Photo by ©Shutterstock.com/ The term medical marijuana refers to using the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant or its basic extracts to treat symptoms of illness and other conditions. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved the marijuana plant as medicine. However, scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to two FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.
Medication, drug, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical preparation, pharmaceutical product, medicinal product, medicine, medicament, remedy [ edit on Wikidata ] A medication (also referred to as medicine, pharmaceutical drug, or simply drug ) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Clinical uses, side effects, and their resistance by different bacteria. Body, the drug is called a medicine, whereas, if its effect causes harm to the body, the drug.
Because the marijuana plant contains chemicals that may help treat a range of illnesses and symptoms, many people argue that it should be legal for medical purposes. In fact, a growing number of states have legalized marijuana for medical use. Why isn’t the marijuana plant an FDA-approved medicine?
The FDA requires carefully conducted studies (clinical trials) in hundreds to thousands of human subjects to determine the benefits and risks of a possible medication. So far, researchers haven't conducted enough large-scale clinical trials that show that the benefits of the marijuana plant (as opposed to its cannabinoid ingredients) outweigh its risks in patients it's meant to treat.
Read more about the various physical, mental, and behavioral effects of marijuana in our. Can Medical Marijuana Legalization Decrease Prescription Opioid Problems? Some studies have suggested that medical marijuana legalization might be associated with decreased prescription opioid use and overdose deaths, but researchers don't have enough evidence yet to confirm this finding. For example, one study found that Medicare Part D prescriptions filled for all opioids decreased in states with medical marijuana laws.