A Coin has Two Sides: Use Marijuana with Cautions

Abstract

Whether used legally or illegally, the use of marijuana has a long history. However, the benefits and harms of medical use of marijuana and how to use marijuana have not yet reached consensus in the medical community [1,2]. Cavazos-Rehg PA, et al. [2] study suggests that most marijuana-related tweets support marijuana use and believe marijuana has health benefits and/or should be legalized [2]. Colorado passed Amendment 20 in November 2000, which supports the use marijuana by people who suffered one of the following eight “debilitating medical conditions”: HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, severe nausea, severe pain, cancer, cachexia, seizures, and muscle spasms [3]. But, according to an anonymous webbased electronic survey and 520 family physicians (FPs) responses, forty-six percent of FPs does not support the recommended use of marijuana, and only nineteen percent of FPs believes that it should be recommended [3]. Despite the dramatic increase in medical use of marijuana by adults, pregnant women and adolescents, there are few clinical trials to demonstrating the benefits and harms of medical use of marijuana, and few trials under the auspices of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to compare medicinal marijuana with traditional analgesics [2-5]. Therefore, it is time to pay more attention to using marijuana with cautions, and shift our focus toward improving quality of life of patients by scientific and rational use of marijuana. Three arguments support the conclusion above.