Ammerman, Seth. “Should Medical Marijuana Be Prescribed to Children?”\u00a0 usnews.com U.S. News Digital Weekly 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 07 Jul. 2015<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Ammerman states that us humans produce “endocannabinoids” which are marijuana-like substances. From limited research\u00a0cannabinoids and cannabidiol\u00a0have some benefits however, as Ammerman says, “finding the proper dosage for maximum therapeutic benefit and least risk of side\u00a0effects is problematic.”\u00a0 Due to different levels of these compound plants dosing wouldn’t be as accurate.\u00a0 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.”<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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\u00a0nonmedical 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.”<\/p>\n
The maturation of the brain doesn’t fully develop until the early mid-20’s and Ammerman states that ”\u00a0the developing brain of a child\u00a0is often more vulnerable to exposure to compounds than that of an adult.” Meaning that substance use can alter\u00a0an adolescent’s brain because it is still in the process of development.\u00a0The younger they start using marijuana the worse the effect of it is on their brain’s pattern which shifts.\u00a0 Ammerman describes the using of medical marijuana in pediatric and adolescent populations as being ” completely trial and error.”<\/p>\n
Essentially,\u00a0 this article contends\u00a0that chidden should not use marijuana because even if\u00a0it\u00a0may have benefits there are still\u00a0some weaknesses. It\u00a0made me understand that it is some what risky to\u00a0prescribe medical marijuana to adolescents due to the fact that we don’t know the outcome of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ammerman, Seth. “Should Medical Marijuana Be Prescribed to Children?”\u00a0 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 … Continue reading