Cannibis for Medical Use??

[Mike McK]

Originally posted by dianetavegia:
Mike your story just breaks my heart. I'm so sorry your father had to suffer so! I've heard of poor people who are not able to afford enough pain killers to rid them of pain.

Thanks, Diane.

There's a lot more to this story and I've shared bits and pieces of it here and there on Baptistboard.

It wasn't all sad news. It was because of his cancer that he (and, indirectly, I) came to Christ.

My thoughts on the use of pain management during terminal illness is that we should do everything we can to alleviate the pain. Since life in ending anyhow, there is no worry about dependence!

Right. So often, when we talk about medical marijuana, we're not talking about treatment, but about quality of life.

 

[Dr. Bob]

Six months ago I would have led the charge AGAINST it. Now . . I am a strong advocate.

I've walked a mile in the other man's shoes. Or at least wish I could.

The pain from my neuropathy can only be eased with medication, not stopped. Even morphine drip is insufficient. I never would have believed the amount of pain, often so intense that I bite a finger to keep from crying out and tears stream down my cheeks.

MD says that marijuana affects the area in the brain that is receiving these phantom messages of pain (my feet are NOT on fire; I'm NOT walking on broken glass shards).

It is both illegal and does have effect on my sensibilities. But as I understand it, I would simply bake it in brownies, not smoke it, to get the needed affect.

Count my vote as a big, tear-stained YES.

 

[dianetavegia]

I know almost nothing about 'pot' but can it NOT be delivered to the system in a way that won't affect the emotional senses? Studies need to be done on this.

Dr. Bob, after my dog bite, the nerves that had been torn began to misfire and send horrible electrical shocks all through my lower leg.

 

[Abiyah]

[Deleted Post: self-reported non-Baptist posting in a Baptist only section of the BB.]

[ November 12, 2003, 12:06 AM: Message edited by: BibleboyII ]

 

[post-it]

Like morphine and other drugs, if it helps the sick, we do and should allow its use... but for MEDICAL reasons ONLY. But I am not for the legalization for its other uses.

Pot removes a person's ambition.
Pot makes people eat too much.
Pot makes people lazy.
Pot stuns a young person's financial and job opportunities, and puts a further drain on tax payers.
Pot helps a person escape reality.

Pot will not kill you, will not make you go on to harder drugs, or fry your brains. These are lies.

So if you are medically ill, pot really won't have any worse effect on you than what you are going through anyway. And if you are already use to working a full day's work, it most likely won't change that either.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by donnA:
marijuana causes brain damage. why trade one ailment for another even worse one.

Many medications and medical procedures have adverse side effects.

A heart transplant is simply trading one illness (a dying heart) for another (the body fighting off a foreign organ).

Chemotherapy will kill you, but cancer will kill you faster.

The medication Plavix will prevent heart attacks or strokes, but gives the person a mild case of hemophelia.

Vicodin is a damaging narcotic, but when used properly, allows the body to repair itself by inducing a restful state.

Anabolic streoids, well, we know what damage they can do, but they also build lung capacity in asthmatics.

Marijuana use, if done under a doctors care, should be allowed if it has a medical benefit.

 

[Ben W]

Donna

As I saw it the thread title was "Cannabis for Medical use". I dont see any suggestion in favour of recreational use, which I am sure would be opposed strongly here.

Dr Bob, What you have to say is chilling. I pray that God will give you relief.

 

[mioque]

A couple of practical points (mostly learned from some of my more questionable friends back in university).
Well made apple pie works better to mask the (unpleasant) flavour of cannabis than brownies.
Modern day American marihuana is stronger than the variety grown in the sixties, Dutch marihuana is even stronger.
Often the medicinal benefit already kicks in at a dosage that doesn't get you high.
No matter how inspired you did feel at the time, never ever use a sermon written while you were high, without rereading it thoroughly first.


ps. You are in my prayers Bob.

 

[dianetavegia]

As long as I live I'll never forget the screams from pain I heard for days and days back in the 1970's from a Christian man dying of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His wife laid across his bed and they begged God to hurry up his death. The doctor's had given him as much pain killer as the law allowed and still he screamed. He left behind two very tiny children but the last weeks or maybe even months of his life were just unbearable. I prayed for his death and the morning I went to his room to draw blood and he wasn't there... I praised God because I knew he was in heaven. I even remember his name 30 years later.

Diane

 

[Elnora]

I must say there was a time when I was totally against the use of it. I have suffered daily pain and headaches since 1981. I have damaged my kidneys as a result trying to keep the headaches managable, I was taking about 300 Excedrin a month just to function. I told my doctor and he never suggested another alternative. I still cannot see using pot myself. I do use ice and heat and stretching to relieve the muscle pain that sometimes is almost unbearable.

But one of the people who changed my mind is a young woman I know personally and is in terrible pain. She is allergic to the insulin she needs for her diabetes. She has other terrible ailments as well. He body is covered in sores. She does not even look like the same girl I met as a child. She is only 30 with a young child herself.

In our state I voted for the legalization of marijuana for medical use. It passed. If we can allow other powerful drugs such as codene, morphine etc. what is the difference? Before my thoughts were that it would lead us to allow any drug to be legalized. It hasn't been the case and I would never vote for the legalization of drugs for recreational use. But to deny help for some because I associated pot with recreational use I could not continue to justify forcing people to suffer.

I really pray for all of you that suffer continued daily pain. I believe that many doctors are as those who don't suffer daily and can't empathize. So they don't take it seriously what continued pain does to people. Therefore too many times there is no relief for the sufferer.

 

[Elnora]

Abiyah,

There are legal growers which is way different than the illegal pot which is injected with harmful chemicals. They grow it legally for doctors that prescribe it.

Dr. Bob,

Brownies may be a better answer than smoking it. But I would think you may gain a lot of weight eating enough to keep the pain under control, which could cause more complications. I think if they could put it in pill form that would be a better way to go. One would also not have to be concerned with the added chemicals. It would also stop the confusion the police have when confronting this issue. I believe that here, they carry papers to verify that they are in fact using it for medicinal purposes.

 

[Deacon]

THC capsules (the active ingredent) have been around a long time and have never really caught on.There are so many other medications available that do much better at controlling the various symptoms. IMO it is obvious that the people that "push" Cannibis have an agenda, ---legalization.

Rob

 

[Ben W]

With all of the information available on the damage that ciggarettes do, why are they freely available?