Chemotherapy, a treatment of drugs used to kill cancer cells, essentially involves pumping poison through the veins of cancer patients. The drugs target cells that divide rapidly, which is one of the main properties of cancerous cells. Though chemotherapy is one of the most effective treatments in expelling cancerous cells from the body, it does result in a variety of adverse side effects for patients. These side effects can include nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and cachexia, all which can be treated with marijuana.
According to the National Cancer Institute, chemotherapy can cause nausea and vomiting because the drugs “affect parts of the brain that control vomiting and/or irritate the stomach lining”. These symptoms are treated with antiemetic drugs which help to curtail nausea and vomiting. There are a number of antiemetic drugs in existence, but some drugs don’t work for certain patients. In these cases, doctors turn to marijuana as a last resort. Marijuana has been shown to be an effective antiemetic in many of these cases, and research has been performed both on synthetic THC pills and smoked marijuana. Smoked marijuana is found to be more effective than synthetic pills as THC is absorbed more quickly into the body when smoked.
Anorexia is a condition in which a patient loses appetite or the desire to eat. The most common symptom in cancer patients, it is often accompanied by cachexia, a condition characterized by weakness and the loss of body weight, fat, and muscle. Marijuana and synthetic THC pills have both been found to be effective appetite stimulants for patients suffering from these conditions. Studies performed on the drugs found “significant improvement” in patients’ appetites and body weights as a direct result of being treated with marijuana.
Chemotherapy takes a huge toll on a patient’s body. It entails months of fatigue, hair loss, pain, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and weight loss associated with it. If marijuana can ease these patients’ ailments, shouldn’t it be a legal option for them?
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