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November 15, 2007
What’s Your Take on Medical Marijuana?
Beka - I just heard Drew Carey's pitch for the use of medical marijuana. He’s the new host of the Price is Right! (I must admit I did always somehow want to get that new car or dining set from Bob Barker though!) Apparently this new Carey pitch is causing some controversy. Should it? In Holland, you can pick up a stash at a local café in Amsterdam and smoke it on the street or in the café. Physicians providing euthanasia in Holland are listed in a separate phone book for easy access for patients as well.
People have used marijuana as a medical treatment for thousands of years. Such uses extend even to modern America. Marijuana was listed by the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the organization that sets quality standards for approved drugs in the United States, until the 1940s, when political pressure against marijuana's recreational use triggered its removal. People used marijuana for pain relief in the 1800s, and several studies have found that cannabinoids have analgesic effects. In fact, the components of marijuana (60 of them!) may work as well in treating cancer pain as codeine, a mild pain reliever. Cannabinoids also appear to enhance the effects of opiate pain medications to provide pain relief at lower dosages. Researchers currently are developing new medications based on cannabis to treat pain.
I have never tried marijuana personally, although I do know others with MS, PD, tremor, and dystonia who have. I do wonder why there is such difficulty in approving marijuana for medicinal use considering there is a FDA approved form of the marijuana – the oral drug Dronabinol, available by prescription. It's used to prevent nausea and vomiting after cancer chemotherapy when other medicines for these side effects don't work, and to increase appetite in people with AIDS.
Does anyone have patients who use the plant variant of marijuana? Should it be FDA-approved for use in healthcare?
A couple of Medscape articles on the topic -
It Is Time for Marijuana to Be Reclassified as Something Other Than a Schedule I Drug
The Legal Status of Medical Marijuana
November 15, 2007 in Beka | Permalink
Comments
marijuana has sent more people to the psychiatric hospital than cocain in my country ghana so as a nurse i would want people to know the bad effect it bring after prolong use it adverse effect outweighs its importance so let ban it before our cities become full of lunatics thank you.
Posted by: isaac oduro | Dec 13, 2007 9:49:43 AM
If there is anyone that i may ask in this case, Such as the intake of medical Marijuana. I am scared and terrified to be Labeled as a DRUG ADDICT i smoked as a teenager but i now feel its time to start on a regular bases for my illness with Dystonia.I have tried but i can not trust anyone by just getting or buying on the street,
You never know what your about to Inhale. all im asking as to how, where ,and so forth as to going on this Path. Medically with out LABELS AND SO FORTH....
Posted by: Richard | Dec 11, 2007 3:10:43 AM
the trouble with "buds" as well as any herbal med is that the potentcy is always an unknown. I propose that a smart phamaceutical company could come up with a measured-dose inhalant of thc for the many nauseated patients who can't keep a pill down!!!!
Posted by: Lahni | Dec 4, 2007 12:07:59 AM
Yes. I too am a RN of 30+ yrs.
I recently had foot surgery, had taken the oxycodone the surgeon had given me and was attended by someone who suggested that I try some marijuana when the lidocaine began to wear off and I became very uncomfortable. I did, and almost immediately was pain free and slept comfortably all night. Never needed it again and the oxycodone Rx was adequate after that. I know I would have had a horrible night otherwise.
Posted by: Pam | Nov 30, 2007 4:57:20 PM
I think it should be grown, regulated and sold for medicinal purposes. It helps with appetite and nausea in cancer patients.
Posted by: Lisa Hartin | Nov 20, 2007 7:50:17 PM
If we were to discover that Clover would have the same effects as Marijuana, the Feds, DEA, Sect. of Interior
would have mandated all clover be removed,made illegal. Our own yards of lush green clover would be barren from chemical destruction. Why? So it could be taxed and controlled by the BIG Pharmacutical companies. Keep your self Healthy America. Prevention is the key. Pill pushing PIlls a Go Go pharmacutical companies strive to brainwash Americans through commercials, slick advertisements as the cure all to aches and pains of the human body. Think outside the box people. Medical or otherwise Marijuana is wonderful. I don't partake, I work and keep my braincells sharp. I have dispensed many hash brownies, joints, Marinol caps. Nothing worked better than the buds with resin. Chemo/Cancer patients ate, felt better and used less narcotic pain medication. Patients were less depressed, probably due to the euphoric effects of the THC along with less narcotic side effects. They the Patients were happier, families were happier, nurses were happier. This is my observation, and I have been trained to Observe and doccument my observations as a Registered Nurse.I have 30 years of experience in observing the effects of alcohol, marijuana,tobacco use,narcotics on the human body, Yes, Why would we use something like Marijuana grown here on Earth 100% natural, given to us for a reason, not chemically altered in any way? Could it be it is not Compressed,formed,taxed, counted, micro-coated, controlled, scheduled, dispensed, extended-released,bottled,Prescribed,locked in the narc box...........
My humble opine.
KRN,New Orleans LA RN 30 years Emergency,Oncology
Posted by: K rnx30 | Nov 17, 2007 11:09:23 AM
