Research and Pharmacology

Research and Pharmacology

The Use of Medical Marijuana

In the nursing profession, it is common to encounter co-workers and patients with diverse personality, beliefs and cultural views regarding medications. These views may not only be different from what is known but may also contradict the nursing practice and principles. Conducting a research on recent pharmacological topics helps an individual in understanding the nursing profession and to make informed professional choices during diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients. This paper explores the diverse pharmacological views about the use of marijuana and address the pros and cons of the topic.

Medical marijuana or Medical cannabis refers to the use of the unprocessed cannabis plant or its extracts to treat severity of disease symptoms or other medical conditions. Research reviews that the use of cannabis extracts (particularly the cannabinoids) help to reduce muscle spasm and chronic pain hence it improves quality care and patient outcome. As a result, scientific study on chemical components of marijuana have suggested the approval of use of marijuana extracts for medications on various diseases (Choo et al. 2014). Continued research reveals more advanced benefits of cannabis because the plant contains many compounds that can be used to treat a wide range of symptoms and illnesses. While some people argue that marijuana use should be legalized others feel that its legalization may be a motivator to drug abuse.

Medical Marijuana Pharmacology

Medical cannabis is believed to contain more than 400 compounds, which include more than 60 cannabinoids that are aryl-substituted meroterpenes obtained from the plant cannabis sativa (Hill, 2015). The pharmacology of various cannabinoids is essentially unknown but the most dominant psychoactive agent, tetrahydrocannabinol, has been synthesized and studied to identify its effect to users. Other plant cannabinoids including cannabidiol and cannabinol have been researched for their medical use. The studies show that the cannabinoids affect various body parts including brain and liver (Hill, 2015). They have synergistic, antagonistic, and additive effects with THC and they are likely to modify their actions based on frequency of smoking. Synthetic cannabinoids such as cyclohexylphenols, nabilone, and naphthoylindoles are legal for research and therapeutic purposes in most jurisdictions (Hill, 2015). The journey to legalizing marijuana for medical use began in 1970 when the Us president, Richard Nixon enacted the federal Controlled Substance Act that placed the cannabis plant into Schedule 1. This class belonged to substances tightly controlled…