I don't have any papers, but I've got a pipe.
Posted on 02/26/2006 7:55:05 AM PST by Wolfie
Physician Advocates for Medical Marijuana
Vermont -- As he opened his remarks about medical marijuana, Dr. Joseph McSherry said he couldn't be as informative as he would like to be.
"I asked a very good friend, who happens to be a medical marijuana patient, what I should tell you today," McSherry said. "He said to tell you not to ask a doctor. Doctors don't know (expletive) about medical marijuana."
McSherry, a neurophysiologist and PhD associated with Fletcher Allen Medical Center and the University of Vermont, said his friend is largely correct: There have been few scientific studies on the effects of marijuana as a medicine, and even less research has been conducted on its medical effects in humans.
"You'll probably be more educated than your doctor by the time we get through," McSherry told his audience at the Godnick Center in Rutland on Friday.
He walked the audience through the limited medical data on cannabis and the properties of the chemicals in marijuana other than THC that can have beneficial effects.
Canabanoids, McSherry said, can boost the effectiveness of other painkillers, inhibit the growth of tumors and alleviate wet macular degeneration, which causes blindness in some cases.
"We're just beginning to scratch the surface of this iceberg," he said.
McSherry said that inhaled marijuana can be very effective at treating sudden swift pains, while many other painkillers, including marinol — a legal prescription drug that is a capsule of THC in sesame oil — can take too long to take effect.
"I don't approve of smoking for anybody," he said. "There's got to be a better way of doing it, but the U.S. government hasn't been interested in doing any research.
"If you eat it, the chemicals peak in two to four hours. Eating it is probably the worst way of intaking THC," he said. "If you inhale it, THC levels peak in a few minutes and it actually goes away in the first hour."
He noted that researchers in other countries are trying to develop different types of medical cannabis for patients.
Two members of the audience who said they use the drug for medicinal purposes offered compelling testimony about its benefits. Neither identified themselves.
The first patient said that at one point he had been on 17 different medications to treat his multiple sclerosis — some to counteract the side effects of other medications.
"Now I think I'm on four medications now," he said. "I'm not on medications for the side effects of medication. I'm not drugged out or high. From 17 meds, down to four."
A second patient said he had lost more than 50 pounds while undergoing chemotherapy before using marijuana to counteract the nausea.
"I went from 236 pounds down to 176," he said. "Part of the problem was the sickness of chemo. I couldn't hold down food, and marinol did not work for me. Cannabis did work."
Members of the audience had many questions about medical marijuana, from its chemical properties to the intricacies of growing plants to use for medicine.
"If you have a seed that has a known history of consistent product, you will get a consistent product medically," McSherry said. "That's why I think patients ought to be able to grow their own."
One audience member wondered how patients who don't grow it can access medical marijuana.
"Where does the pot come from if you're not a green thumb person?" she asked.
McSherry said "compassionate clubs" have formed in California that allow medical marijuana patients to bring in prescriptions to be filled with marijuana of a known quality rather than forcing patients to rely on what they can find on the black market, he said.
"In Vermont, if you have a friend or a grandson … you can make a provision to register with the state that you're a registered patient and they're a registered grower," he said, adding that Vermont's medical marijuana law does not shield users or growers from federal prosecution.
McSherry sees access to the drug as an uphill battle. He said many doctors are resistant to the notion of medical marijuana.
"There are very definitely a lot of doctors who are very adamant it's not a medicine," he said. "There are doctors that believe if it were a medicine, the FDA would approve it and pharmaceutical companies would make cannabis that you can take as a product.
"But patients' definition of a medicine is a different thing," he added.
Illicit Marijuana Users Advocate for Physician Who Advocates for Medical Marijuana
Well, that settles it. A genius quoting another genius. Free medical pot for everybody.
It took 7 minutes for a Drug Warrior to show up. I wonder what took so long?
The great thing about pot is that once it gives you cancer, heart disease or stroke, you can smoke more of it as medicine.
The WoD is a complete and utter (and expensive) failure. Denying medical marijuana to those who need it based on archaic thinking is cruel.
Ahhhhhhhhhh...The Rutland Herald.........my sister happens to be editor of this rag. She is an embarassment to me.
Any citations among all that rhetoric?
I don't have any papers, but I've got a pipe.
I think marijuana should be legalized...what a way for the government to make more money. Seriously though, it is a leaf from a plant like tobacco is, so why is one legal and the other not?
ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS
TOBACCO ........................ 400,000
ALCOHOL ........................ 100,000
ALL LEGAL DRUGS ................ 20,000
ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS .............. 15,000
CAFFEINE ....................... 2,000
ASPIRIN ........................ 500
MARIJUANA ...................... 0
Source: United States government...
National Institute on Drug Abuse,
Bureau of Mortality Statistics
The lie is that MJ is dangerous and has been rightfully outlawed.
Here is what Hitler said about lies:
"The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one."
"All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it."
Marijuana does not cause serious health problems like those caused by tobacco or alcohol (e.g., strong addiction, cancer, heart problems, birth defects, emphysema, liver damage, etc.). Death from a marijuana overdose is impossible. In all of world history, there has never been a single human death attributed to a health problem caused by marijuana.
So, marijuana is bad how? Causes deaths? It doesn't. Its addictive? It isn't. There are no physical withdrawal symptoms when one stops using marijuana.
Have you swallowed the big lie about marijuana hook, line and sinker?
"The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one"
"All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it".
We must continue to harrass and arrest the terminally ill... for the children.
What medical marijuana folks want is for the government to get off the backs of the sick and the poor who have to sneak around to get what they need when they are suffering. Dronabinol is nothing but a way to inflate the cost so the drug companies can get their cut.
My grandmother who was going through chemo and was in bad shape was told by her doctor to ease the pain use mari. My grandmother told him no, she isn't a drug addict.
So instead, she took codeine and percodan, derivates from cocaine and opium. Go figure
I'm holding out for Medical Hashish.
Because you can't tax it.
Hmmmmmmmm...I never knew I was illicit. Thanx for letting me know.
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