Medical Marijuana: Nothing is New
The use of cannabis as medicine is not new, in fact, there are references to the use of marijuana as a medicine that date back to 2,000 years BC. Marijuana use hasn’t been confined to just one geographical area either – there are global records of its use. In China, it was used to treat conditions such as malaria, constipation and rheumatism.
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You might be surprised to find that it wasn’t just ancient peoples who used the drug; marijuana remained in the United States pharmacopoeia until 1941. Up until that time, cannabis was freely available in shops and, in the UK, Queen Victoria, that most conservative of royals, used cannabis to alleviate her menstrual cramps.
Medical Marijuana: The Truth
The truth of the matter is we don’t know exactly how many illnesses and symptoms that the medical use of marijuana could alleviate. The following list is taken from Appendix IV of a US Government Accountability Office report issued in November 2002, Descriptions of Allowable Conditions under State Medical Marijuana Laws.
Over the following days detailed articles will be written about how marijuana may help each of these conditions and as the articles are published they will be linked to this page.
This is not an exhaustive list of the conditions that may be helped by using cannabis and other conditions will be added as you tell us about them!
We believe Medical Marijuana will help these conditions:
- Alzheimer’s Disease: a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior
- Amyloidosis: Amyloids are body-proteins that have folded in on themselves, making them insoluble. The fact that they don’t dissolve can lead to a build up of deposits in various organs, such as the heart, the kidneys, and the nerves.
- Anorexia: an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight
- Anxiety: a feeling of apprehension or fear, the source of which is not always known or recognized
- AIDS: (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to the immune system
- Arthritis: inflammation of one or more joints, which results in pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement
- Autism: autistic spectrum disorders are a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges
- Breast Cancer: cannabis study suggesting that a particular compound may be effective at taming metastasizing breast cancer cells with low toxicity.
- Cachexia: physical wasting with loss of weight and muscle mass caused by disease
- Cancer: a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell division leading to growth of abnormal tissue
- Crohn’s Disease: an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), causing inflammation of the digestive tract lining . This can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and malnutrition
- Depression: a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration
- Epilepsy: a disorder that results from the surges in electrical signals inside the brain, causing recurring seizures.
- Fibromyalgia: a constellation of symptoms that include widespread aching, stiffness, fatigue, and the presence of specific body tender point
- Glaucoma: a group of eye diseases characterized by damage to the optic nerve usually caused by raised pressure (IOP) within the eye
- Insomnia: chronic inability to fall asleep or to enjoy uninterrupted sleep
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Anecdotal evidence suggests that use of cannabis/marijuana reduces symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
- Mesothelioma: Well, let’s get this said up-front: as far as we know medical marijuana will not cure mesothelioma. Nevertheless, we know of at least one study looking at cannabis for chemotherapy patients (Harvard University) that showed THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, slashed tumor growth in common lung cancer by 50% and also reduced the spread of the cancer.
- Migraine: a severe recurring headache, usually affecting only one side of the head, characterized by sharp pain and often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances
- Multiple Sclerosis: a chronic autoimmune disorder affecting movement, sensation, and bodily functions.Caused by destruction of the myelin insulation covering nerve fibers in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
- Nausea: a feeling of sickness in the stomach characterized by an urge to vomit
- Pain: an unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder
- PTSD: (post traumatic stress disorder) a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: It’s been known, anecdotally at least, for many years that cannabis can help ease the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Spasticity: a constant and unwanted contraction of one or more muscle groups
Find out the Medical Marijuana state laws where you live. Then you will know whether you are legally able to use Medical Marijuana to treat your medical condition.
I need to stop nightmares from Bullying and gang rape and to sleep better.I as well had a heart attack and have angina.Also depression from multiple perpetraitors.SO TIRED OF THE NEW AGE DRIVEL THAT DIDTATES THAT ABUSE IS A PATTERN IF IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE OR TWICE.
Someone gave me a bit of medical M yesterday and it helped so much.How can I prove I need it to have it covered on disability.Broke and somewhat broken.
I think they should absolutely allow people who struggle with depression and migraines to use Medical Marijuana…I’ll be the first to admit that I am an illegal user..and making it legal for those symptoms would be terrific.
just started trying it
feel free to follow my new blog about my experiment
http://themarijuanaexperiment.blogspot.com/
G’day Jack, I saw your post and had to say that I too began a personal Cannabis trial in 1984 and it was the saviour of my life.
I suffer from insomnia and it improved my life immeasurably.
I hope you have the same success with your trial, and although I have been a daily user of Cannabis for 28yrs I am in fine physical and mental condition. If I was using Alcohol I would most probably be dead by now or suffering dementia or cancer etc.
Good on ya and good luck !
Yesyes makes me have high iq coats oil on couble receptors in brain so i can make washingtonians look like they have a relatively low iq compaired to mine dear wattson,things seem more interesting.
Activates some cancer killing cells in my body improve my ashmatic weezing’ splended ideal whoever created such a plant, perhaps a channuka honey appetizers’ some cocoa and nice movie seems like ten times more amazing. Coconut oil,cinnomin yumsers
If used correctly, marijuana can also work as a mind enhancer, see the new book “High. Insights on Marijuana” by Sebastian Marincolo:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=high+insights+on&x=0&y=0
[...] than half-an-acre, without dispensaries most patients cannot get the medicine recommended for their medical condition by the [...]
Anyone wanting some true facts on this topic, watch a couple documentaries such as How Pot Won the West, or The Union- The business behind getting high. These to shows are factual and need to be seen across the country so every American can see the benefits and hear some comments from very high profile people.
I used to use it personally for nausea and ADD, but cant and haven’t for a long time because of my job. I don’t take man made prescription medicines, just aspirin.
I hope for all mankind that our country gets out of their dictatorship role and listen to the people who work and build this country.
If I had to choose I would use(MM) medical marijuana over poisonous man made drugs, and will find it whatever it takes. And by chance they brought me to jail because I am doing whats best for me, then they can feed cloth and pay for my medications!
Thanks for letting me vent and good luck to all.
T
I totally agree!!!!! I have had hepatitis C since 1985. I suffer with PTSD. BOTH CONDITIONS CAUSE DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY! I have been using it illegally since 1975, after being raped 3 times (different guys) and my father had a malignant brain tumor removed in 1977. He also suffered with colon cancer and shingles before passing on in 1986 (I was 6 months pregnant with 1st child). I have beaten cancer in 4 different areas of my body and I’m now fighting the cirrohsis in my liver caused by the HCV. I had chest xray 1 year ago and MY LUNGS AND HEART ARE IN GREAT. SHAPE!!!!
I find that when I smoke I do not remember my nightmares I have from PTSD. I have been startled awake looking for bullet holes! There were no bullet holes in my bedroom so I knew that it was all a HORRIBLE DREAM!
I’m VERY GLAD THAT I QUIT SMOKING CIGARETTES IN 1977 AND STAYED AWAY FROM THEM ALL THESE YEARS AND I BELIEVE IT WAS DUE TO ME USING MARIJUANA. I DECIDED THAT IF I WAS GOING TO SMOKE SOMETHING THEN IT WAS GOING TO BE MARIJUANA AND NOT CIGARETTES. WHEN THE TOBACCO COMPANIES WERE EXPOSED OF THEM ADDING CHEMICALS….I AM VERY GRATEFUL THAT I DECIDED TO STOP CIGARETTES!
yes yes yes
it works for my anxity, depression and arthritious and pms..i get an apetite and can sleep and it stops the racing of the mind and the negativity!
Santa Cruz, CA: Patients in California with a physician’s recommendation are predominantly using cannabis to treat symptoms of pain, insomnia, and anxiety, according to population data published in the present issue of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz analyzed data from 1,746 consecutive admissions to nine medical marijuana assessment clinics operating throughout California.
Authors reported, “[R]elief of pain, spasms, headache, and anxiety, as well as to improve sleep and relaxation were the most common reasons patients cited for using medical marijuana.” Patients typically reported that cannabis provided them with more than one therapeutic benefit, and four in five (79.3 percent) reported having first tried other medications prescribed by their physicians, almost half of which were opiates.
Of those sampled, three-fourths of the patients were male and three-fifths were Caucasian. Compared to the US Census of California, the patients in this sample were on average “somewhat younger, report[ed] slightly more years of formal education, and [were] more often employed.” Two-fifths of patients in the sample “had not been using marijuana recreationally prior to trying it for medicinal purposes.”
Investigators also reported that patients’ use of tobacco was “somewhat higher than in the general population, but [that their] prevalence of alcohol use was significantly lower” than that of the general population. Patients use of other illicit substances, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin was also lower than that of the general population.
Over 80 percent of the patients in the sample reported consuming cannabis via inhalation (86.1 percent). Twenty-five percent of patients sampled consumed cannabis orally. Twenty-two percent vaporized cannabis and approximately three percent said that they used the substance topically.
Most patients (40.1 percent) reported consuming up to three grams of cannabis per week. Thirty-six percent of patients reported using four to seven grams of cannabis, and 23.3 percent said they consumed more than seven grams of marijuana per week. A majority of respondents (56.1 percent) said they used cannabis prior to sleep.
Authors concluded: “Compared to earlier studies of medical marijuana patients, these data suggest that the patient population has evolved from mostly HIV/AIDS and cancer patients to a significantly more diverse array. … This suggests that the patient population is likely to continue evolving as new patients and physicians discover the therapeutic uses of cannabis.”
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(This is a copy from NORML News, issued today, 8/4/11.)
hey there people of the open minded you have forgotten about cardio vascular disease, marijuanna can help with breathing by helping to remove deposits within the lungs.
BUT
It is not smoked it is eaten consumed by mouth and it has to be of a particular breed type.
Has any one out there got any good recipes from the late 1800s that have proven to help out the infected lungs of detereated tissues?
ive been taking medical marijuana for 7yrs and it helps in my eating and depression as well as my being paranoid so i no it work for pain ect its not fiction its a fact tht it do work i thank god for it bc it brought me back from 75 pouds after major surgeries 4 at one time ty JESUS! TY AS WELL FOR UR EARTHLY SERVINGS ON MAKING THINGS BETTER EVEN THOUGH THY AS PPL HAVE THE NERVE TO JUDGE WHT OUR FATHER CREATED FOR US wht we need.