Monday, March 05, 2007

Pot. The Wonder Drug.

Yet another study has come out showing the overall efficacy of marijuana as a palliative medicine, especially in the realm of neuropathy related pain control. Lester Grinspoon, MD had an Op/Ed piece in the March 1st edition of the Boston Globe that addressed the new study and made the case for renewed study and use of cannabis as medicine. This isn't the first time that a study has been made into the efficacy of marijuana as a reliable and effective medicine for the treatment of the pain associated with the various types of neuropathic myopathy. Nor is it the first call for reform where medical marijuana is concerned.

I've touched on this before, and likely will again in the future. Medical marijuana is a subject that needs to be in the forefront of alternative treatments. Too many of the treatments for neuropathic pain do not work and have potentially serious side effects, like opiates. I had to watch my mother deal with the devastating effects of diabetic myopathy and got to see first hand how little conventional medicine was able to do for her condition. At times she was relegated to a wheel chair when she went out. She, and thousands of others like her, was relegated to a world of unending and agonising pain tat could have been alleviated by the simplest of actions. Lighting and smoking a joint.

This latest study, like previous studies will likely go unheeded by the federal medical establishment and their drug warrior bureaucrats. Spurred on by Pharmaceutical lobbyist dollars, this study will, sadly become yet another ignored footnote in the War on People and the suffering of countless people will continue unabated. Big government proponents of the Democratic wing of the Boot On Your Neck Party will do nothing and neither will their comrades in arms, the Republican wing. All we can do is ignore the laws put forth by the governments and run the risk of imprisonment or death. Even in places where medical marijuana is supposedly legal, people are imprisoned and have their medicine stolen from them by law enforcers.

As someone who faces the possibility of one day dealing with something like diabetic myopathy I welcome these studies. They tell me what I might need to know in order to maintain a decent quality of life, regardless of what some law enforcer thinks. Our lives or their laws, the answer is obvious.

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1 comment:

Matt said...

Hi,

I wanted to let everyone know that there is a documentary that you might be interested in about the raging battle taking place in San Diego over medical marijuana. The film is called RX Cannabis, and there is a trailer online that you can view.

We will be adding more video online very soon including behind the scenes footage and vlogs from the filmmaker. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the trailer and any comments.

Here are some links:

trailer: rxcannabis.blip.tv.
myspace: myspace.com/harveystein
blog: rxcannabis.blogpost.com
email: rxcannabis@gmail.com