The very word marijuana elicits a variety of responses.
For Baby Boomers, it recalls the 60's --
mellow
meditations interlaced with
protests against the Vietnam
War.
For others -- people with AIDS,
glaucoma, cancer,
and chronic pain --
it's being touted as
a wonder drug for
relief of pain and suffering.
Is it a wonder drug?
Let's look at other options as
opposed
to the benefits
claimed by proponents of medical
marijuana:
Standard medications have side effects that marijuana
doesn't.
With many pain medications, a steady level must
be maintained in the bloodstream.
There is no "time off"
from side effects like constipation, nausea,
sleepiness,
sleeplessness, "brain-fog," emotional impacts, liver
damage --
the list goes on and on. Drug interactions must
be monitored.
Liver screens are necessary to prevent
toxicity.
AIDS patients have as much difficulty ingesting
medications for
nausea as they do food. The medications
simply don't
stay down long enough to take effect.
Conversely, marijuana
can be inhaled, can reduce nausea,
and can enhance the appetite.
For patients in pain, from cancer or other diseases or
injuries,
standard pain medication has many side effects:
constipation,
nausea, "brain-fog," dulling of the mind,
addiction,
and the need for more medication over time.
There is also often a limitation in the amount of
medication,
which results in unnecessary pain between
doses.
Marijuana has no known level of toxicity and can
be
taken when and as needed.
Glaucoma can be treated by several different "legal"
medications,
but again can have undesirable side effects.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine,
January 30, 1997,
"The advanced stages of many illnesses
and their treatments
are often accompanied by intractable
nausea, vomiting, or pain.
Thousands of these patients
with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases
report they have
obtained striking relief from
these devastating symptoms
by smoking marijuana."
A British study found that Cannabidiol (CBD),
the
non-psychoactive
cannabinoid of marijuana, helped
patients with
Huntington's
Disease, Epilepsy, Tourette's
Syndrome,
and was found to
be more effective than
aspirin as an anti-inflammatory agent.
CBD was found to
be high in hemp fiber plants while THC
-- the
psychoactive ingredient of marijuana -- was very low.
Conversely, CBD was found to be low in drug-type
marijuana plants
where the THC level is high.
These researchers found that THC is high and CBD low
in
marijuana grown in hot climates such as India and that
marijuana
grown in more temperate climates is low in
THC and high in CBD.
Interestingly, use of marijuana for medical purposes is not
limited
to the last few decades or even this century.
From 1840 to 1900, more than 100 articles were
published in European
and American medical journals on
the therapeutic use of the drug
then known as Cannabis
indica (or Indian hemp).
It was recommended as an
appetite stimulant, muscle relaxant,
analgesic, hypnotic,
and anticonvulsant. In 1913,
Sir William Osler reported it
as the most satisfactory remedy for migraine.
One of marijuana's greatest advantages as a medicine is its
remarkable
safety. It has little effect on major
physiological functions.
There is no known case of a lethal
overdose.
Marijuana is also far less addictive and far less subject to
abuse
than many drugs now used as muscle relaxants and
pain medications.
The main active substance in cannabis,
[delta-9]-tetrahydrocannabinol ([delta-9]-THC),
has been
available for limited purposes as a Schedule II synthetic
drug since 1985. This medicine, Marinol, taken orally
in
capsule form, is sometimes said to eliminate
the need for
medical marijuana.
Patients and physicians who have tried both disagree.
The
dosage and duration of action of marijuana are easier to
control, and other cannabinoids in the marijuana plant may
modify the
action of THC.
So if we do have alternatives to prescription drugs
that are
not
addictive or lethal and can better relieve pain and
suffering,
why aren't they being prescribed?
Primarily
because it's illegal!
San Francisco
collaborative effort to secure permission to
investigate the
use of smoked marijuana in the
treatment of the HIV
Wasting Syndrome.
STUDY: SYNTHETIC DRUG MIMICKING MARIJUANA USED TO TREAT PAIN
ADDICTION vs. DEPENDENCEREAD WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS
DEADLY MORALS - BY K. FINKELSTEIN - PLAYBOY MAGAZINE 1997
MEDICAL JUDGEMENT: WHO WILL BE THE JUDGE
NEEDY MEDS - ASSISTANCE FOR MEDICATIONS
PLEASE TAKE OUR SURVEY BELOW