The use of medical marijuana has been the source of discord in the United States for a significant amount of time, with no consensus having been reached yet. While some states have legalized the use of marijuana as a painkiller for patients with terminal or chronic illnesses causing pain, others have rejected it (Richardson et al., 2019).
In the U.S. Army, the issue of pain management presently remains a topical concern, which is why the idea of introducing g medicinal marijuana into the context of the U.S. military should be allowed s a healthcare strategy. Although the use of medicinal marijuana is still highly debatable across the U.S., the application of the specified substance as a painkiller in the U.S. Army ought to be recognized as a crucial need due to the excruciating amount of pain that wounded embers of the military experience.
The use of recreational marijuana should also be seen as an essential constituent of the options that an |American soldier can enjoy. The specified opportunity needs to be provided based on the Bill of Rights, which states that U.S. citizens are entitled to the opportunity to rest, as well as the chance to receive proper healthcare assistance (Vervloet, de Weert, Buwalda, Goudriaan, & van den Brink, 2018).
Denying the use of medicinal marijuana as one of the fastest and the most efficient ways of relieving pain in the military setting, one will inevitably infringe upon the rights of American troops. Therefore, the incorporation of medical marijuana into the setting of the American arm is critical. Changing the current regulation concerning the application and healthcare usage of marijuana will make a huge difference in how the needs of soldiers are addressed.
In addition, with the incorporation of medical and recreational use of marijuana into the U.S. military environment, one will be able to mention the fact that it is a potentially dangerous drug. While the negative impact of marijuana is minuscule compared to those of other drugs, it still may potentially entail health complications, affecting the quality of military care significantly. The described outcome will have an especially drastic impact in the military environment where soldiers are forced to fight in an entirely unknown country, where they cannot purchase the required medication themselves and, therefore, have to rely on the scarce supplies offered by the state government.
Moreover, the fact that painkillers and other types of drugs used for treating pain in American troops are highly addictive is worth mentioning. Since the use of the specified medications leads to much more negative effects in the long term than those caused by the use of marijuana, the consumption thereof as a type of medication, as well as recreational substance, should be applied in the American military.
The introduction of legal marijuana as a recreational and medicinal drug will help to address several crucial issues in the target setting. The first and most obvious, the fact that some of the soldiers that have been wounded require the support of medication that includes opioids into itself (Grant, Pedersen, & Neighbors, 2016). Using marijuana as an alternative to some of the more expensive methods will help to deliver the healthcare assistance of the expected quality to the target demographic. Even though the development of dependency on marijuana will be spotted in some parts of the U.S. Army, addressing the specified issues will become possible once the army principles and philosophy are set clearly and unambiguously in the specified environment.
Some opponents of the introduction of medicinal marijuana into the environment of the U.S. Army argue that it will affect the troops negatively, causing them to perform their duties more haplessly. The supports of the specified point of view claim that the usage of marijuana, even for medical purposes in the U.S. military context, will erode the values based on which the process of performing one’s responsibilities as a soldier (Ciccone, 2017). Although the specified point of view can be seen as worth considering, it still fails as an argument since it fails to recognize the healthcare opportunity that marijuana represents.
While avoiding every possible breach of the army code will be impossible for the American military leaders, creating a set of values based on which the troops will decide whether they should develop an addiction to the specified drug will be quite a sensible step to take. By questioning the outcomes that medical marijuana and other types of legalized medical and recreational drugs need to be examined with all due diligence since it will redefine the approach toward pain alleviation used in the 21st century currently.
Due to the restricted amount of healthcare resources, as well as the intense pain caused by wounds and other types of injuries, a significant number of American troops require medicinal marijuana as mainly the only option for relieving their pain. Therefore, the introduction of medical marijuana into the context of the U.S. army on the legislative level has to be recognized as a critical step in improving the quality of the U.S. military environment. With the application of medical marijuana into the setting of the American Army, the quality of injured troops’ lives will increase, while their suffering will be reduced largely.
References
Ciccone, C. D. (2017). Medical marijuana: just the beginning of a long, strange trip? Physical Therapy, 97(2), 239-248.
Grant, S., Pedersen, E. R., & Neighbors, C. (2016). Associations of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms with marijuana and synthetic cannabis use among young adult US Veterans: a pilot investigation. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77(3), 509-514.
Richardson, J. D., Cyr, K. S., Jetly, R., Heber, A., Busse, J. W., Balodis, I.,… Marlborough, M. (2019). Cannabis use among Canadian Armed Forces members and Veterans: discussion from a 2017 CIMVHR Forum working group. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 5(2), 209-213.
Vervloet, J., de Weert, G., Buwalda, V. J., Goudriaan, A. E., & van den Brink, W. (2018). Iowa’s number one news source for marijuana law reform efforts. Harm Reduction Journal, 15, 47.