Is There Any Medical Potential for Marijuana?Marijuana is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world (7).
Since it became illegal in 1967 (5), there have been many questions of whether or not it is good for purposes, such as medicine. Debates between people that are for and against the use of marijuana in medicine have been heated and in recent years, referendums have been brought up in at least three states to make it available for medical treatment. Personally, I think that marijuana has the power to be a significant help with certain aliments, however, I think that more research is needed to prove its medical potential. The first people to introduce the healing properties of marijuana, were the Chinese. About five thousand years ago, the people of the plains of Central Asia, just north of the Himalayas, began cultivating the plant.
Though it is not exactly certain what cultivation of the plant was for, whether it was for its oil, fiber or medical properties, most experts believe that it was for its fibers. The fiber of the plant is so strong that it can be used to make thick, sturdy ropes. Its seeds also contain oils that can be used as a varnish. In some countries the seeds are used as bird and cattle feed and also in the manufacturing of soap. Something else that you may not know is that the seeds can be roasted and eaten as food. It is actually the flowers of a certain type of the plant that is used for its medicinal and intoxicating property.
I say “a flower from a certain type of the plant” because from my personal experience, many people believe that there is only one type of marijuana. Actually, marijuana is such a wild plant, that it easily adapts to any soil and new varieties it then emerge. This is when the plants with the strongest fibers, most superior oils, and a more potent drug content are selected. Only around 1000 B.
C. , in India and Southeast Asia, when the plant started to grow in that region, the intoxicating features were recognized and appreciated (7). So when was the plant introduced to the Western Hemisphere? There is archeological evidence that the plant was brought toWestern Europe from Asia at around 1500 B. C.
, by the Scythian invaders and later reached the Mediterranean region. However, the people of western Europe didn’t begin cultivating it as a plant crop in their area until about 500 A. D. When the plant first came to Europe, it was not introduced to all the countries. The rest of Europe did not find out about the plant until around the Christian era. No signs or evidence suggests that Europeans used marijuana for intoxicating purposes though.
In the New World, marijuana was introduced in the 16th century. It was brought over by both the Spanish and British settlers as well. In the Spanish settled areas of the New World, it was used for its fibers. Its intoxicating properties were only discovered in the late 19th century. In the United States, it was used for the production of rope and cloth until the 20th century where it is now widely used as a drug preferably for pleasure (7).
According to Nahas, it was about 1842, when an Irish physician named William O’Shaughnessy introduced the Western world to mariuana’s medicinal properties. Although Dr. O’Shaughnessy used marijuana for many different aliments and diseases, he found it most helpful in the relief of pain. In his practice, he also found that the drug was most effective for convulsions occurring from rabies, rheumatism, tetanus, and epilepsy. It also seemed to be a help when it came to menstrual cramps and in the delivery room; helping with increasing uterine contractions and reducing childbirth pains (7). In more recent times, the National Institutes of Health has claimed that marijuana may be helpful in the alleviation of chemotherapy, to reduce nausea.
The drug also helps in the stimulation of appetite and reduction of the loss of lean muscle mass in AIDS patients and in the prevention of epileptic seizures. It also aids in the reduction of fluid pressure in the eyes caused
