, depression, and sleep. Though, most of the patients had two or more ailments”.
“After three months of cannabis treatment, the patients took two different cognitive tests. The first is called the Stroop Color Word Test. This test assesses thinking ability by measuring how long it takes for a person to name a color of a printed word that does not match the written word itself.
Patients also performed a trail making test, which requires them to connect numbered dots.
The three-month scores were then compared to their original baseline. After herbal therapy, the study found that patients were faster in completing tasks. They also did not make any more errors than they had before. In addition, patients self-reported improvements in a variety of symptoms, including condition-related symptoms, sleep, and overall health” (herb.co).
The major point of so much of this is the criminalization of weed for so long which has limited the research and use of it for so many people in America. The criminalization of weed in America is nothing short of a colonial weapon and tool used for the prison industrial complex, and is shown to target black people over whites. “Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana” (ACLU.com).
According to marijuanablog.com, “The average length of time people in federal prison serve for marijuana-related offenses is 88 months. Most of these prisoners are not hardened or violent criminals. In fact, 44.3 percent of inmates in federal prison due to marijuana convictions had no criminal history or a minimal criminal history and had never previously served time in prison. Most- a full 85 percent- did not even own a firearm”. The war on drugs brought heavy criminalization to those who used weed for their enjoyment, health problems, or everyday functioning. With its continued legalization, I think it’s very important to release all imprisoned people who have cannabis related charges, so that weed is in fact legal and available to all equally and so that oppressive systems cannot benefit financially from incarcerating innocent people. That, and all information on the effects of weed should be available and harmful propaganda and stigma surrounding weed needs to dissipate so that people can heal and use this natural herbal remedy to live a happy and fulfilling life.
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The idea that weed can help with ADHD is very interesting to me, as someone who also uses marijuana for PTSD and suffers from ADHD. It seems paradoxical that a depressant could do something similar to a stimulant like Adderal. I will have to look into the links you cited more, because I am very interested in this idea.
Interesting article! I think that the war on drugs has done irreparable harm to the perception of drugs, particularly marijuana. This idea of the "gateway drug" despite the fact that marijuana has seen medical use in other cultures was introduced during the Reagan administration- one of his many culture shifts. If marijuana is seen as something inherently bad, it better justified the mass persecution of black urban populations and drove arrest rates way up. Although like any substance, it can be abused, the key to ameliorating addiction and stigma is by reducing the harm caused by its use- which means a safe supply and decriminalization.