Nearly 20 years of research have shown that weed can be beneficial in reducing pain and other symptoms associated with a variety of illnesses, including cancer and multiple sclerosis. Patient accounts of the relief they’ve experienced from weed relief, that they would not get from other medicines.

Not only might the legalization of weed help more people with unmanageable pain find relief, it could even have a positive, effect against the opioid epidemic. Studies have shown that weed has helped fight the prescription pain medicine addiction.   
 
Many advocates of the use of weed for medical purposes consider the drug a harmless or even helpful substance. Among the arguments for legalizing weed is its ability to treat symptoms of serious diseases, including AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, and chronic pain. As of February 2017, more than half of all US states have authorized laws permitting the use of weed for medical purposes, and legalization has gathered public support in other states. According to a February 2017 poll by Quinnipiac University, a large percentage of Americans approve of legalizing marijuana for medical use. Opinions differ somewhat between generations. The poll found that people over sixty-five were much less likely than people under fifty to support the legalization of recreational marijuana. However, public support for medical marijuana remained at more than 90 percent among all age groups.

Of all the people who use marijuana, about one in eleven will become addicted. When a young person begins smoking marijuana in his or her teenage year, he or she has a one in six chance of becoming addicted. Marijuana impairs judgment and makes people act recklessly. In that case, you must also support banning alcohol, right? Because alcohol impairs judgment and causes people to act recklessly. Drunk driving alone kills around 10,000 people every year.

Is weed is a gateway drug? Actually, it’s not. You must be thinking of alcohol and tobacco.  Underage smoking and alcohol use is typically tried first. Weed is not the most common and is rarely the first “gateway” to illegal drug use. Weed is nowhere near as bad for you as cigarettes and alcohol, both of which are legal. You know how many people have died from a weed overdose? None. Ever. Weed is quantifiably less addictive than cigarettes or alcohol. Plenty of things that impair judgment are nonetheless legal, most notably alcohol.Nobody has ever died from a weed overdose, unlike cigarettes, alcohol, and prescription pills.

Heavy recreational use of weed can adversely affect the brains of teenagers. Teenagers to those in their early 20s probably related to the continuing development of brain structures and functions in that age group. Such use can also affect the brains of people already exhibiting substance abuse issues or mental illness. Regular use of weed can hasten the onset of psychotic illnesses. In fact, high dose THC one of the most widely studied molecules in the weed plant has been found to cause acute/transient psychosis. Chronic weed use is connected with what, in popular culture, has been called slacker behavior increased risk of dropping out of school, lower achievement, diminished IQ and probably lower life satisfaction not to mention addiction, physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms. By their late 30s, chronic users face a greater risk of respiratory problems, such as bronchitis and periodontal disease. To be fair, however, smoking weed doesn’t appear to have the same long-term medical consequences of using tobacco is an increased risk of cancer, obesity and heart disease.

In conclusion, not only might the legalization of weed help more people with unmanageable pain find relief, it could even have a positive effect against the opioid epidemic.