4 ms·

I ran support groups for a while, and met folks of all walks of life. One of them told me that when they smoked a specific strain of cannabis, they found that

I ran support groups for a while, and met folks of all walks of life. One of them told me that when they smoked a specific strain of cannabis, they found that they needed far less insulin than normal to maintain their blood sugar levels. My aunt was a life long diabetic, so I have some idea of how much testing is involved, and so this meant more to me than most anecdotes. I decided to look up the gene regulatory network of the pancreatic islet cells involved in manufacturing insulin. Sure enough, smack in the middle, a G-protein-coupled receptor. The Mythbusters "PLAUSIBLE" sequence played in my mind. I'm of the opinion that we should probably be paying special attention to any substance with known activity on human cell signalling pathways. Cannabis is capable of targeting so many, spread across such a variety of organ systems, that it seems obviously useful. Wild how we've avoided studying all but the least useful strains.

reactordev 1y ago
Absolutely. I'm definitely not advocating for it to just get a pass because it's ancient "medicine". Understanding it's effects on cells is good science. I'm not dismissing that at all. What I am saying is, I've had chronic pain for a long time. Side effect of skateboarding injuries, snowboarding injuries, a one-wheel injury, sailing injuries. I've broken dozens of bones. Etc etc. Cannabis is the only thing that consistently alleviates the pain. Not saying it's not damaging, it totally is. The inside of your lungs, if smoked for long periods, turns into tar pits. It can cause COPD, among other smoking related issues. However, I do think that legalizing it here in the US opens up the doors for further research and medicinal advancements. So I'm all for that. However, keeping laws around operating a vehicle, heavy machinery, etc should still stand. I think those that dismiss it are closed minded and those that fully embrace it without protection from side effects or long term use issues are also closed minded. There's some sort of healthy medium I'm sure of. Edibles or topicals.

reactordev 1y ago

Absolutely. I'm definitely not advocating for it to just get a pass because it's ancient "medicine". Understanding it's effects on cells is good science. I'm not dismissing that at all. What I am saying is, I've had chronic pain for a long time. Side effect of skateboarding injuries, snowboarding injuries, a one-wheel injury, sailing injuries. I've broken dozens of bones. Etc etc. Cannabis is the only thing that consistently alleviates the pain. Not saying it's not damaging, it totally is. The inside of your lungs, if smoked for long periods, turns into tar pits. It can cause COPD, among other smoking related issues. However, I do think that legalizing it here in the US opens up the doors for further research and medicinal advancements. So I'm all for that. However, keeping laws around operating a vehicle, heavy machinery, etc should still stand. I think those that dismiss it are closed minded and those that fully embrace it without protection from side effects or long term use issues are also closed minded. There's some sort of healthy medium I'm sure of. Edibles or topicals.