Medical Marijuana-Yes?, No?, Maybe?

The term medical marijuana often refers to using the entire unprocessed marijuana plant  to treat a specific disease or symptom. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)has not recognized or approved this method of marijuana use as medicine. Even though this has not been approved, scientific study of the chemicals marijuana contains, called cannabinoids, has led to the creation of  two FDA approved medications (dronabinol and nabilone) that contain this.

Marijuana contains chemicals that may help treat different illnesses, yet many people argue whether it should be legal or not for medical purposes. Many states in the US have made the use of medical marijuana legal because of this.

For a couple of years, every time this subject was brought up I'd always say that I do not believe marijuana is for medical use. This is because it has side effects such as breathing problems, altered senses, impaired movement of the body, development problems, etc... The other day I changed my mind, after I saw a documentary about a small girl who suffered extremely hard because of seizures. This girl had up to 300 seizures a week and the doctors could not find anything to stop them, until she tried marijuana. I was shocked at first because I couldn't believe how a 6 year old girl her age was using marijuana. I learned that she used a special type of marijuana that was low in THC (main mind-altering chemical), yet high in CBD, which helps treat certain conditions such as childhood epilepsy. It was evident enough that this girl was not suffering so much now that the seizures has diminished a significant amount. 

After watching this, I became more open-minded and realized that maybe indeed medical marijuana is a possibility towards diminishing/ending someones suffering. You should use it under a doctors supervision and orders in a measured way because if you exceed yourself it may have dangerous side effects. Overall, I believe this could be an option, but I believe more in medicine and that you should try and find safer ways to get treated without the risk of altering the brain or your body with this drug.