Medical marijuana is a big money maker in the “pharmaceutical” industry. With 15 states, including New Mexico that allows persons to carry marijuana on them and have up to 16 plants growing (each state varies). The addiction to marijuana will continue to grow as more and more states start to accept marijuana as a treatment for illnesses.
The truth is, while some people do indeed use marijuana to treat (not cure) some illnesses- it is far more harmful than helpful for anyone who uses it.
Ask any drug rehabilitation center that offers addiction support and they will tell you: marijuana is both addictive and harmful to your body. There are no exceptions, no matter how the person introduces the drug into their body. There are more than 10,000 medical studies in the United States conducted over the years that have successfully published their findings that marijuana is indeed both addictive and destructive to the human body. The destruction is long term, not just the basic lethargy that is felt when the drug is in the system. Reproduction problems, motor skills, memory function, carcinogen intake and mood swings are all very real effects and linger after the drug has run its course.
Addiction support for marijuana rehabilitation is just as important as drug rehabilitation for someone suffering from pain pill addiction. Medically speaking, marijuana is most commonly prescribed to treat pain. There is a detoxification process and counseling that needs to take place (for starters) to get a person over the preliminary stages of early sobriety. Just like an addiction to alcohol or tobacco, there can be major organ damage and lung and heart diseases, including cancer. How are these risks outweighed by the “good” that marijuana used for medical purposes can supposedly bring to a person? Take for example someone who is living with HIV and obtains a medical marijuana prescription, that person is only increasing their chances that their HIV will turn into AIDS faster, because marijuana suppresses a healthy immune system. An already weakened immune system simply cannot benefit from using it. There are plenty of other FDA approved drugs to help. What about terminal patients? If indeed the person is terminal, though many with the diagnosis have lived to tell their story, they are taking precious time away by smoking marijuana. Again, there are better methods of medicine to treat almost every medical problem before a person should turn to marijuana.
With states like New Mexico that gave the green light to medical marijuana, most who smoke the drug (11 million people per month, nationally) do not have a prescription and are not getting the drug from any licensed facility. Their only disease is the dependence on marijuana and their only cure is drug rehabilitation. Vista Taos Renewal Center provides Addiction Support in Taos, New Mexico. Vista Taos is a facility that focuses on healing the body and mind from addiction in a more holistic manner than that which you would see at a more traditional or hospital-like drug rehabilitation clinic. Thankfully, marijuana dependence is very treatable and the success rate for recovery is in an addict’s favor. Many of the long-term side effects that have built up on the body can be reversed. Marijuana alone has over 400 carcinogens. When smoked, that number rises into the thousands. If a person seeks addiction support soon enough, the damaging toxins can be purged from the body over the course of time. Lungs can become healthier. The repair process on the inside of the human body is very similar to someone who has quit tobacco. Over the course of time, the body will work to repair itself to the best of its ability.
The majority of people who are obtaining medical marijuana cards are young and generally in good health. Some doctors are turning this into a large profit by writing marijuana prescriptions. Medical marijuana has very little to offer anyone. If you struggle with addiction to marijuana, it is wise to seek addiction support from a professional as soon as possible.
