ESSAY ON LEGALIZING /BANNING CANNABIS SATIVA.

 

SCHOOL:   SCIENCE.

DEPARTMENT:  CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY.

TASK:  ESSAY ON LEGALIZING /BANNING CANNABIS SATIVA.

COURSE CODE: BIO 417

COURSE TITLE: CURRENT TOPICS IN BIOCHEMISTRY.

NAME : BRENDA KIAGE NYARANG’O.

ADMISSION NUMBER: BIO/040/16

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 5^th March 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BANNING CANNABIS SATIVA

Cannabis sativa, commonly known as marijuana, weed, or bhang, is among many abused drugs worldwide. It belongs to the family Cannabaceae, and cannabinoids are the main constituents of the marijuana plant. Recently, the debate on the legalization of marijuana has been a plan in various countries such as the US, where states such as California have already legalized its use. In my opinion, Cannabis sativa should be banned from use owing to its adverse effects as outlined.

Cannabis sativa affects reproductive health. The strong front for universal health care has been evident in recent years, focusing on improved reproductive health care. It is estimated that males are found to be solely responsible for 20-30% of infertility cases and contribute to 50% cases overall¹.Cannabis sativa extract has a negative effect on spermatogenesis parameters such as motility, spermatogenesis count, and seminiferous tubules diameter², which contributes largely to the high infertility rates.RT-PCR and western blot techniques demonstrate that human sperm express the CB₁ but not CB₂ cannabinoid receptor subtype located in the head and middle piece of the sperm. The activation of this receptor by anandamide reduces sperm motility and inhibits capacitation-induced acrosome reaction³. Thus there is a reason for concern of possible adverse effects of Cannabis sativa on male reproductive health.

Cannabis sativa affects brain function and morphology. The brain is the engine that runs our bodies in that it controls all our body functions. Any damages to the brain, therefore, have serious effects on our normal body functioning. The major effects of cannabinoid include disruption of psychomotor behavior,short term memory impairment, and intoxication⁴. Furthermore, regular users exhibit a decrease in gray matter volume in the medial temporal complex, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, left insula, and orbitofrontal cortex⁵. Adolescents who are the most frequent abusers are exposed to many brain defects at a young age. Teens who engage in heavy marijuana use often show disadvantages in neurocognitive performance, macrostructural and microstructural brain development and alterations in brain functioning⁶. Any such substance with the above effects should not be legalized in any state as it will only deteriorate the population’s cognitive abilities.

Cannabis sativa affects the heart. Cardiovascular disease has become the single most important and largest cause of non-communicable disease deaths worldwide at 50%⁷. Temporal associations between marijuana use and serious adverse events, including myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, cardiomyopathy, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and cannabis arteritis have been described⁸. Cannabinoids, or the active compounds of cannabis, have been shown to have heterogeneous effects on central and peripheral circulation. Acute cannabis consumption has been shown to increase blood pressure, specifically systolic blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension⁹. Such conditions may be costly, especially for the youth who use marijuana most, at their prime age. Legalizing Cannabis sativa, regardless of these cardiac effects, would be passing our own death sentence.

In conclusion, the effects of the abuse of Cannabis sativa on the health, general well being of the population and economy by far outweigh the positive effects, most of which are undergoing studies and clinical tests. Thus, banning Cannabis sativa is a good measure in preventing health problems and protecting the youth against such a menace.

 

REFERENCES.

1. Ashok Agarwal,Aditi Mulgund and Michelle Renee Chatteris ,A unique view on male infertility around the globe, Reproductive Biological Endocrinology, 2015,13: 37.
2. Lofti N,Khazaei M, Shariatzadeh S.M.A, Solwimani Mehranjani M & Ghanbari A.The effect of Cannabis sativahydro alcoholic extract on spermatogenesis parameters and testis histology in rats.Int.J.Morphol,2013,31 (1):82-86.
3. Rossato,F.Ion popa,M. Ferigo,G.Clari and C.Foresta,Human spermatogenesis express cannabinoid receptor Cb1,the activation of which inhibits motility,acrosome reaction and mitochondrial function. The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism,2004,90(2):984-991
4. Leslie Iversen,Cannabis and the brain,Brain 2003,126 (6),1252-1270.
5. Gianni Battistella,Eleorona Fornari,Jean-Marie Annoni,Hathem Chtioui,Kim Dao, Long-term effects of cannabis on brain structure,Neuropsychopharmacology,2014,39 (9),2041-2048.
6. Jacobus,Joanna;F.Tapert,Susan,Effects of cannabis on adolescent brain, Current pharmaceutical design,2014,Vol 13.2186-2193.
7. Christopher J McAloon,Luke M Boylan,Thomas Hamborg,Niger Stallard,Faeizel,The changing face of cardiovascular disease 2000-2012;An analysis of the world health organisation global health estimates data, International journal of cardiology224 ,2016 256-264.
8. Grace Thomas,Robert A Kloner,Shereif Rezkalla,Adverse cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular effects of marijuana inhalation: what cardiologists need to know,The American journal of cardiology 113 (1),2014,187-190.
9. Herman Goyal,Hazma H Awad,Japan K Ghali,Journal of thoracic disease 9 (7),2017 2079.

 

 

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