medical marijuana.

[aussieoldcatholic]

I was wondering what the people here thought of the use of medical marijuana?

I myself suffer from a condition called fibromyalgia, and the only real relief I ever got from it was when I was in High school and took weed when I was about 19 I stopped it (A. wanted to be 'adult' and drop the rebel thing and B. no money for it)

however since I stopped using it I have tried numerous medications to relieve the pain but nothing has ever worked as well as Marijuana.

what are peoples personal beliefs about the use of it for medical reason?

 

[elahmine]

I don't have a problem with it being used for medical purposes. The only real problem I have with marijuana, is it being abused. In other words, I have problem if people are just high on it all the time. I have a problem if people aren't functioning in society; because, they'd rather go smoke marijuana.

 

[brightmorningstar]

So it should be a proscribed drug then?

 

[Albion]

So it should be a proscribed drug then?

That would be a very sensible compromise. The reason it is not the norm at present is that the advocates of eliminating all restrictions on drug use deceived the voting public by placing referenda on state ballots that the voters thought meant that only people with a REAL medical problem (as described in the OP, for example) would be affected. In practice--and as the proponents knew--the effect has been to decriminalize marijuana use for all but those who are exceptionally careless.

 

[elahmine]

So it should be a proscribed drug then?

Yes, it should be a medical class 2 drug. It should be given by prescription, and only as a last resort. It should not be mixed with alcohol or opiate based painkillers.

 

[mark46]

We have several issues.


Should we use mind-altering drugs? And, if so, under what circumstances.

I have no objections at all to using such drugs in the treatment of disease, as long as the drug is legal. I do not sanction the use of illegal drugs. Obviously, marijuana should be allowed for such purposes. It is clearly less dangerous to the user than other allowed drugs. Oxycontin and vicodin are prescribed like candy, and marijuana is a last resort. In the US, this attitude is a carryover from the times of Nixon.

With regard to marijuana as a recreational drug, I view it no differently than alcohol. If it is illegal, it should not be used. Clearly, the drug is open to abuse, as is alcohol. The difference in legality again goes back to a generational war, where alcohol-using adults banned the drug of choice of their children. Marijuana was made to be the equivalent of heroin. The adult continued (and continue) to abuse prescription drugs, nicotine and alcohol, in the knowledge that their children would be protected from drug abuse.

With regard to what drugs should be illegal, that is not really a subject for a religious forum. Personally, I think it messed up to choose nicotine, alcohol, and oxycontin as the drugs of choice for a society's use.

 

[Albion]

There's something wrong with an analysis that thinks nicotine and marijuana are two peas in a pod.

 

[brightmorningstar]

There's something wrong with an analysis that thinks nicotine and marijuana are two peas in a pod.

I agree.

Perhaps they are two dissimilar peas in a pod.

 

[PaladinValer]

Truth be told, I honestly believe medical marijuana to be a front to legalize it.

There is a lot of psychosemantics when it comes to treatment and health. I truly believe that those who use, simply have it in their minds that it helps so it "does" but in reality, it is, essentially, a placebo.

Watch in amazement when people on "medical mary-jane" are given a non-illegal drug, told it is marijuana, and find themselves doing just fine...only to be told the truth later.

It is a front for marijuana's legalization and it needs to be put to a stop.

 

[MKJ]

I don't have a problem with it theoretically, though the practice I suspect leaves something to be desired. I know many doctors in some places will give prescriptions for clearly trumped up symptoms, and there seem to be some medical questions around just how efficacious it is for various maladies.

I also rather wonder if people who use it medically are always really careful of the potential downfalls of regular use - but then, i wonder that about recreational users too. Regular use of mind altering chemicals always has the possibility or creating permanent changes, and the fact is that people who smoke weed daily are impaired in their function daily.

So I guess if it were me I'd be thinking about how much I would need to use it for it to help, and if I'd be willing to live with what that meant. For me personally I have a strong family history of mental illness and drug dependency on one side of my family, including a number of chronic pot heads, so i would have to be seriously needing relief to consider the potential down-sides worthwhile.

Legality is also an issue - here, medical use is legal. If I lived in the kind of place where getting caught could lead to losing my home or my kids in foster care, i just wouldn't.

 

[mark46]

The medical effects and costs of nicotine uses are much worse than those for marijuana.

But, I agree, they are different and should be discussed separately, and separately from alcohol use.

If nicotine were coming on the market, do you think that it would be approved by the FDA in the US? The reason that nicotine is legal has to do with its widespread use. There are many laws restricting its use in public places. We do the best we can to limit the use of this dangerous drug.

There's something wrong with an analysis that thinks nicotine and marijuana are two peas in a pod.

 

[mark46]

I agree that this is a first step for those who wish to legalize.

You doubt the medical research. That's fair. So, you believe that the scientists who do the research do not understand the placebo effect? Really? The placebo effect is part of almost any drug study. I have not reviewed the studies. Have you?

Truth be told, I honestly believe medical marijuana to be a front to legalize it.

There is a lot of psychosemantics when it comes to treatment and health. I truly believe that those who use, simply have it in their minds that it helps so it "does" but in reality, it is, essentially, a placebo.

Watch in amazement when people on "medical mary-jane" are given a non-illegal drug, told it is marijuana, and find themselves doing just fine...only to be told the truth later.

It is a front for marijuana's legalization and it needs to be put to a stop.

 

[PaladinValer]

I agree that this is a first step for those who wish to legalize.

You doubt the medical research. That's fair. So, you believe that the scientists who do the research do not understand the placebo effect? Really? The placebo effect is part of almost any drug study. I have not reviewed the studies. Have you?

I do not doubt the research, but I do doubt people who say "marijuana is the only thing that works." As I said, psychosemantics is a large part of the medical marijuana question.

 

[mark46]

I agree.

There are many other painkillers. Vicodin and oxycondin are examples. There are many others. It is unlikely that the medical marijuana is the "the only thing that works". However, it is most likely that it is viable treatment, and likely less expensive, less debilitating and less addictive than some of the others. Of course, that is a question for medical research.

And just BTW, I know folks with fibromyangla. If medical marijuana "works", it may very well be better than the other drugs that are available. The folks I have know have not done well with currently available treatments. Of course, this is but a small bit of anecdotal evidence.

I do not doubt the research, but I do doubt people who say "marijuana is the only thing that works." As I said, psychosemantics is a large part of the medical marijuana question.

 

[MKJ]

I do not doubt the research, but I do doubt people who say "marijuana is the only thing that works." As I said, psychosemantics is a large part of the medical marijuana question.

I think there have actually been a fair number of questions medically about the efficacy of mj for relief of various symptoms. It isn't actually always easy to pin down how well things work.

 

[PaladinValer]

I think there have actually been a fair number of questions medically about the efficacy of mj for relief of various symptoms. It isn't actually always easy to pin down how well things work.

True of any medication, yes.

However, when it comes to marijuana, people need to consider what those who support its use medical use really want.

The best medicine is the best, least risky and intrusive kind. While any drug can have potential negative, perhaps even lethal risks, marijuana has the additional risk in that, in most countries, it is against the law. In the US, the Supreme Court has ruled that the national government has the right to regulate and criminalize it. State laws do NOT supersede national laws here, which means while the state might pass a medical marijuana law, the national government's stance is still also in play. If caught, even if it is for "proscribed medical use," actual offenders will be arrested, charged, and be found guilty.

Australia currently has no legal marijuana laws. Its use is completely criminalized within that country.

 

[MKJ]

True of any medication, yes.

However, when it comes to marijuana, people need to consider what those who support its use medical use really want.

The best medicine is the best, least risky and intrusive kind. While any drug can have potential negative, perhaps even lethal risks, marijuana has the additional risk in that, in most countries, it is against the law. In the US, the Supreme Court has ruled that the national government has the right to regulate and criminalize it. State laws do NOT supersede national laws here, which means while the state might pass a medical marijuana law, the national government's stance is still also in play. If caught, even if it is for "proscribed medical use," actual offenders will be arrested, charged, and be found guilty.

Australia currently has no legal marijuana laws. Its use is completely criminalized within that country.

The legality has nothing to do with whether it is medically useful.

And I don't think I would say there are questions of the same kind around all other drugs with relation to efficacy. In many cases we have a pretty clear idea what many drugs are useful for and not useful for. Marijuana seems to have a lot more questions around some of the more common things it is prescribed for.

The question of whether it is a good idea to use it in a place where it is actually illegal is a separate issue.

I have no doubt that many people hope that allowing medical use is a way to introduce recreational use, but that does not in itself mean that medical use is not justified.

 

[vespasia]

Pain management for a chronic condition is complicated and involves far more than just various forms of analgesics.

Ethically if a drug is declared to be illegal in a country then consumming that drug is breaking the law. What would that then say of us as Christians to others? What effect could that have if we seek redress through the same laws we disobey or insist on another law that others should uphold.

Morally the question is one of which is the greater evil if pain is causing a person to suffer. The use of an illegal drug can and often will compromise other legal drugs used. There can be unforseen consequences of using such a drug - for example as the sense of well being fades greating increasing psychological and possibly physical dependance, ending up in prison, being banned from certain roles within the church and so on.

If your health provision covers this [NHS in the UK does] its worth asking for a referral to a pain clinic. There are others drugs that may help with fibro from calcium inhibitors to anti-convulscents and so on but it can be trial and error. Some of these drugs can also amplify the effectiveness of analgesics when they are needed. Analagesics on a daily high does basis tend to become ineffective as human bodies build tolerance.
Pain clinics also look at tweaking lifestyles, physical activity, diet and so on to manage pain. Sorry but with a chronically painful condition pain free is not going to happen, being bombed out of your head without medical supervision to break an acute flare is simply not wise. You cannot honour Christ if your out of your little head.
IF and I do mean if I have to resort to using a single does of the morphine based drug I legally have at home I cancel everything and head to bed.

If a neurologist working with other teams including a pain clinic cannot bring some relief and after you have tried every possible combeination of legally prescribed drugs then and only then might it be wise to sign up as a guinea pig for CLINICAL drug trials of medicinal hash but at present the medical research on the poisons in conches look far more promising.

 

[brightmorningstar]

The legality has nothing to do with whether it is medically useful

On the contrary it probably has a good deal to do with it; legal drugs are not usually dangerous, illegal ones are usually the ones considered dangerous.


My advice on the issue... seek the doctor and also pray

 

[elahmine]

On the contrary it probably has a good deal to do with it; legal drugs are not usually dangerous, illegal ones are usually the ones considered dangerous.


My advice on the issue... seek the doctor and also pray

The problem is the research is that opiate based pain killers are physically addictive, but mj while psychologically addictive is not physically addictive. Also pain killers are easily overdosed on, and that overdose can end in death. However there has never been a single case of death by mj.