14 ms·

Medical marijuana patients report reduction in use of prescription drugs

112 points by lnguyen 9y ago

Theodores 9y ago
Outside of America there is not an opioid crisis, therefore marijuana is there along the way to class A drugs. So class A addicts could get weed just as easily and possibly easier than their normal substances. In theory they could 'get off the heroin' by smoking weed instead. This never happens even though the option is there. Meanwhile, in America, where the doctors got everyone hooked on class A drugs, the marijuana was bypassed, along with smoking. Regular people went along for tooth and other operations to end up opioid addicts. They were not hanging out with the wrong crowd, they went to their doctors for help with pain. Their route to being hooked has been entirely different, so maybe using marijuana for the underlying pain management is worth a go. As things currently stand there is the sorry rehab process or prison/death, hopefully weed really can offer a better way back to a normal life for them.
tcj_phx 9y ago
A friend was oscillating between drunk & sober... She told me that her neighbor had offered to smoke up with her. "You're going to, right?" She protested that she might need to take a drug test. I replied that she was never going to be able to keep a job like she was (she'd lost 3 jobs over the course of a year on account of not being able to cope with "stress" without the assistance of the devil's drink). She smoked up with her neighbor and got her medical cannabis card a few months later. She's doing much better now. Art therapy has been a big breakthrough, but cannabis got her stable enough to get to the studio. She got a CBD vapor pen for my girlfriend, who had methadone-induced alcohol dependency. My girlfriend said the CBD really helped control the anxiety which she'd been using the alcohol to self-treat. This CBD pen got stolen from her before she was arrested, which might've been fortunate because that would've been more charges (prosecutors gotta prosecute, to justify their salaries). I think CBD [1] is the most beneficial portion of "medical marijuana". Never used it myself, [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol There are some good prescriptions, but mostly the latest patent medicines are just palliative drugs that don't actually help much. Drug companies gotta hustle [2], to pay their investors... [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hustle https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hustle
- tmikaeld 9y ago
  A close friend have used CBD for about a year to help him with prostate cancer, he says that without it he would probably have killed himself due to the stress of not being able to handle a job, have no money and being sick at the same time. This is a person that worked at both SAAB and Volvo as a project lead for many years so being beaten down from such a high horse by life take such a mean twist means a drastic change to your character. So I'm glad that CBD exists or I'm quite sure this man, my best friend, wouldn't.
- agumonkey 9y ago
  Could you give me all you know about CBD vaping ? have you seen/tried home inhalers ? (things you put on table and stick your nose to, to breath calmly) I'm trying to source one for my mother who started to smoke cigarettes again. I have CBD oil but I didn't find it enough for anxiety (although it seemed to have done wonders on psoriasis patches).
  - cantbecool 9y ago
    I haven't tried the CBD carts in over a year, but I've used the Honey Vape cartridges in the past, non-cbd and they have a Trident strain that I was thinking about ordering.(Dream Market) I have some ACDC flower that I currently use that has essentially no THCA, which contains he psycho active effects, and high CBD content. I couldn't recommend it enough. I have psoriasis and a lot of arthritis from years of lifting heavy weights and contact sports. It's remarkable how this isn't legal in all 50 states already, but within the next 5 years, I have a feeling it will go national.
  - d33 9y ago
    Not sure if that's the same, but consider this kind of device: https://www.paxvapor.com/ https://www.paxvapor.com/
    - gm-conspiracy 9y ago
      Kind of. The newest model has the capability to use oils, but it was primarily used for vaporizing flower.
mankash666 9y ago
Expect for the "medical marijuana" prescription
- lostboys67 9y ago
  Yes if you using medical marijuana you probably substituting that for something else
tosstossy 9y ago
Things like this surprise me. Marijuana has never struck me as something to take for pain. In my experience it heightens sensations and increases paranoia while stimulating appetite. I don't see that as especially useful for treating something like tooth pain. Are these patients just getting super baked to the point of comatose?
- lnguyen 9y ago
  The issue is the THC vs CBD content that’s being provided. Most of the medical/medicinal aspects are focused on strains with more CBD while recreational emphasizes THC
- bengale 9y ago
  My girlfriend uses it when the M.E gets really bad and the pills don't do a lot. It depends on the strain.
- vertex-four 9y ago
  For the record, most marijuana users who use it for pain have chronic pain issues and have often been prescribed very strong painkillers. Marijuana is an alternative to opiates, not paracetamol. In my own experience as someone who does not suffer chronic pain, it helps me relax, and doesn't increase paranoia. I could definitely understand it being useful in limited doses for people it works for.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  Quite honestly, when the alternative is unbearable suffering, what does it matter if they are? It apparently still represents an improvement in their quality of life.
  - tosstossy 9y ago
    Did I say it matters? Some of you seem so predisposed to be on the defense in this topic it's difficult to even have a casual discussion without becoming adversarial. It's worth knowing if some forms of marijuana can effectively treat pain without significant impairment.
lnguyen 9y ago
One of the issues that isn’t obvious is the difficulty in actually doing any reported MMJ study, let alone one that was done by respected institutions. While one can argue about the significance of the small sample size, it’s amazing that there’s an actual reportable group
Boothroid 9y ago
The spokesman in the article hints at what I think is probably the real reason behind opposition to medical weed: an effective medicine that can be grown at home cheaply and easily is big pharma's worst nightmare.
- Clubber 9y ago
  And don't forget the mega-breweries like Coors and Budweiser. They've been lobbying to keep cannabis illegal for decades. https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-top-5-industries-lobbying-against-cannabis-legalization-will https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-top-5-industries-lo... To summarize, police unions, prison guard unions, for-profit prisons, and drug and alcohol companies spend huge sums of money each year to keep cannabis illegal, and why? Because it ensures job security and profits. We’re speechless, though sadly not surprised. It crosses a line when profiteering requires imprisonment of thousands and thousands of otherwise non-criminal people.
- refurb 9y ago
  Could you offer up some examples? Most pain medication is generic and cheap. And to be honest, irreplaceable for most types of pain. I just don't see marijuana displacing current drugs to a degree that would threaten drug companies.
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    It's clear that many people do find marijuana helpful for certain conditions, for example terminal cancer, where the appetite stimulating effect can be useful in helping forestall cachexia. So there are apparently cases where it is preferential to current drugs. But also it potentially threatens profits for drugs that are not currently developed. The alternative is to believe that big pharma is not threatened by a medication that is extremely cheap/easy to cultivate, relatively safe, and has proven as well ad potential widespread application. I think you are being a little obtuse in asking for examples! Just Google it - there are plenty.
KiDD 9y ago
We better ban this stuff so our drug companies don't go out of business!
gt_ 9y ago
Many prescription drugs require drug tests, and will not be prescribed if marijuana is detected.
- rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
  I've never heard of this. Which prescription drugs require drug tests?
  - gt_ 9y ago
    I have been drug tested to receive Adderall before. I was told by the doctor that they were mainly testing for marijuana. I think it depends on the state. I did not keep taking the stuff so I'm not sure if it would have been necessary on a regular basis to maintain the prescription.
  - astura 9y ago
    I've been drug tested as prior to being given a Ritalin prescription. It's, of course, up to the sole degression of the prescribing physician.
MyNameHere 9y ago
I would love to see a high-quality, randomized double-blind study on the effectiveness of CBD oil both with and without other pain medications on non-marijuana savvy people with lifetime chronic pain diseases such as peripheral neuropathy.
- rasz 9y ago
  Poland just legalized medical Cannabis thanks to one 'rebel' doctor(Marek Bachański) going against hospital management to treat drug resistant epilepsy in children. It started with him getting fired in 2015, then parents of the children riling up, whole thing going public and sparking conversations, lawsuit lost by the hospital, reinstation and finally passing a law. http://herb.co/2017/07/26/poland-medical-cannabis/ http://herb.co/2017/07/26/poland-medical-cannabis/
cnewey 9y ago
This is a pretty weak article, and (from what I can make out), a pretty weak study too. Obviously, there's the usual concern about sample sizes (30 people does not a scientific study make), but this study is also self-selected (i.e. survey respondents chose whether to take part or not - obviously a considerable source of bias), and even more worryingly, it appears that the "study" in question is simply a survey where participants report changes in their own use of prescription drugs. So not only are there very few participants in the study - but they're also self-selected, and so are their answers. This is anecdata at its finest and really shouldn't be in a peer-reviewed journal. (P.S. the journal article itself isn't linked on the Chicago Tribune's website at all...). I really think there is genuine medical potential to be discovered from cannabis and exploited for the greater good - but our enthusiasm to access these potential benefits should not get in the way of doing good science. This sort of badly-executed study just cheapens genuine efforts to do sensible research into its medical value.

112 points by lnguyen 9y ago

Outside of America there is not an opioid crisis, therefore marijuana is there along the way to class A drugs. So class A addicts could get weed just as easily and possibly easier than their normal substances. In theory they could 'get off the heroin' by smoking weed instead. This never happens even though the option is there. Meanwhile, in America, where the doctors got everyone hooked on class A drugs, the marijuana was bypassed, along with smoking. Regular people went along for tooth and other operations to end up opioid addicts. They were not hanging out with the wrong crowd, they went to their doctors for help with pain. Their route to being hooked has been entirely different, so maybe using marijuana for the underlying pain management is worth a go. As things currently stand there is the sorry rehab process or prison/death, hopefully weed really can offer a better way back to a normal life for them.

tcj_phx 9y ago

A friend was oscillating between drunk & sober... She told me that her neighbor had offered to smoke up with her. "You're going to, right?" She protested that she might need to take a drug test. I replied that she was never going to be able to keep a job like she was (she'd lost 3 jobs over the course of a year on account of not being able to cope with "stress" without the assistance of the devil's drink). She smoked up with her neighbor and got her medical cannabis card a few months later. She's doing much better now. Art therapy has been a big breakthrough, but cannabis got her stable enough to get to the studio. She got a CBD vapor pen for my girlfriend, who had methadone-induced alcohol dependency. My girlfriend said the CBD really helped control the anxiety which she'd been using the alcohol to self-treat. This CBD pen got stolen from her before she was arrested, which might've been fortunate because that would've been more charges (prosecutors gotta prosecute, to justify their salaries). I think CBD [1] is the most beneficial portion of "medical marijuana". Never used it myself, [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol There are some good prescriptions, but mostly the latest patent medicines are just palliative drugs that don't actually help much. Drug companies gotta hustle [2], to pay their investors... [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hustle https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hustle

tmikaeld 9y ago
A close friend have used CBD for about a year to help him with prostate cancer, he says that without it he would probably have killed himself due to the stress of not being able to handle a job, have no money and being sick at the same time. This is a person that worked at both SAAB and Volvo as a project lead for many years so being beaten down from such a high horse by life take such a mean twist means a drastic change to your character. So I'm glad that CBD exists or I'm quite sure this man, my best friend, wouldn't.
agumonkey 9y ago
Could you give me all you know about CBD vaping ? have you seen/tried home inhalers ? (things you put on table and stick your nose to, to breath calmly) I'm trying to source one for my mother who started to smoke cigarettes again. I have CBD oil but I didn't find it enough for anxiety (although it seemed to have done wonders on psoriasis patches).
- cantbecool 9y ago
  I haven't tried the CBD carts in over a year, but I've used the Honey Vape cartridges in the past, non-cbd and they have a Trident strain that I was thinking about ordering.(Dream Market) I have some ACDC flower that I currently use that has essentially no THCA, which contains he psycho active effects, and high CBD content. I couldn't recommend it enough. I have psoriasis and a lot of arthritis from years of lifting heavy weights and contact sports. It's remarkable how this isn't legal in all 50 states already, but within the next 5 years, I have a feeling it will go national.
- d33 9y ago
  Not sure if that's the same, but consider this kind of device: https://www.paxvapor.com/ https://www.paxvapor.com/
  - gm-conspiracy 9y ago
    Kind of. The newest model has the capability to use oils, but it was primarily used for vaporizing flower.

mankash666 9y ago

Expect for the "medical marijuana" prescription

lostboys67 9y ago
Yes if you using medical marijuana you probably substituting that for something else

tosstossy 9y ago

Things like this surprise me. Marijuana has never struck me as something to take for pain. In my experience it heightens sensations and increases paranoia while stimulating appetite. I don't see that as especially useful for treating something like tooth pain. Are these patients just getting super baked to the point of comatose?

lnguyen 9y ago
The issue is the THC vs CBD content that’s being provided. Most of the medical/medicinal aspects are focused on strains with more CBD while recreational emphasizes THC
bengale 9y ago
My girlfriend uses it when the M.E gets really bad and the pills don't do a lot. It depends on the strain.
vertex-four 9y ago
For the record, most marijuana users who use it for pain have chronic pain issues and have often been prescribed very strong painkillers. Marijuana is an alternative to opiates, not paracetamol. In my own experience as someone who does not suffer chronic pain, it helps me relax, and doesn't increase paranoia. I could definitely understand it being useful in limited doses for people it works for.
Boothroid 9y ago
Quite honestly, when the alternative is unbearable suffering, what does it matter if they are? It apparently still represents an improvement in their quality of life.
- tosstossy 9y ago
  Did I say it matters? Some of you seem so predisposed to be on the defense in this topic it's difficult to even have a casual discussion without becoming adversarial. It's worth knowing if some forms of marijuana can effectively treat pain without significant impairment.

lnguyen 9y ago

One of the issues that isn’t obvious is the difficulty in actually doing any reported MMJ study, let alone one that was done by respected institutions. While one can argue about the significance of the small sample size, it’s amazing that there’s an actual reportable group

Boothroid 9y ago

The spokesman in the article hints at what I think is probably the real reason behind opposition to medical weed: an effective medicine that can be grown at home cheaply and easily is big pharma's worst nightmare.

Clubber 9y ago
And don't forget the mega-breweries like Coors and Budweiser. They've been lobbying to keep cannabis illegal for decades. https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-top-5-industries-lobbying-against-cannabis-legalization-will https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/the-top-5-industries-lo... To summarize, police unions, prison guard unions, for-profit prisons, and drug and alcohol companies spend huge sums of money each year to keep cannabis illegal, and why? Because it ensures job security and profits. We’re speechless, though sadly not surprised. It crosses a line when profiteering requires imprisonment of thousands and thousands of otherwise non-criminal people.
refurb 9y ago
Could you offer up some examples? Most pain medication is generic and cheap. And to be honest, irreplaceable for most types of pain. I just don't see marijuana displacing current drugs to a degree that would threaten drug companies.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  It's clear that many people do find marijuana helpful for certain conditions, for example terminal cancer, where the appetite stimulating effect can be useful in helping forestall cachexia. So there are apparently cases where it is preferential to current drugs. But also it potentially threatens profits for drugs that are not currently developed. The alternative is to believe that big pharma is not threatened by a medication that is extremely cheap/easy to cultivate, relatively safe, and has proven as well ad potential widespread application. I think you are being a little obtuse in asking for examples! Just Google it - there are plenty.

KiDD 9y ago

We better ban this stuff so our drug companies don't go out of business!

gt_ 9y ago

Many prescription drugs require drug tests, and will not be prescribed if marijuana is detected.

rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
I've never heard of this. Which prescription drugs require drug tests?
- gt_ 9y ago
  I have been drug tested to receive Adderall before. I was told by the doctor that they were mainly testing for marijuana. I think it depends on the state. I did not keep taking the stuff so I'm not sure if it would have been necessary on a regular basis to maintain the prescription.
- astura 9y ago
  I've been drug tested as prior to being given a Ritalin prescription. It's, of course, up to the sole degression of the prescribing physician.

MyNameHere 9y ago

I would love to see a high-quality, randomized double-blind study on the effectiveness of CBD oil both with and without other pain medications on non-marijuana savvy people with lifetime chronic pain diseases such as peripheral neuropathy.

rasz 9y ago
Poland just legalized medical Cannabis thanks to one 'rebel' doctor(Marek Bachański) going against hospital management to treat drug resistant epilepsy in children. It started with him getting fired in 2015, then parents of the children riling up, whole thing going public and sparking conversations, lawsuit lost by the hospital, reinstation and finally passing a law. http://herb.co/2017/07/26/poland-medical-cannabis/ http://herb.co/2017/07/26/poland-medical-cannabis/

cnewey 9y ago

This is a pretty weak article, and (from what I can make out), a pretty weak study too. Obviously, there's the usual concern about sample sizes (30 people does not a scientific study make), but this study is also self-selected (i.e. survey respondents chose whether to take part or not - obviously a considerable source of bias), and even more worryingly, it appears that the "study" in question is simply a survey where participants report changes in their own use of prescription drugs. So not only are there very few participants in the study - but they're also self-selected, and so are their answers. This is anecdata at its finest and really shouldn't be in a peer-reviewed journal. (P.S. the journal article itself isn't linked on the Chicago Tribune's website at all...). I really think there is genuine medical potential to be discovered from cannabis and exploited for the greater good - but our enthusiasm to access these potential benefits should not get in the way of doing good science. This sort of badly-executed study just cheapens genuine efforts to do sensible research into its medical value.