Statistics of teens using marijuana have been climbing for years now -- in recent years it has become more popular for teens to smoke marijuana verses cigarettes. However, a new study shows that the legalization of medical marijuana won’t increase the usage among teens, nor lead them to use other drugs.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego have released a new study linking positive effects of smoked marijuana to multiple sclerosis, giving sufferers of the disease hope for new, alternate forms of treatment.
Lead researcher Jody Corey-Bloom, M.D., Ph.D. set out to see if marijuana could have positive effects on spasticity, muscle tightness and pain that is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis.
Corey-Bloom and her fellow researchers at UCSD's Center for Medical Cannabis Research found that yes, positive effects exist, even if only qualitatively, and more research needs to be done in light of these findings.
Proponents of medical marijuana are pushing the Arizona Department of Health Services to include post-traumatic stress disorder in its list of qualifying conditions.
Arizona's Prop 203 legalized marijuana for medical use in 2010, allowing those with approval to cultivate the drug. But while severe conditions like cancer, HIV and AIDS are addressed in the law, there are still many diseases and afflictions that the "Arizona Medical Marijuana Act" doesn't cover.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PTSD is an "anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event." When a person is in danger, they feel a "fight or flight" urge - either to face the danger or run from it - but in people with PTSD, that urge is broken; "People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger," says the NIMH.
