Medical Maruana

Legalization in Utah and

its Effect on Certain Rare
Diseases: A critical look
behind several
perspectives

Angels Hands
Foundation
a local non-profit
organization
www.angelshands.com

Rare disease impact hundreds of

families throughout the state of Utah,
and thousands of people amongst the
nation.
The Public News Service
recently published, Medical Marijuana
Bill Advances in Utah Senate an
article that explains the recent
legislation in Utah that legalizes the
medicinal use of CBD Oils (cannaboil),
a non-psychoactive extract of the
original buds that concentrates the THC
within, extracts, and edible. Marijuana,
medical or non-medicinal, has been
consider the devils lettuce for
centuries. It started back in the
prohibition era, and captured the
infamous name due to the after effects
of having red eyes. Despite societys
hate for the drug throughout the course
of American history, recent federal and
state legislation in Colorado, Oregon,
California, Washington, Alaska,

Arizona, Utah, and seventeen other

states - including our nations capitol,
have advanced the medicinal use of the
drug after scientific inquiry has proven
some extremely potentially beneficial
affects.
The Angels Hands foundation is
a local non-profit organization in Utah
that helps families everyday struggling
with the medical expenses associated
with being diagnosed with a rare
disease. Usually the medicine alone
cost a great fortune, and is
synthetically synthesized down from
several chemical processes, making
them expensive. The medicinal
marijuana that may be facilitated here
in Utah soon is herbal, and comes at a
much cheaper price while having the
capability to help certain rare disease
conditions.
Now that we have an idea about
the legislation and political aspect of
the recent medical marijuana bill in

that is accomplished. The example I

want to show the citizens of Utah deals
with Glaucoma. Karen Kristy,
published an article titled, Medical
Marijuana and Glaucoma in
Pharmacology, begins her article by
explaining three different medical ways
to treat Glaucoma. All three of which
have recently been replaced by
effective eye drops, due to their
consequential side effects. However the
available treatment options do not cure
Glaucoma, they only aim to treat intraocular pressure (IOP), which slows the
progression of the disease. And in many
cases these options do not benefit the
patient enough to deal with the negative
side-effects, and when this happens
both the patient and the physician
consider trying medical marijuana as an
alternative. She goes on to say,
Cannabidol (CBD) and
tetrahydrocannabinal (THC) are two
cannabinoids in marijuana. CBD has
non-psychoactive properties compared
to TCH with psychosis effects.
Volunteer patients with and without
Glaucoma have recently been studied to
see the effects smoking medical
marijuana had on their IPO, and results
were compared to other available

treatment options - and the results were

shocking. They found patients who
used other available treatment options
had an intake of 2% marijuana through
paraphernalia, showed a 25% decrease
in IPO that lasted about three to four
hours. The Angels Hands foundation
has dealt with families diagnosed with
Glaucoma, and may look to CBD oils,
extracts, or edibles that will slow the
progression of the disease, and come at
a much cheaper price.
Yasmin Hurd conducted an
experiment that will give us another
perspective on the effects of using
marijuana. In one experiment, Hurds
rats spent their adolescence getting
high, on regular doses of
tetrahydrocannabinol. scientists have
found that rats exposed to THC in their
youth will show changes in their brain
in adulthood. Now this might raise the
question, is this effect similar when
humans consume THC? The
experiment goes takes a turn, Hurd
wanted to see if the offspring of the rats
who consumed THC would be
impacted in any way. He found after a
month, the drug was completely out of

the system, and the offspring were

raised healthy. This helps us better
understand the side effects of medical
marijuana are much less harsh - or
negative - than those from synthetic
medicine that is currently legal.
As mentioned previously, Senate
Bill 73, recently legalized the use of
governed forms of medical marijuana.
The forms that are now legal are also
capable of slowing the progression of
the common disease Epilepsy. Epilepsy
is common in children, and is defined
on KidsHealth as, a disorder in which
nerve cell activity in the brain is
disturbed, causing seizures. Sometimes
patients can experience multiple
seizures a day, ranging anywhere from
10-40 plus. When these patients
consume medical marijuana, they
experience only 1-2 seizures a week.
The capability of medical marijuana is
intriguing, and it is an important
conversion in our local community to
be involved with.

Here is an interesting chart of several different awards that medical marijuana has received.

Works Cited
Richardson, Mark. "Medical Marijuana Bill Advances in Utah Senate." Public
News Service. N.p., 24 Feb. 2016. Web. 05 Mar. 2016. <http://
www.publicnewsservice.org/2016-02-24/health-issues/medical-marijuana-billadvances-in-utah-senate/a50541-1>.

Kristy, Karen. "Medical Marijuana and Glaucoma." Editorial. Pharmacology 15

Jan. 2016: 23. Print.

Barcott, Bruce, and Michael Scherer. "The Great Pot Experiment." Editorial.
Science 25 May 2015: 38-45. Print.