Ammerman, Seth. “Should Medical Marijuana Be Prescribed to Children?” usnews.com U.S. News Digital Weekly 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 07 Jul. 2015
Seth Ammerman is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and medical director of the Adolescent Health Van. He argues that marijuana is not benign for adolescents. He affirms that even if marijuana is being used as a medicine, it can have side effects. Including that without the research background, we really don’t know if it will work or not and it makes it difficult to recommend marijuana under those circumstances.
Ammerman states that us humans produce “endocannabinoids” which are marijuana-like substances. From limited research cannabinoids and cannabidiol have some benefits however, as Ammerman says, “finding the proper dosage for maximum therapeutic benefit and least risk of side effects is problematic.” Due to different levels of these compound plants dosing wouldn’t be as accurate. If he would propose a few cannabinoids then he wouldn’t be able to prescribe a particular dose, how much to use or how frequently because they “make accurate dosing difficult.”
He then continues to explain how some marijuana products don’t have the information for the right dosage of cannabinoid because they are not tested. Declaring that ” patients often need to try different preparations and doses to find one that will help with the symptoms being treated.” Ammerman believes there are other, better standard pain medications or maybe even nonmedical treatments for pain that should be considered first. As well as that everyone is different, “successful treatment for a specific problem in a particular individual do not necessarily project to a broader population. Patients may respond differently to and experience different side effects from the same medication.”
The maturation of the brain doesn’t fully develop until the early mid-20’s and Ammerman states that ” the developing brain of a child is often more vulnerable to exposure to compounds than that of an adult.” Meaning that substance use can alter an adolescent’s brain because it is still in the process of development. The younger they start using marijuana the worse the effect of it is on their brain’s pattern which shifts. Ammerman describes the using of medical marijuana in pediatric and adolescent populations as being ” completely trial and error.”
Essentially, this article contends that chidden should not use marijuana because even if it may have benefits there are still some weaknesses. It made me understand that it is some what risky to prescribe medical marijuana to adolescents due to the fact that we don’t know the outcome of it.