John Lloyd A.

Opido
G11 HUMSS Philosophers
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray supports medical marijuana to be legalized in the
Philippines. Before she was crowned, Gray was asked her opinions on medical marijuana
legalization. She didn’t hold back and showed her support for medical marijuana. She said, “I’m
for it being used in medical purposes. But not so for recreational use”. “Because I think if people
were to argue, ‘what about alcohol and cigarettes?’ well, everything is good but in moderation”
she added. Therefore, I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana when it comes to medical
purposes. So, what is marijuana? And what are the benefits of medical marijuana?
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, marijuana is a greenish-gray mixture
of the dried flower of cannavis sativa. Some people smoke marijuana in hand rolled cigarettes
called joints; in pipes, water pipes (sometimes called bongs), or in blunts (marijuana rolled in
cigar wraps).
An article on MedicalNet authored by Erica Oberg, ND, MPH said that medical
marijuana is plant-based medicine and has three major active compounds: THC, CBD, and CBN
that is used for relieving pain, nausea, vomiting, epilepsy and many more. Senator Juan Miguel
Zubiri said that this can really cure an epilepsy, “Honestly, I’m okay with it because I know
some of my friends whose children have epilepsy and it saved them” he said.
Also, when medical marijuana would be legalized the vives of people who has a cancer
have a possibility of prolonging. According to the study of Dr. Adam Kohn, Ph.D, at the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, “cancer pain can be due to inflammation, mechanical invasion of
bone, or other pain sensitive structures but if 5-20mg doses of THC were injected it produces
analgesia and lessen nausea and vomiting. Therefore, it could prevent a person from feeling pain
and could still live without pain at least in a moment.
Furthermore, one of the benefits of medical marijuana is that it is an appetite stimulant,
especially to those people that has a serious medication just like cancer. “We found that cannabis
exposure caused more frequent, small meals”, stated by Jon Davis Ph.D, researcher in the
Department of Integrative Philosophy and Neurosciences at Washington State. Ordinarily, when
the stomach is empty it releases a hormone called ghrelin, a message to brain that it’s the time to
look for the food, he added. The researcher found that cannabis dose triggered ghrelin source.
By, if the patients were able to eat stable, he/she may increase quality of life and fasten recovery.
Therefore, the legalization of medical marijuana is necessary to our country, not here in
our country but all over the world. This medical marijuana had contributed many benefits in
terms of medication as showed above, this necessary especially, to those people who has serious
illness that wants to be cured. Some people will argue, that it might not be just used in medical
purpose by some people but as long as the hospitals are following the protocol given by the
government, why not. Let’s open our eyes wide and look at those families that are suffering from
serious diseases, crying for their lives to be prolonged.