When it comes to the pro-cannabis argument in the United States, there is a big push for its place in the alternative medicine department. Governments in the United States are well aware of the opioid problem that is going on in our nation, and medical marijuana could potentially relieve some of that problem.
However, there is a bigger argument and more at stake than just opioids. When it comes to the pharmaceutical industry in our country, there is a lot left to be desired. Prescription medications in the United States are not only expensive, but they are also not well regulated and often misprescribed. Furthermore, a lot of medications offer some pretty serious side effects that can be pretty awful in the long run. Elderly medical patients usually end up taking a whole host of pills from morning to bedtime to treat different ailments, diseases, and conditions.
There are plenty of reasons for why elderly patients should have better access to medical marijuana as an alternative to taking everyday painkillers and other prescriptions like that. Like I mentioned previously, medical marijuana could potentially replace harmful drugs like opioids that have shown to be very dangerous and ineffective. Over half of all prescriptions for elderly patients are for opioids - it is no wonder why these same patients are dealing with the most addiction and overdose problems out of any other group.
Even if it is not coming down to opioids, prescription medications can be a serious problem for older people that do not necessarily know enough about what they are being told to take and how it is prescribed. Cannabis reform could lead to better treatment options for these patients and leave them in better places than before.
It is also true that cannabis has less dangerous side effects than a lot of medications out there. It is true that every medication or drug, including cannabis, has its side effects. However, if we are looking at the ratio of bad side effects to beneficial ones, cannabis clearly wins out.
Many medications that are so readily prescribed to elderly patients can cause awful side effects like organ damage and addiction, and eventually lead to death. The older people in our nation deserve better than this. Also, like I talked about earlier, medical marijuana deals with a lot of the conditions that are most often experienced in elderly patients.
Even healthy people begin to experience health problems as they grow older - it is simply the way that our bodies break down. Arthritis, cachexia, diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, osteoporosis, and many others commonly occur in older medical patients.
Most notably, many states that have a medical marijuana program include these conditions and many others on their state’s medical marijuana programs. Do you know why that is? It is because cannabis is great at treating them of course! Furthermore, it can be much easier to adjust doses of medical marijuana than it is with other commonly prescribed medications for older patients. Many people have a limited choice of medications available to them for their illnesses.
Plus, it is also true that changing medications or discontinuing them can take time to taper off, otherwise there is the risk of going through withdrawals. Medical marijuana can be prescribed in a great variety of ways and this means that there is something for everyone. Whether you want to smoke weed, eat cannabis infused candies, or use oils or tinctures, there is something for you out there! If government bodies in the United States are able to keep an open mind about the use of cannabis in our medical system, all of our lives would be better.
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