Trauma Patients: A Case Study

According to the United Nations, “158.8 million people around the world use marijuana—more than 3.8% of the planet’s population” (Marijuana). Marijuana has become a crucial topic throughout the world in recent years. Marijuana has been legalized medically throughout many countries, such as Australia, Chile, Spain, and Uruguay. Within the United States of America, twenty-eight states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, the most recent legalization passed was in the state of Florida. Therefore, one can assert that medical marijuana is a controversial topic locally and globally. Medical marijuana portrays many advantages and disadvantages within society. Medical marijuana portrays many benefits to victims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,

Every day in the United States many use marijuana as a medical substance. “Like many doctors involved in palliative care he was aware that 10% to 15% of his patients used marijuana” as said by Ottawa family physician Don Kilby while referring to one his patient’s other physician (Gray 2). The patient Kilby is treating is an AIDS patient named Jean Charles Pariseau (Gray 1):

The marijuana screening inventory is an individually administered test. It was developed as a psychometrically reliable and valid tool for clinical use in general health and primary care settings. This is a thirty-one question assessment that assess the participant need for marijuana. The assessment is completed with paper and pen and takes approximately ten minutes to complete. Participants have the ability of answering yes or no to each question. After the participant has completed the assessment the scores are added calculating yes as one point and no for zero points. Seven or more “Yes” responses suggest a “High Risk-Problematic” pattern of marijuana use; four to six “Yes” responses suggest a “Moderate Risk” pattern; one to three a “Low

From 2001 to 2005 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports on average more than 79,000 deaths per year was caused by excessive alcohol use. (CDC, “Vital Signs”) Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, heavy drinking and any drinking by pregnant women or minors. On the other hand, the CDC does not have a category for deaths caused by the use of marijuana. Statistically, death directly from marijuana overdose is extremely rare. However, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data, there were a total of 1.5 million drug arrests nationwide in 2011 and out of those arrests around 750,000 were for marijuana alone. (FBI, “Person’s Arrested”) While both alcohol and marijuana should not be taken with any other drug and getting behind the wheel while drunk or high poses significant risk to everyone. Alcohol is still vastly greater in number when it comes to death than marijuana but then again one is legal while the other one is not.

Recently the drug policies and war on drugs has been increasingly seen in the headlines. Policies taken by the United States government against illegal drugs like marijuana are becoming apparent, and are coming into question. This has caused quite a controversy among supporters and opponents about legalization issues. Should marijuana be used as a medicine, as its advocates say? Or is it a dangerous drug of abuse that exposes users to brain damage and lung cancer? The debate over legalizing marijuana in all probability will continue for a long time, and it is a shame that this debate is so polarized. Marijuana produces long-term effects and damage on the brain. Although there have been reports of successful treatment in the use of marijuana as medicine, there appears to be more negative reasons why marijuana should not be used. Marijuana has been used for treatment of many diseases, some of which include cancer, post traumatic stress disorder, arthrosclerosis, digestive diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Despite the success for some medical issues, marijuana continues to be a “dangerous, addictive drug that poses significant health threats to users. Marijuana has no medical value that can't be met more effectively by legal drugs” ("U.S Drug Enforcement Administration"). The government and medical professionals should make it a point to emphasize the increasing problems of marijuana and its harmful effects on the body, as well as providing alternatives to

When comparing the safety of marijuana and opioid painkillers like so many professional athletes use, it is no contest. From the drug problems that plagued Ryan Leaf’s entire playing career dating back to college to Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s stint in rehab, opioids have caused addiction and abuse by professional athletes (Thiersch 5). The abuse often leads to overdosing on the pain killers. Marijuana would help decrease the number of opioid users and in result, decrease the number of those who die from overdose. In 2010, over 16,000 people died due to overdosing on painkillers (Freeman 38). However, there are no deaths reported annually from marijuana usage. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to overdose (Wing 4).

Marijuana has survived the passing of time and still helps the sick today. The advanced stages of treatment for patients with Cancer, AIDS and other diseases often include, terrible nausea, vomiting, and different types of pain. Patients have reported much relief from

Studies have proven that marijuana is no more harmful to a person’s health than alcohol or tobacco. Every year, tobacco kills roughly 390,000 people, alcohol contributes to 80,000 deaths in America and marijuana contributed to 0; no deaths from marijuana have ever been recorded in US history (Abovetheinfluence.org). When smoking tobacco, the user inhales tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and 200 other known poisons into the lungs (Abovetheinfluence.org). All forms of tobacco, including cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco, contain the addictive drug nicotine, and can also cause cancer. Alcohol alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. Alcohol plays a role in at least 50 percent of traffic deaths, about half of murders, and about 25 percent of suicides (Abovetheinfluence.org). Marijuana side effects include delusions, impaired memory, hallucinations and disorientation, which are no different from the side effects of alcohol alone.

There is a huge need for alternative ways to provide comfort for patients that have adverse

Until very recently the only research that has been conducted on the medical use of Cannabis has been for the relief of cancer patients. The primary use at this point has been for the relief of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy (Nantional Cancer Institute, 2014). Some of the other uses have been for anorexia and cachexia in HIV/AIDS, chronic, especially neuropathic pain, spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury (Nantional Cancer Institute, 2014). The scientific data collected over the years is precisely clear that the use of medical Cannabis is needed and should be allowed everywhere in the United States.

The use of cannabis toward medicine should not be shocking to anyone, since it has been around for centuries. As a matter of fact, it has been under medicinal aid for an estimated 5,000 years. Western medicine truly grasped marijuana’s medicinal abilities in the 1850’s. Infact, doctors documented over one hundred papers about how marijuana helped numerous disorders, such as nausea, glaucoma, movement disorders, pain relief, depression, and anxiety. It also helps cancer patients and those with HIV or Aids. Currently, many American patients have access to marijuana use so that they can have effective treatments for their illnesses. Medical marijuana use is achievable because

Marijuana is a drug that divides people. Some people claim it as the wonder drug of the '90s, capable of relieving the symptoms of many serious illnesses. Others curse the day the cannabis plant was ever discovered. From pain relief to stimulating the appetites of patients on chemotherapy, marijuana seems to have plenty going for it as a medicine. The legalization of marijuana is a large controversy in many parts of the world today, but the obvious negative effects that the drug induces has kept it from being legalized. Many researchers have a strong positive attitude towards marijuana. It has been said that the drug is “worth investigating and even providing as a medicine for pain relief, severe

In 2011, marijuana was responsible or involved in almost 500,000 emergency room visits in the United States (Carise). Cannabis has proven to lead to weakened immune systems, growth disorders, reduction of male sex hormones, destruction of lung fibers, potentially permanent brain lesions, lack of motivation, focus, ability to perceive

The popularity of marijuana as a recreational drug, there is always the risk of wide scale drug diversion occurring which means people without a prescription for marijuana gaining access to the drug for purposes other than medicinal use. Marijuana affects the brain and can cause feelings of disorientation, altered visual perception, hallucinations, sleepiness, and poorer psychomotor control (Ashton Churchill, 2007) It has also been shown that drivers using Marijuana had about three to seven times the risk of being in a motor car collision than drivers who were not using marijuana (John Ramaekers, 2009) Pedestrians and cyclists who are prescribed marijuana are also at higher risks of being injured in a collision. Generally speaking a study showed marijuana use was associated with an increased risk of injuries from causes such as falls, lacerations, and burns (Simon Gerberich, 2013) Hence the legalisation of medical marijuana not only poses a risk to the personal safety of the patient but also to the physical safety of the wider

The medical use of marijuana has been a discussion that has been in the news and all around us recently. This is currently a hot topic of interest. There is an enormous amount of evidence that marijuana could be effect against many things. For example evidence shows it could be used to help relieve pain during chemotherapy, but along with this there is also evidence that at times marijuana can cause harm to someone as well. As nurses we must see each side of the debate to make our care for our patients sounder. One quote that directly applies to this topic, which is very important, was written in the Journal of Clinical Nursing: