M is for Marijuana
Rich Powell, who teaches in UCSB’s Department of Exercise and Sports Studies, sat for questions from Carla Amurao, a student of film and of sociocultural linguistics. Powell is a member of the UCSB Drug Task Force, which provides information to students on “the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic action of psychoactive recreational drugs.”
What medical use does marijuana have?
In terms of medical applications, there are all kinds-some of them are more anecdotal, others have been proven to be effective in terms of health applications. People use [cannabis] for insomnia, anxiety, controlling spasms, migraines, headaches. Supposedly it relieves glaucoma, you know, with pressure behind the eye, controls pain and nausea with certain types of cancer, and it’s used as an appetite stimulant for people with AIDS. Those are the main ones.
