Medical Marijuana Debate

"Should marijuana become a legal medical option?"


Do you think that patients should be allowed access to THC as a pain reliever? Many believe that marijuana can help ease the symptoms of painful and/or chronic conditions or treatment such as AIDS, Alzheimer's, Arthritis, Asthma / Breathing Disorders, Chemotherapy, Crohn's, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Epilepsy / Seizures, Glaucoma, Hepatitis C, Migraines, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscle Spasms, Pain, Analgesia, Psychological Conditions, and Tourette's Syndrome.


Others claim that marijuana is a gateway drug that will lead to abuse of narcotics and want to see the substance criminalized. The opponents of the medical use of marijuana state that the risks of medical marijuana include drug addiction, cancer, brain damage, decreased reproductive ability, and possible death.


What's your opinion? We invite you to share your opinion here

It does help some and does not have the side effects of many other drugs but you cannot work while stoned at least I cannot so it's not useful during the day.

It's also a crazy expensive drug so that pretty much rules it out as a legitimate option. If it were legal and could be prescribed and obtained through normal presctiption channels I might use it more often. Frankly the best relief I have found so far is prednisone and at 4 dollars for a month worth the price is a lot better. The side effects suck but what are you going to do.

Well thats true some of the legal drugs are pretty brutal.



Marijuana is not physicaly adictive.
Marijuana has shown no increased risk of lung cancer and actualy seems to have anti-oxidant properties which might reduce the risk.
Marijuana may or may not cause brain damage but there is no proof one way or the other
Some studies have show decreased reproductive ability but then again a good hunk of people with MS have issues with sex anyway so whats one more nail in the coffin if it releives pain.
Death is complete crap marijuana has lower toxcity than asprin.

Fact of the matter most of us with MS are on far more risky medications than marijuana. It is just plain stupid to make a drug illegal that could help people while pumping them full of other drugs that do not work as well just because they are legal.

The issue of medical marijuana is essentially a matter of patients finding resources to educate themselves about the medical and how it can be helpful to treat their medical condition. Americans for Safe Access has a web site where patients can get access to current research and discuss their medical conditions with other medical marijuana patients. ASA has booklets that patients can download to share with their physicians and discuss the medical use of marijuana.
For patient use, probably the most useful resource is their forum where patients can be in contact with others who have experienced the benefits of medical cannabis.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org /punbb/ This is the link to the forum to get in contact with other patients. I would ask that anyone who uses this resource please return to this ehealth forum and share your findings with others.

There are many strains of marijuana and each has differing medical efficacy. Good luck on your search for knowledge. I live in Colorado where medical use of marijuana is legal and we now have over 2050 patients on the state registry.

I would hope those who would like more information about medical marijuana would use the internet to search for information about those who have experience with marijuana as medicine. A prime example is Irv Rosenfeld a stockbroker in Ft Lauderdale who has a condition where painful bony protursions grow in his long bones. Irv is one of the very few patients that receives a shipment of 300 marijuana cigarettes from the US Government every month for the past 22years. http://sto pthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/363/irv.shtm l The federal government has refused to collect data from their own patients, as they are fully aware that publishing the data would indicate the clear medical efficacy of cannabis.

The IND program that provides Irv with his medicine has been closed to new patients after a ruling by the Geo Bush Sr administration in the early 1990s.

In any regard, please return to this forum with any information you find and share with others. The patients that I have spoken with do not report the "stoned" symptons that were described earlier. Instead the effects of opoid pain meds are much more debilitating.

Why does the government deny the medical efficacy of marijuana? I suspect the powerful pharmaceutical industry realizes the billions it would lose if marijuana was approved as a medicine. It is only expensive because it is illegal.

Medical marijuana use is very important for people in chronic pain. For several reasons. First, how many of you cant sleep because your pain is so severe you only toss and turn all night. Do you like feeling groggy in the morning from prescription sleep aids. I dont, I hate sleeping pills. Marijuana, puts me out, (after a snack, LOL)! It helps to relax your body without harsh prescription muscle relaxers. It increases the appetite of the chemo patient. Its nowhere near as addictive as say OXY, vicodin, soma, percs, etc.... There are no accidental overdoses, knowone has ever, ever died from smoking weed!!!!! The benefits far outway the negatives. I am currently having tests done to diagnose MS. Someone suggested I smoke to help eleviate the pain and sleeplessness. Its not a cure all, but it helps alot. More people die every year from prescription overdoses, but hey my doc said its okay to put these harsh chemicals and opiats in my body so fill my scrip. its not right!