Marijuana in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Marijuana in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders

The Use of Marijuana in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders

The use of marijuana as a medicinal treatment has been met with much controversy. Public opinion of marijuana use, whether recreational or medical is sharply divided. Some dismiss medical marijuana simply as a hoax to make it legal. Others are adament about the unique medicinal properties that it has. Both sides have used science as the backbone of their case, supporting claims that the others have deemed false. In this report I will objectively make a case that marijuana has a legitimate use in the world of medicine and mental disorders. The use of marijuana in the treatment of disorders hasn't reach a level to which there is definitive evidence to support a wide array of claims. In this paper I contend that the use of marijuana agonists and antagonists can have an significant impact on a number of psychological, central nervous system and motivational disorders. Marijuana agonists have the best application when used for the treatment of loss of appetite, pain, anxiety, vomiting, nausea, and epilepsy. Marijuana antagonists applications include schizophrenia and anxiety. For this paper I will concentrate on three promising applications of marijuana which include pain, anxiety and movement disorders.

Several developments have greatly helped the study of marijuana. These included the isolation the cannabinoid receptor, the discovery of endogenous cannabinoid ligands and the isolation of the primary psychoactive components of marijuana; Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC. These greatly enhance our understanding of marijuana and its use as a medicine.
One important factor in studying cannabis is the fact that it is composed of many different chemicals. The constituent chemicals are called "cannabinoids".   There are approx. 66 cannabinoids and they are grouped into 11 different types based on their chemical similarity. They fall into two categories, psychoactive and non-psychoactive. Psychoactive properties...