In addition, trials of marijuana use should be approved by institutional review boards, and should involve only short-term use among patients who are most likely to benefit from treatment. Neither the report nor the White House is extolling the virtues of smoked marijuana. Until researchers develop a safe and effective delivery system, caregivers must consider the health problems that can result from smoking when deciding whether to recommend marijuana to patients. But public opinion on medical use of marijuana has been sharply divided. The most common effect of marijuana is euphoria, but the drug can also cause disorientation.
Chronic use can result in dependence.
Harmful effects of smoking marijuana include a risk of cancer, lung damage, and low birth weight of babies born to mothers who smoke while pregnant. Therefore, the report says, smoking marijuana should only be recommended for terminally ill patients, or those with debilitating symptoms that do not respond to approved medications. Beyond the harmful effects from smoking, however, the range of problems associated with marijuana is not out of line with those of substances used in other medicines, the report says. Data do not support the contention that marijuana should be used to treat glaucoma, which is one of its most frequently cited medical applications, according to the report. Smoked marijuana can reduce some of the eye pressure associated with glaucoma, but only for a short period of time.