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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.
Did you ever watch the movie while you were stoned?
Me either. Very paranoia producing.
I have never smoked pot.
Actually, those swallowing the big lie about MJ being harmful and even fatal are probably not on drugs.
Hitler took over a country with propaganda. Our country had made MJ illegal with propaganda.
A very simple lie. Easy for even the most stupid to understand. MJ is dangerous. MJ use can be fatal. Repeat the lie over and over until even the most stupid are led to believe that the lie is the truth.
If it can be proven that the healthful elements can be identified and found to be of use in treatment then package it - let it be sold as medicine.
But no way should this dangerous stuff be allowed to be freely grown and distributed to anyone.
I have to say that I succumbed to peer pressure many years ago in college, so even though I think it should be legalized, it has greater psychogenic effects than just simple cigarettes. Even though it has the same effects on the body as cigarettes it is in the same class as alcohol.
There is no maybe about it. Most people cannot afford $400/month for any medication.
But the argument that it doesn't work and is therapeutically less effective, in my extensive experience with patients on this medicine
And my expereince with patients on Marijuana is that it does work and is very effective. If wasn't, you wouldn't have secret medical marijauna clubs accross the country. It is not the only option for cancer sufferers, but it is widely known and available to those who choose it; and it is chosen repeatedly by the sick and dying. They couldn't care one whit about what arguments hold water. They only know that it relieves their suffering.
"But no way should this dangerous stuff be allowed to be freely grown and distributed to anyone".
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
Marijuana is neither addictive as it has no physical withdrawal symptoms when the user quits using it. Marijuana has never caused a fatality from its use that can be document such as lung cancer from smoking MJ.
Dangerous? Aspirin is more dangerous than MJ and causes 500 deaths per year verses zero deaths from MJ use.
How about posting some facts to support your claims? Or do no facts exist to support your claims? One or the other.
Prove your point. Here is your big chance. Post some real facts for all to see.
Hitler took over a country with propaganda. Our country has made MJ illegal with propaganda.
A very simple lie. Easy for even the most stupid to understand. MJ is dangerous. MJ use can be fatal. Repeat the lie over and over until even the most stupid are led to believe that the lie is the truth.
IMHO, cigarettes are more harmful and addicting than marijuana. Why are cigarettes legal?
But no way should this dangerous stuff be allowed to be freely grown and distributed to anyone.
I have to agree with you. But the word "dangerous" is misleading to adults. But put it in terms of our kids. It is so easy to grow an MJ plant anywhere (believe me, it is), so what happens if we let pre-teens have unlimited access to the plants? Why don't we let pre-teens have unlimited access to alcohol?
I am in favor of legalizing it, but there has to be a sensible plan.
I agree. But what would be a plan to legalize it that makes sense? Do you not agree that it is in the same class as alcohol in the way it affects our thinking and functioning?
No, it is nowhere near the same class of drug as alcohol is. Believe it or not, you can do anything high on MJ that you could do straight. Drive a car, function in society, a very long list of anything and everything. That might be hard for you to believe but it is true.
You can't do much when you are drunk. Except fall down or crash the vehicle you are driving. Or commit acts of violence. Or have your marriage destroyed.
Alcohol can be fatal. MJ has no known overdose. Alcohol has withdrawal symptoms that can be bad enough to kill you without being in a detox unit at a hospita. MJ has zero physical withdrawal symptoms.
One is very bad, the other is most benign. One is legal and one is not.
What's wrong with this picture?
I think you are right, cigarettes may be more addictive than mj. It is the "habit" that is hard to break. Nicotine vs hannibus (or what's the mj drug?) may be no different as addictive drugs. I smoked cigarettes for many years as well. When I tried to quit, it wasn't the nicotine that I was addicted to, it was the "habit".
The cigarette companies still have strong lobbying power in congress, esp in VA, as we have just recently seen. It's all politics, when you come right down to it. There is more support, and thus more votes for congressmen to have a war against drugs than to legalize it.
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