Cannabis: How society stigmatized a beneficial plant

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The cause of the stigma on cannabis

 
Cannabis might be the most misunderstood plant in the planet. It is a plant surrounded by stigmas, not because it is poisonous or harmful, but because how it was used and viewed it in the past.

The stigma on cannabis is unjustified, as it is a very useful plant. It can be used as a food ingredient, and has plenty medical uses. Yet why is it frown upon, and even considered illegal in most part of the world? Simple. It's because of misconceptions. Misconceptions of whom? The masses, our leaders and the Media. Among them the media has the most fault in our misconceptions of cannabis. Why? Because the majority of what the masses knows about cannabis is what, they read, hear or see in newspapers, radio or television. The majority of masses are mostly ignorant of cannabis, same goes for our world leaders. People knows cannabis in its popular name the "Marijuana" or its street name "weed".

Marijuana by itself is not harmful, on the other hand if taken correctly, and in the right dosage, can be beneficial to the body. The only reason it is harmful to the body is when it is abused. And the media mostly focused on this side of cannabis. Why? Because of news worthiness, that's why! People will usually focus on negative stimulants rather than positive stimulation. This is normal, it's our survival instincts doing it's work. How so you may asked? That's because humans are programmed to react to negative stimulation, since the day of our primitive ancestors. In those times there are plenty of predators, poisonous animals and plants, and deadly insects. So our ancestors are always on their toes, and we the modern humans, inherited that trait.

The media knowing this, takes advantage of this trait, to get people's attention and monetize on us. This by itself isn't wrong, media, like any other platform needs way to make profit to operate, and pay their employee. Yet of their method of doing things is less than desirable, and we, the ignorant masses, still buy to this idea, and stigmatized a potentially beneficial plant in the process.

So now that it's out of the way, I will list down how cannabis can be potentially beneficial to our health and society as whole.

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Benefits of cannabis

 

Helps relieves chronic pain and nausea.

• In the medical field, the use of marijuana as a pain reliever is a common practice. It can also be used to lessen nausea after a chemotherapy.

It is known to reduce muscle spasm.

• According to some studies smoking marijuana can reduce muscle spasm caused by multiple sclerosis. The THC in marijuana binds the receptors in the nerves and muscles thus relieving the pain.

It can be used to treat Glaucoma.

• Glaucoma, is an eye disease that increases pressure on the eyeball, which can lead to the loss of vision. Marijuana helps decrease the pressure inside the eyes. according to National Eye Institute.

Reduces seizures on epilepsy.

• Cannabinoids, another derivative of marijuana, is said to reduced seizures in children with Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy by at least by 39%. This is according to New England Journal of Medicine. It does it by controlling excitability and regulating relaxation, and binding to the brain cells responsible for controlling seizures.

It can help fight depression, social anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

• The Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC in marijuana, if taken in a very small dose can help fight anxiety. Doctors often prescribed THC to patients who are suffering from depression and anxiety.

It may prevent cancer from spreading

• An intensive study on CBD or Cannabidiol, reveal that cannabidiol might prevent the spread of cancer cells in the body. It does so by turning off a gene called Id-1, this is according the study, published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. This study is still on its early stage, so more research is needed to verify its authenticity.

Greatly improves the taste of food or drinks

• As I mention earlier, marijuana can be used as a food ingredient. Using it as ingredient in cooking greatly improves the taste of the dish. Cannabis based food had been gaining popularity this past years. You can easily find stores selling cannabis related food products in the internet.

 
This are just a few examples of the benefits that marijuana can bring to our society, of course if there are advantages, there will also be disadvantages. Below are a few examples of them.

 

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Negative effects of marijuana

 
Addiction

• Like everything else, marijuana can, and will be easily abused. If taken in large dosage, it will lead to addiction. This is the primary concern in the use of marijuana, and the main caused of the stigma.

Paranoia

• As other controlled drugs with hallucinogenic effect, marijuana can potentially caused paranoia if taken in large dosage. Therefore it should only be taken when prescribed by a medical professional.

Impaired the body's involuntary action

• One of marijuana's main function is relaxing the the muscle nerve, this could led to impaired muscle control, similar to alcohol. The danger in this is when you drive, after smoking, this could led to accidents, resulting to either injury or death.

Impaired the body's pain receptor

• Pain is very important to any creature's survival, without it we will be prone to danger and bodily harm. Marijuana has the effect of numbing pain, that is why it has great value in the field of medicine, yet this can also led to harm if abused.

Smoking is dangerous

• The popular way of using marijuana is by smoking. Even though smoking marijuana is less carcinogenic than tobacco, smoking it doesn't make it safer.
   

This are only few of the dangers of marijuana. If you noticed most of the danger associated with marijuana is due to abuse and our own carelessness. For this reasons it is only recommended to use marijuana, if prescribed by a medical professional.

Today marijuana is more accepted by society, even the media are showing their support for the plant, especially in the United States. Yet the majority of the world still holds marijuana in doubt, this is due to the stigma of the past. Hopefully this will change in the future.

Thank you for reading this article, I hope this educate, as well as entertains you.

 

Reference for this article
www.businessinsider.com
www.health.com

 

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