What are some potential side effects from using medical marijuana?
We know that if you take too high a dose the pleasant sensation - the euphoria - can be counteracted by feelings of heightened anxiety, severe nausea, vomiting, and even body aches and pains - almost like a flu-like syndrome. However, it's self limiting, the individual will very likely stop ingesting it if that's what happens, but it may take several days for them to feel completely at ease. We think many of these unpleasant side effects are due not to the effects on the cannabinoid system, but actually the anticholinergic effects of some of the compounds in cannabis that are not readily evident if one takes a therapeutic dose. So again, it's largely when one ingests it orally in food or tea, or whatever, that you get that side effect. Depending on where you stand on medical cannabis, some people consider the euphoria that it induces as an undesired side effect. In my treatment of patients with AIDS or advanced HIV disease, I don't think that the euphoria is an undesired side effect, and may well be a positive of it. Similarly with Multiple Sclirosis where the people most often are depressed and feeling very anxious about their future health prospects. But, other people label it not as euphoria, but as intoxication and they say that your coordination is down, and perhaps even your cognative faculties may be reduced for at least a short period of time. There have been a lot of studies on that, there's really very little evidence that the chronic use of cannabis produces any long term effects on mental functioning, but there are certainly case reports of acute effects where individuals may have had an auto accident or an injury while working. So I would say that whole cannabis should have the same warning as so many other psychoactive drugs have - is that you shouldn't be driving or operating dangerous machinery while you're using it.
