Cannabis In Canada
Marihuana use for medical practices can be traced back to 2800 BCE (Heilig, S.,
2011), and since then the plant has travelled around the world with each culture
using the properties of the plants for different medical and recreational purposes.
In Canada a recent survey of Canadians over age 14 found that 44% reported using
cannabis at least once in their lifetime (The Legal History and Cultural Experience
of Cannabis, 2017). In Health Canada s 2015 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use
Monitoring Survey reported 24% of the 12% of Canadians who used cannabis in
the past year did so for medical uses (Health Canada, 2017). Of concern, is use
among youth as adolescents are particularly at risk for marijuana related harms since
their brains are undergoing... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Chronic pain is a common symptom of diseases such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, nerve
damage, and is characterized as pain lasting longer than twelve weeks where
individuals will experience sharp or dull, causing a burning or aching sensation in the
affected areas and steady or intermittent, coming and going without any apparent
reason (Cirino Weatherspoon, 2016). Common management practices of chronic pain
involve oral and topical medications, which include nonsteroidal anti inflammatory
drugs, acetaminophen, opioids, and antidepressants (American Society of Regional
Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 2017). The Public Health Agency reports, out of
every 5 Canadians aged 20 years or older, 3 have a chronic disease and 4 are at risk
of developing a chronic condition (Betancourt, Roberts, Bennett, Driscoll, Jayaraman
Pelletier, 2014). Reported in Health Canada s 2012 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use
Monitoring Survey report indicated of the 17.7% of Canadians who indicated they
used cannabis for medical, 49.7% used for chronic pain caused by conditions such as
arthritis, back pain and migraines (Health Canada, 2014). In recent years a number of
studies have researched the potential benefits of marihuana an alternative to
traditional western medical practices. Encouraging findings have found that
marihuana use has due to patients reporting significant pain relief and reduction in
the use of other medications, including opioids (Ko, Hendin, Mindra Jung, 2016).
Similarly a review of clinical research noted patients who used marihuana reported
significant pain decreases, better sleep, and lessen stiffness (Jensen, Chen, Furnish
Wallace, 2015). Health Canada expects by the year 2024 over 300,000 Canadians
will using marihuana for medical practices (Desjardins, 2014), thus, it is important
that research continues to increase and ensure health practitioners are staying up to
day