The pain management process is one of the essential medical practices. With the emergence of different diseases causing discomfort and pain to adults, scientists have dived into research to help find out the appropriate approaches to help relieve discomfort, make people feel better, and enhance their quality of life. The article by Shah et al. (2019) opines that some of the conventional medications failed to achieve the desired outcome, and a room has been created to diversify some prescribed medicines like opioids and benzodiazepines. With the increased number of adults suffering pain and seeking medical assistance, the research to manage such problems was extended to using natural products like marijuana as a substitute for conventional drugs (Wadsworth et al., 2022). The proposed use of cannabis due to its medicinal properties also sparked the debate on whether marijuana should be legalized. The few states which legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes recorded its effectiveness in pain management as well as a reduction in opioid overdose Shah et al., (2019). Since the legalization of cannabis for chronic pain management, adverse consequences have been registered compared to when conventional approaches like opioids and other pain relievers were in use. Therefore, marijuana compares to traditional medications in pain relief due to its effectiveness, reliability, and approval, legalization for use by some states, and ability to reduce cases of opioid overdose and other conventional drugs. The comparison nature of marijuana in improving the quality of life is discussed as follows.
Effectiveness in Pain Relief
Marijuana has been proven effective in reducing pain intensity experienced by patients with chronic medical conditions, just like conventional medications. Since the ultimate goal of pain treatment is to restore comfort and improve quality of life, patients who used medicinal marijuana recorded positive outcomes of the therapy. According to Shah et al. (2019), about nine states in the US have already allowed the use of marijuana since 2013 due to its known effectiveness in pain management compared to other conventional drugs. Similar research also indicates that the states where federal laws permitted the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes confirmed that cannabis worked miraculously when dealing with chronic pain (Shah et al., 2019). Additionally, most people living in the states where marijuana was legalized reported using the drug majorly for chronic pain management. Such constructive use of cannabis reflects on its essential comparison with modern medicine eradicating pain and promoting wellbeing among adults.
The effectiveness of cannabis use in pain treatment has been evident through its ability to reduce the number of patients admitted to medical facilities due to chronic body aches. The article by Bao et al. (2023) indicates that allowing people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes by the state authority was accompanied by reduced hospital admission due to chronic pain from 19.3% to 13.0%. The percentage decrease in pain and discomfort within the hospital was attributed to using marijuana to achieve a similar purpose. The low number of pain cases in the facility reflects the ability of cannabis to enhance wellbeing and safety through pain relief, just like other conventional medications which have had widespread use in history. Ideally, the role of marijuana in pain reduction has also been evident, specifically in the reduction of discomfort and deteriorating health conditions caused by different diseases (Shah et al., 2019). For example, the effectiveness of cannabis in pain treatment has been found in patients suffering from lung and colorectal cancers. Though there is inadequate evidence to prove the direct us medicinal marijuana to cure colorectal cancer, its contribution to reducing pain cannot be underrated as it enhances the comfort of such patients when conventional pain relievers could have been used. Therefore, cannabis remains one of the preferred pain management interventions and can be used as a substitute for modern medications.
Similarly, the effectiveness of marijuana in reducing pain and discomfort has been proven through its action in particular types of cancers. The pain caused by breast cancer, for instance, is found to be best managed through the use of marijuana. Most importantly, cancer survivors have been found to continue using cannabis to manage the pain likely to come later (Bao et al., 2023). For instance, the continued use of cannabis for pain management by people who have recovered from cancer increased from 5.6% to 12.2% (Bao et al., 2023). That increment is significantly higher compared to individuals who continue using conventional painkillers. The continued use of marijuana among survivors is because it works better for the cancer survivor and indicates that it promotes the wellbeing and safety of the patients more than known conventional pain-relieving medications.
Reliable and Approved Pain Reliever
The comparability of marijuana is grounded on the fact that it is reliable and has passed through the approval process, like synthetic painkillers. For the states where medical marijuana use is legally permitted, there are designated outlets where individuals can access and use the product depending on the doctor’s prescription and the nature of the pain in question. Just like modern medications for pain, marijuana is sold by licensed professionals with a versed understanding of the protocol for dispensing and using such substances. Putting regulation on its use by the agencies ensures that people continue to enjoy the benefit of pain reduction and quality of life improvement. Ideally, getting marijuana is relatively easy since the use does not require a complex examination of adverse reactions to drugs before administration. Therefore, an individual eligible for use will make an order for quick pain relief hence recording improved quality of life. Concerning the approval of marijuana as a pain reliever, the use of such substances has been subjected to evaluation and regulation by prescription drugs monitoring programs (PDMPs) due to its renowned ability to reduce in patients having chronic conditions (Bao et al., 2023). Such forms of regulation make marijuana comparable to conventional drugs for pain management since it also improves individuals’ wellbeing.
Legalization of Marijuana by Some States
Just in the same way painkillers have to go through some quality checks before being legally allowed for use, medicinal marijuana is lawfully permitted in some states. The move to legalize marijuana was fueled by the increasing number of patients suffering chronic pain, which could not be comprehensively managed using conventional painkillers. The decision implies that the state had researched and believed in cannabis as a useful drug that can improve the lifestyle of individuals having chronic pain. The research by Shah et al. (2019) shows that the legalization of marijuana replaced the commonly used painkillers like opioid, which was found to have adverse effects on patients. Ideally, about 30 states which allowed the use of marijuana in pain management believed that it would improve lifestyle among people with chronic conditions and reduce toxicity brought about by conventional drug use (Bao et al., 2023). For example, 25% percent of drug overdose deaths were a result of subjecting patients with chronic pain to excess opioids (Shah et al., 2019). Marijuana was therefore considered highly effective and safe compared to modern painkillers. Since many people have approved marijuana to be harmless, its use is quite safe and improves the lifestyle of individuals having chronic pain compared to the long-known modern medicines.
The legalization of marijuana in different states was done to cushion the individuals and facilities that dispense marijuana for medicinal purposes. Though the recreational use of marijuana still remained illegal, the users still recorded a positive improvement in lifestyle due to safe pain management practices. Legalization was also accompanied by some restrictions, which went a long way to promote the safety of cannabis since uncontrolled utilization could mix up the harm with the benefits (Wadsworth et al., 2022). The research carried out on the impact of marijuana indicates that the number of people suffering chronic pain was significantly high before the drug was officially allowed for medical use as compared to after legalization (Shah et al., 2019). Such a drastic decrease in incidences of chronic pain could not be achieved despite the existing high-end conventional painkillers. Since some people could still use marijuana without professional guidelines, the side effects were still low compared to the benefits. Therefore, cannabis as a pain relief improved the quality of people’s life compared to when only modern drugs were in place to manage chronic pain.
The legalization of marijuana also assisted the US in achieving successful and safe cancer treatment. The country has suffered due to a surge in cancer cases. For instance, in the research conducted in the year 2023, about 38,000 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in the US, while about 12000 people were suffering from colorectal cancer (Bao et al., 2023). However, the most recommended treatment was chemotherapy, was caused more pain. While treatment remained mandatory, the management approach for the patients was a bigger concern which called for the initiation of the use of therapeutic cannabis to improve the health and safety of the patients (Bao et al., 2023). The scenario indicates the extent to which the legalization of marijuana made a greater contribution towards achieving safer treatment procedures for cancer patients hence leading to positive health outcomes compared to when conventional painkillers were used to achieve the process.
Reducing the Overdose of Opioid and Other Conventional Drugs
Overdosing on painkillers like opioids is potentially dangerous to people’s life. Since opioid was considered the only powerful drug for effective pain management, some individuals could not recover from pain leading to overdose in order to achieve the desired result. For instance, the death of opioid overdose increased by 400% due to high cases of cancer in the US (Shah et al., 2019). The excessive use of such synthetic painkillers was considered detrimental and caused death to many people. Such loss of life raised a medical concern and was regarded as a matter of national public health urgency. The sound solution found was that marijuana could serve as a better substitute for toxic conventional drugs, which have been having negative effects on people’s wellbeing. This implies that cannabis was considered much better in restoring wellness and enhancing positive lifestyles among people having chronic pain. Ideally, the use of marijuana created a room to minimize the use of high-risk conventional painkillers hence improving the quality of life (Bao et al., 2023). Research also indicates that allowing people to use marijuana will reduce the widespread consideration of opioid and other modern pain relievers due to their confirmed ability to make the life of chronically ill persons better.
Conclusions
In a nutshell, pain management can be a complex process. The intervention taken to relieve body aches should therefore be subjected to evaluations to ensure they meet the required standards of safety and ability to enhance health outcomes. Though marijuana is considered safer in pain management, the future side effects of using marijuana are not yet examined. As a result, there is a need for extensive research to help identify ways to improve the safer use of cannabis and how to incorporate it into conventional paint treatment options.
References
Bao, Y., Zhang, H., Bruera, E., Portenoy, R., Rosa, W. E., Reid, M. C., & Wen, H. (2023). Medical marijuana legalization and opioid-and pain-related outcomes among patients newly diagnosed with cancer receiving anticancer treatment. JAMA oncology, 9(2), 206-214.
Shah, A., Hayes, C. J., Lakkad, M., & Martin, B. C. (2019). Impact of medical marijuana legalization on opioid use, chronic opioid use, and high-risk opioid use. Journal of general internal medicine, 34, 1419-1426.
Wadsworth, E., Hines, L. A., & Hammond, D. (2022). Legal status of recreational cannabis and self-reported substitution of cannabis for opioids or prescription pain medication in Canada and the United States. Substance abuse, 43(1), 943-948.
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