Medical Marijuana
KosAbility
KosAbility is a Sunday 7 pm eastkost/4 pm leftkost volunteer diarist community of, by & for people living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues. Our use of "disability" includes temporary as well as permanent health/medical conditions, and small, gnawing problems as well as major, life-threatening ones. Our use of "love someone" extends to cherished members of other species.
Our discussions are open threads in the context of this community. Feel free to comment on the diary topic, ask questions of the diarist or generally to everyone, share something you've learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about your situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered. If you are interested in contributing a diary, contact series coordinator postmodernista. |
As promised, this is a combination or "joint" diary including KosAbility and Kitchen Table Kibitzing. Here's hoping our two groups can interact in the most mellow way possible.
Way back in September mettle fatigue asked me to do a diary on medical marijuana, because I had reported on last year's local marijuana event, the Emerald Cup. This event celebrates all aspects of the culture, including medical uses. It is held in our local fairgrounds, in the same venue where the county fair is held. Consumption of pot is restricted to those who hold a valid medical marijuana card, which I do not have, so I will not be attending, though some local Kossacks will be there.
But another reason for the invitation from mettle fatigue is the story I've told here before concerning my early experience with the healing aspects of marijuana. Back in my 30s I was diagnosed with cancer which required surgery and a course of radiation directed at my torso. It was all successful but the sickness and nausea I was experiencing was devastating. Though I had smoked pot prior to this, I abstained during the treatment because I knew that the effects were to enhance feelings and appetites of all kinds and I knew for sure that I did not want enhanced nausea.
My doctor was young and hip; I had bonded with him more than doctor-patient. He said to me "I can't tell you this, but you should smoke some marijuana". In those days there were "droughts" from time to time and it was hard to get just then, but I prevailed and succeeded. Relief from the nausea was complete and almost instantaneous. Anecdotal evidence and shared personal experiences since that time have corroborated my welcome relief from nausea, and to this day it eases even moderate ill feelings in the gastric area.
I researched the data on the use of marijuana in the treatment of glaucoma and there were too many differences of opinion as to its effectiveness to make a definitive statement one way or the other. Some of this might be due to the efficacy of newer medicines; many respondents, however, swore that it had saved their vision early on.
Everyone has heard about "the munchies" after consuming marijuana. There are jokes about Cheetos and M&Ms, not to mention pizza. Well, it's a real thing; my preference is peanut butter and jelly without the bread. But as it turns out, that effect is medically useful.
Appetite Stimulation
From the article:
One of the symptoms of serious illnesses is lack of appetite. Often caused by other symptoms such as chronic pain or nauses, a lack of appetite can lead to weight loss and malnutrition, blocking a patient's ability to heal. There are not many medications available that stimulate appetite effectively and without serious side effects, but cannabis, through the action of its special cannabinoids, can help.
Now there's a lot of information out there on marijuana. A straight google search yielded over 109 million results. A tag search on Daily Kos itself yielded over 100 results for the last few years, many on this exact subject, and definitely worth reading.
Tag search results.
The top story on Google is about one good item in the generally horrible spending bill just passed:
Congress Passes Historic Medical Marijuana Protections In Spending Bill
Congress dealt a historic blow to the United States' decades-long war on drugs Saturday with the passage of the federal spending bill, which contains protections for medical marijuana and industrial hemp operations in states where they are legal.
The spending bill includes an amendment that prohibits the Department of Justice from using funds to go after state-legal medical cannabis programs. If the bill is signed into law, it will bring the federal government one step closer to ending raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, as well as stopping arrests of individuals involved with pot businesses that are complying with state law.
With such a plethora of information out there, how can one give attention to details? Well, here's one solution. On a recent Connect!Unite!Act! diary Paradise50 covered many aspects of current medical marijuana procedures and practices. Since he has a medical marijuana card he knows far more than I do plus he is an excellent writer so I recommend you read
his Green Medicine diary.
In this diary he covers methods of ingestion. In the old days one simply rolled a joint. Water pipes make for a smoother smoke, and the newest system is vaporizing which eliminates the smoke per se. As an ex-cigarette smoker I rather enjoy the hacking and coughing which accompanies the former, for nostalgia reasons.
The other method is ingesting it via tinctures, candy, brownies, etc. Smileycreek covered the candy method thoroughly in this diary.
A few more links:
The pharmacologic and clinical effects of medical cannabis.
Cannabinoids in the treatment of pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis.
If you decide to try marijuana and you can get it legally (and if not, ask your kids), here's evidence that you are not alone.
Illicit Drugs: Half of America Belongs in Prison
According to research by The Drug Policy Alliance, half of Americans have been in possession of illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime.
Of those approximately 150 million, l percent, or 1.6% are sent to prison, state or federal, for drug offenses. Five million of our fellow citizens, or nearly 4% , are under criminal justice supervision for drug convictions.
Half of these are for marijuana possession according to the ACLU. America, over 45% of of us are just damned lucky not to have been caught.
It appears this was announced on Thursday, December 11, 2014. Daily News
Native Americans are allowed to sell, grow marijuana, DOJ says
Oregon U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said that the Justice Department policy addresses questions raised by tribes about how legalization of pot in states like Oregon, Washington, and Colorado would apply to Indian lands."That's been the primary message tribes...
Native American tribes are allowed to grow and sell marijuana on their lands as long as they follow the same laws laid out for states that have legalized the drug, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
If the reader is a KosAbility regular, I hope this information has been of value. If you are a regular Kitchen Table denizen, then pull up the usual kitchen chair and perhaps share some knowledge or experiences. I remember what they said when I was in the Navy long ago. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em".
|
|
|
|
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
|
|