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Seth A. Wilke
Professor Adrienne Cassel
English 101E
27 November 2016
Healthy Use of Cannabis
People have been using cannabis since ancient times. The use of
cannabis has been referenced in Chinese medical records as far back as
2737 B.C. (Marijuana History). Despite the long history of its medicinal
potential, the use of marijuana is still illegal in many parts of the world.
However, in the United States and abroad, marijuana is beginning to be
legalized for its medical use at a fast rate. It is now common knowledge that
marijuana can help people with a wide variety of illnesses and disorders.
Patients with seizure disorders, PTSD, glaucoma, anxiety, depression, cancer
and chronic pain, to name just a few, have all demonstrated improvement
with cannabis therapy. With all of its uses in the medical realm, why limit the
realization of its benefits only to sick people? Cannabis products may in fact
have benefits for healthy people too.
One way that cannabis can help healthy people is to provide relief from
pain and inflammation. The two main compounds in cannabis are
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is the component of
marijuana that is responsible for most of the anti-inflammatory or pain
relieving properties of the drug. Unlike THC, which is the component in
cannabis that gets a person high, CBD is non-psychoactive (Malfait 1). So,

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CBD users dont experience any kind of high in the process of receiving the
benefits of the compound. In fact, the thought of getting high may cause
some people to be reluctant to use cannabis products. Luckily, with todays
technology we are able to extract CBD from the cannabis plant, thereby
completely eliminating the psychoactive effects of cannabis in its raw form.
Most people in their lifetime take anti-inflammatory drugs to help alleviate
various aches and pains. Athletes are especially likely to need the effects of
anti-inflammatory medication. Many sports require an athlete to make
explosive or strenuous movements that can cause inflammation or muscle
soreness. Athletes in particular benefit from the use of CBD due to the
constant strain they put on their bodies. CBD can directly treat common
occurrences of inflammation. In a study conducted on mice at the Kennedy
Institute of Rheumatology, researchers found that daily oral gavage of CBD
immediately after onset of arthritis resulted in suppression of acute CIA (3).
CIA stands for collagen-induced arthritis. Arthritis is a product of
inflammation. Not only did this study find that CBD can directly treat
inflammation, it found that chronic inflammation can be proactively treated
with CBD. The 25 mg/kg dose was used in a chronic experiment in
homologous CIA and was shown to effectively suppress progression of
disease over a study period of 4 weeks (3). Based on this evidence, one
could hypothesize that using CBD before a strenuous workout or athletic
event could be beneficial. So, the benefits of CBD should not be limited to

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people with conditions such as arthritis; healthy athletes could also benefit
from its effects.
Another common way that a healthy person could benefit from
cannabis is to use it to improve the quality of his or her sleep. Sleep is a
huge part of everyones overall health. Due to its pain-relieving properties,
marijuana can help otherwise healthy people who are experiencing pain with
their ability to get meaningful rest. Additionally, it can also help people sleep
who are not experiencing any pain. A study conducted by the Journal of
Sleep Disorders and Therapy explains how: In a single dose human study
examining cannabinoid effects on sleep, administration of CBD alone
increased wakefulness, while THC was found to have no adverse effect on
sleep and in some individuals increased the amount of SWS (Ferguson 3-4).
Slow-wave sleep (SWS) is often referred to as deep sleep. In the conclusion
of this study, it was determined that THC alone can increase the amount of
deep sleep a person gets and CBD alone can increase how well rested a
person feels when they wake up. These are two benefits that are good for
anyones health.
The last of the benefits of cannabis that will be discussed in this paper
(although there are many more possible benefits to be had) is the neuroprotective property of CBD. Some of Americas best examples of physical
health are NFL football players. Their sport places high demands on their
bodies, which means they have to keep their themselves healthy year-round.

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A huge risk that NFL football players face is a chronic brain degeneration
disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) (Taking the Hits).
CTE is the result of the repeated head trauma that they endure game after
game. As the condition progresses, they can suffer from symptoms such as
headache, confusion, aggression, memory loss and severe depression. The
condition can be so severe that some players literally lose their minds. Over
the past several years, CTE has become more and more prevalent in the NFL.
The NFL claims to take this problem very seriously, however, marijuana is
still a banned substance for professional football players. This actuality
seems to contradict the NFLs stance on player safety because the league
appears to be depriving their players of an effective therapy that could also
ultimately end up being a lifesaving treatment. Many retired football players
suffering from symptoms of CTE and a few current players, like Derrick
Morgan, are pushing the NFL to consider the use of cannabis products as a
valid form of treatment and not a banned substance (Taking the Hits).

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(Brain scan showing the effects of CTE)

Extensive preclinical researchmuch of it sponsored by the U.S.
governmentindicates that CBD has potent anti-tumoral, antioxidant, antispasmodic, anti-psychotic, anti-convulsive, and neuroprotective properties
(The Endocannabinoid System). When studying the information on projectcbd.org,
it is clear that scientists are only in the early stages of researching the
potential benefits of marijuana. But already there is strong evidence to
suggest that cannabis can offer preventative benefits. The average person is
not at as high of a risk of injury as NFL athletes, but both demographics
could still reap the benefits that marijuana can offer.

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With this information in mind, it should be easier for a person to
consider the notion that there may in fact be some health benefit to be
gained for healthy people through the use of cannabis. When conducting
research, even in many of the scholarly articles, there was a negative tone
attached to discussions about cannabis. When approaching the subject of the
effects of marijuana, many authors framed their discussions as if cannabis
were an illicit drug instead of a bonafide medicinal treatment. This is not
surprising since marijuana is still illegal in many states. Some sources made
it clear if they were for or against the use of marijuana in the way they
referred to it as either a drug or a medicine. So, the stereotype that
marijuana users are lazy stoners is still very much in place. However, as
more and more people start to view marijuana as a medicine instead of an
illicit drug abused by unambitious people, societal norms will continue to
change and cannabis will become increasingly accepted by both the medical
profession and the general public.

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Works Cited
"The Endocannabinoid System." ProjectCBD.org N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.
Ferguson, G. and Mark Ware. "Sleep, Pain and Cannabis." Journal of sleep
disorder and therapy. Omicsgroup.org. Dx.doi.org, n.d. Web. 30 Nov.
2016.
Malfait, A. M. "The Nonpsychoactive Cannabis Constituent Cannabidiol Is an
Oral Anti-arthritic Therapeutic in Murine Collagen-induced Arthritis."
Pans.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
"Marijuana History." Narconon International. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
"Taking the Hits." CBS This Morning. CBD. New York, 30 Nov. 2016. Television.