Clinical Use of Marijuana: The Thin Line Between Good and Evil?

Abstract

From centuries ago cannabis has been known as a botanic product with several properties, with medical use in the ancient world. Nowadays, it is recognized as the active component of marijuana, the drug with the highest rates of illicit use and abuse worldwide according to data provided by the World Health Organization. A huge debate has emerged in these past years with the growing interest to employ cannabis-based products with therapeutic purposes, a strategy that has increased in various European countries, Canada and more than half of the states that conform the United States, simultaneously with an important increase of flexibility in laws and regulations regarding the recreational use of this substance, especially in North America. Although valid arguments can exist for each side, the potential therapeutic use of substances that have ethical-legal implications such as the case of cannabis, require the prescribing doctor to be knowledgeable and to always be updated on the subject, a robust doctor-patient relationship and educational campaigns with truthful information that allow for full awareness of risks vs benefits.

Keywords: Cannabis; Ethics; Harm; Marijuana; Therapeutics.