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Medical Marijuana / Cannabis

An unrepentant grandmother who cooked cannabis cakes, soups and casseroles for neighbours and friends escaped jail yesterday after a judge told her that he did not want to make her a martyr.

And because its only cannabis. :roll:

Im sure its only a matter of time before its legalised, epecially with the potential 'profits' from taxing it.If alcohol was discovered today would it be illegal?
 
Cannabis may help keep arteries clear

greets

Cannabis may help keep arteries clear

* 16 April 2005
* From New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.

EATING low doses of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, helps prevent arteries clogging up, at least in mice.

THC binds to two receptors in the body. One is found mostly on brain cells and is responsible for the chemical's psychotropic effects. The other receptor is found mostly on immune cells, and THC has been shown to suppress the immune response to infections and cancer.

François Mach at University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland, wondered if this effect might also help prevent the build-up of fatty deposits in arteries, or atherosclerosis, by reducing the inflammation associated with this process. Sure enough, when his team fed 1 milligram of THC per kilogram of bodyweight - a low dose that should not have any psychotropic effects - to mice susceptible to atherosclerosis, it greatly slowed the progress of the disease (Nature, vol 434, p 782).

The results are striking, says Michael Roth of the University of California, Los Angeles, who wrote a commentary for Nature. He stresses that the findings do not prove that smoking cannabis will prevent atherosclerosis, pointing out that the mouse study suggests the effect is dose-dependent and too little or too much THC has no protective effect.

Rather than feeding people THC, Roth says, researchers should try to develop drugs that bind only to the cannabinoid receptor found on immune cells.
From issue 2495 of New Scientist magazine, 16 April 2005, page 19

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624956.000

mal
 
Cannabis: Time to rethink?


Tony Blair's hint that the downgrading of cannabis may be reversed means drugs is firmly back on the political agenda at the start of the new term. In his new book, Griffith Edwards, founder of the National Addiction Centre, offers some radical solutions.
Cannabis, the drug of choice for students and regarded by millions of otherwise law-abiding people as a harmless high, is the subject of renewed debate about its effect.

It was downgraded last year to Class C, the same as steroids. This made most cases of cannabis possession a non-arrestable offence.

But in March, the Home Office ordered a review after fresh research suggested the drug could be more harmful than previously thought.

And on the final day of the election campaign, the prime minister hinted at a U-turn. "We have asked for advice on it," he said. "What we did was perfectly sensible but I think it sent out the wrong message."

A study by New Zealand scientists suggested smoking cannabis virtually doubled the risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Mr Edwards, an expert in alcohol and drug addiction and founder of the National Addiction Centre, says he may have wrongly assessed cannabis himself.

"Thirty or 40 years ago I was writing that cannabis was a drug without harm and dependency but I've had to eat my hat now," he says. "That doesn't mean it's a growing evil but, rather like cigarettes, we need controls in place and a serious message.

"The evidence says there's an increasing risk of schizophrenia and mental ill-health, and there are implications for traffic safety," he says, noting cases where drivers have been using the drug. "That needs to be considered by people making a decision about its classification."

Poor's problem

But next to more harmful drugs like crack cocaine and heroin, the classification of cannabis is a tokenistic argument, he says. These drugs are predominantly a problem for the poor and so tackling poverty should be at the heart of drugs policy.

"If you got rid of deprivation tomorrow you would get rid of the major part of drugs problem. You need to also address the economic deprivation in countries like Colombia, Afghanistan and Thailand as well.

"It's a social responsibility that if you do something about drugs, you do something about deprivation. We've been thinking too much about the individual drug taker but not the conditions that cause it."

More money for education, housing and amenities in poor areas is the answer, he says. But people are afraid of making the connection between drugs and poverty because it's seen as blaming or excusing the poor.

Tobacco offers some proof, he says. Smoking has become a drug of the privileged to a drug for the poor because it's easier to give up if you're middle-class.

Mr Edwards, 76, makes this argument in his new book, Matters of Substance, which he says does not tell people what to think but gives them the "tool-kit" to consider the options. The book looks at drug control in the context of times when drugs like cocaine were legal.

"We've had historical amnesia. Cocaine epidemics in the 1920s across America, Europe, and India caused considerable worry. Cocaine wrecked people and the borderlines between medical and recreational use was crossed."

Legalisation may save police time and stop criminalising people unfairly, but it would also increase supply and consumption, he argues. And society has before turned against cocaine, heroin and amphetamines when they were legal because it saw the damage they caused.

Rhetoric

As well as tackling poverty, Mr Edwards says it is also necessary to do more about alcohol abuse and reduce the penalties for all drugs offences, because they criminalise vulnerable sections of the community.

"Sensible small laws such as drunk-driving and smoking in public places, can work but criminal laws can damage communities."

And the media has a key part to play by presenting information accurately.

"Rhetoric is a dangerous drug in its own right," he says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4528537.stm
 
Marijuana might cause new cell growth in the brain


A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.

In mammals, new nerve cells are constantly being produced in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory, anxiety and depression. Other recreational drugs, such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, have been shown to suppress this new growth. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and colleagues decided to see what effects a synthetic cannabinoid called HU210 had on rats' brains.

They found that giving rats high doses of HU210 twice a day for 10 days increased the rate of nerve cell formation, or neurogenesis, in the hippocampus by about 40%.

Just like Prozac?
A previous study showed that the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) also increases new cell growth, and the results indicated that it was this cell growth that caused Prozac’s anti-anxiety effect. Zhang wondered whether this was also the case for the cannabinoid, and so he tested the rats for behavioural changes.

When the rats who had received the cannabinoid were placed under stress, they showed fewer signs of anxiety and depression than rats who had not had the treatment. When neurogenesis was halted in these rats using X-rays, this effect disappeared, indicating that the new cell growth might be responsible for the behavioural changes.

In another study, Barry Jacobs, a neuroscientist at Princeton University, gave mice the natural cannabinoid found in marijuana, THC (D9-tetrahydrocannabinol)). But he says he detected no neurogenesis, no matter what dose he gave or the length of time he gave it for. He will present his results at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC in November.

Jacobs says it could be that HU210 and THC do not have the same effect on cell growth. It could also be the case that cannabinoids behave differently in different rodent species - which leaves open the question of how they behave in humans.

Zhang says more research is needed before it is clear whether cannabinoids could some day be used to treat depression in humans.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8155
 
Good news...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/pot- ... 35556.html


Pot may help memory, reduce depression: study
October 16, 2005 - 12:00AM

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Canadian researchers have discovered that smoking marijuana could improve a person's memory and mood.

A team at the University of Saskatchewan headed by Xia Zhang found that injections of a potent HU210 synthetic substance that mimics the active ingredients in cannabis increases the production of neurons in the hippocampus area of the brain in rats.

The region is associated with learning and memory, as well as anxiety and depression. Zhang and his colleagues believe that these negative emotions are caused by a lack of cell growth in this region of the brain.

Other recent studies showed growth in brain cells in the hippocampus lessened anxiety and depression.

In contrast, other recreational drugs such as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine and heroin suppress growth of new brain cells.

"The implication is that smoking marijuana is a good thing," Zhang said.

The discovery may eventually lead to the next blockbuster antidepressant drug treatment, he said.

Advertisement
Advertisement"It is possible this might overtake Prozac," he said.

Of course, it has only been proven in rats so far. And HU210 is a purified substance 100 times stronger than the active ingredient
 
Reefer madness

Medical marijuana

Reefer madness

Apr 27th 2006
From The Economist print edition


Marijuana is medically useful, whether politicians like it or not


IF CANNABIS were unknown, and bioprospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough. Scientists would praise its potential for treating everything from pain to cancer, and marvel at its rich pharmacopoeia—many of whose chemicals mimic vital molecules in the human body. In reality, cannabis has been with humanity for thousands of years and is considered by many governments (notably America's) to be a dangerous drug without utility. Any suggestion that the plant might be medically useful is politically controversial, whatever the science says. It is in this context that, on April 20th, America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement saying that smoked marijuana has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

The statement is curious in a number of ways. For one thing, it overlooks a report made in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the National Academy of Sciences, which came to a different conclusion. John Benson, a professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska who co-chaired the committee that drew up the report, found some sound scientific information that supports the medical use of marijuana for certain patients for short periods—even for smoked marijuana.


This is important, because one of the objections to marijuana is that, when burned, its smoke contains many of the harmful things found in tobacco smoke, such as carcinogenic tar, cyanide and carbon monoxide. Yet the IOM report supports what some patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer—and their doctors—have known for a long time. This is that the drug gives them medicinal benefits over and above the medications they are already receiving, and despite the fact that the smoke has risks. That is probably why several studies show that many doctors recommend smoking cannabis to their patients, even though they are unable to prescribe it. Patients then turn to the black market for their supply.

Another reason the FDA statement is odd is that it seems to lack common sense. Cannabis has been used as a medicinal plant for millennia. In fact, the American government actually supplied cannabis as a medicine for some time, before the scheme was shut down in the early 1990s. Today, cannabis is used all over the world, despite its illegality, to relieve pain and anxiety, to aid sleep, and to prevent seizures and muscle spasms. For example, two of its long-advocated benefits are that it suppresses vomiting and enhances appetite—qualities that AIDS patients and those on anti-cancer chemotherapy find useful. So useful, in fact, that the FDA has licensed a drug called Marinol, a synthetic version of one of the active ingredients of marijuana—delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Unfortunately, many users of Marinol complain that it gets them high (which isn't what they actually want) and is not nearly as effective, nor cheap, as the real weed itself.

This may be because Marinol is ingested into the stomach, meaning that it is metabolised before being absorbed. Or it may be because the medicinal benefits of cannabis come from the synergistic effect of the multiplicity of chemicals it contains.



Just what have you been smoking?
THC is the best known active ingredient of cannabis, but by no means the only one. At the last count, marijuana was known to contain nearly 70 different cannabinoids, as THC and its cousins are collectively known. These chemicals activate receptor molecules in the human body, particularly the cannabinoid receptors on the surfaces of some nerve cells in the brain, and stimulate changes in biochemical activity. But the details often remain vague—in particular, the details of which molecules are having which clinical effects.

More clinical research would help. In particular, the breeding of different varieties of cannabis, with different mixtures of cannabinoids, would enable researchers to find out whether one variety works better for, say, multiple sclerosis-related spasticity while another works for AIDS-related nerve pain. However, in the United States, this kind of work has been inhibited by marijuana's illegality and the unwillingness of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to license researchers to grow it for research.

Since 2001, for example, Lyle Craker, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, has been trying to obtain a licence from the DEA to grow cannabis for use in clinical research. After years of prevarication, and pressure on the DEA to make a decision, Dr Craker's application was turned down in 2004. Today, the saga continues and a DEA judge (who presides over a quasi-judicial process within the agency) is hearing an appeal, which could come to a close this summer. Dr Craker says that his situation is like that described in Joseph Heller's novel, “Catch 22”. “We can say that this has no medical benefit because no tests have been done, and then we refuse to let you do any tests. The US has gotten into a bind, it has made cannabis out to be such a villain that people blindly say ‘no’.”

Anjuli Verma, the advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a group helping Dr Craker fight his appeal, says that even if the DEA judge rules in their favour, the agency's chief administrator can still decide whether to allow the application. And, as she points out, the DEA is a political organisation charged with enforcing the drug laws. So, she says, the ACLU is in this for the long haul, and is already prepared for another appeal—one that would be heard in a federal court in the normal judicial system.

Ms Verma's view of the FDA's statement is that other arms of government are putting pressure on the agency to make a public pronouncement that conforms with drug ideology as promulgated by the White House, the DEA and a number of vocal anti-cannabis congressmen. In particular, the federal government has been rattled in recent years by the fact that eleven states have passed laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. In this context it is notable that the FDA's statement emphasises that it is smoked marijuana which has not gone through the process necessary to make it a prescription drug. (Nor would it be likely to, with all of the harmful things in the smoke.) The statement's emphasis on smoked marijuana is important because it leaves the door open for the agency to approve other methods of delivery.



High hopes
Donald Abrams, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, has been working on one such option. He is allowed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (the only legal supplier of cannabis in the United States) to do research on a German nebuliser that heats cannabis to the point of vaporisation, where it releases its cannabinoids without any of the smoke of a spliff, and with fewer carcinogens.

That is encouraging. But it does not address the wider question of which cannabinoids are doing what. For that, researchers need to be able to do their own plant-breeding programmes.

In America, this is impossible. But it is happening in other countries. In 1997, for example, the British government asked Geoffrey Guy, the executive chairman and founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, to come up with a programme to develop cannabis into a pharmaceutical product.

In the intervening years, GW has assembled a “library” of more than 300 varieties of cannabis, and obtained plant-breeder's rights on between 30 and 40 of these. It has found the genes that control cannabinoid production and can specify within strict limits the seven or eight cannabinoids it is most interested in. And it knows how to crossbreed its strains to get the mixtures it wants.

Nor is this knowledge merely academic. Last year, GW gained approval in Canada for the use of its first drug, Sativex, which is an extract of cannabis sprayed under the tongue that is designed for the relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis. Sativex is also available to a more limited degree in Spain and Britain, and is in clinical trials for other uses, such as relieving the pain of rheumatoid arthritis.

At the start of this year, the company made the first step towards gaining regulatory approval for Sativex in America when the FDA accepted it as a legitimate candidate for clinical trials. But there is still a long way to go.

And that delay raises an important point. Once available, a well-formulated and scientifically tested drug should knock a herbal medicine into a cocked hat. No one would argue for chewing willow bark when aspirin is available. But, in the meantime, there is unmet medical need that, as the IOM report pointed out, could easily and cheaply be met—if the American government cared more about suffering and less about posturing.


http://www.economist.com/displaystory.c ... id=6849915
 
Here's a new excuse for when the Old Biil find those grow-lights and hydroponic tanks under your stairs...

Nature

Marijuana skin cream could help allergies
Cannabinoids provide relief for a mouse's itchy skin.
Heidi Ledford

Ouch: the itch from poison ivy can be soothed by skin creams — maybe ones made from cannabis.

The chemicals that give marijuana its mood-altering kick might also be an option for treating skin allergies, according to a study done in mice.

The compounds, called cannabinoids, have been credited with everything from stimulating the growth of new neurons to easing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Although they are best known for spicing up marijuana, the body also produces cannabinoids, which are thought to play a part in learning and in communications between the immune system and the nervous system. Now, researchers have shown that cannabinoids can relieve some of the swollen, itchy agony of allergic skin reactions in mice.

The team first noticed the effect when they created mice that lacked two proteins that usually recognize cannabinoids produced by the body. Some of the mutant mice scratched at the metal identification tags in their ears until the area around the tags became raw and covered with sores. "We thought at first it was just an itching phenotype," says Andreas Zimmer, a neurobiologist at the University of Bonn. "But then we switched to another brand of ear tags and all of a sudden the problem completely disappeared."

The first set of tags, it turned out, contained nickel, whereas the second set was made from non-allergenic brass. Zimmer and his colleagues realized that the mutant mice were allergic to the nickel. Mice that still had their cannabinoid receptors did not react in this way.

The results suggested that cannabinoids produced by the body might help protect the animals against skin allergies. To find out whether the compounds could produce the same effect when applied externally, Zimmer's research team applied a cannabinoid to the skin of mice before and after they were exposed to a chemical (called 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene), which is known to produce an allergic response. Mice that had received the cannabinoid had a diminished allergic response, with about 50% less swelling, than did those that had not received the compound. The results are published this week in Science.1

Swell treatment

No one knows precisely how cannabinoids diminish allergic reactions, but Zimmer and his colleagues did find that the compounds alter the expression of genes that encode small proteins called chemokines. And some chemokines are known to promote inflammation.

Zimmer's mice received their cannabinoid treatment both before and after their encounter with the allergen, so it wouldn't necessarily work after a chance encounter with, for example, poison ivy. The best defence against most contact allergies is simply to avoid contact with the allergens, says Thomas Tüting, a dermatologist at the University of Bonn and a co-author of the study.

But the treatment could be useful for treating patients with chronic dermatitis, says Thomas Klein, an immunologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa. People with this condition have recurrent patches of swollen, itchy, cracked skin, and they don't always know the cause. "It's very uncomfortable and the wounds carry the risk of secondary infections," says Klein. The usual treatment is steroids and immunosuppressants. But long-term use of steroids can cause the skin to thin and patients often become tolerant of the drugs, rendering the medication less effective. An alternative treatment would be a welcome addition, says Klein.

But no therapeutic application is certain until the experiments have been repeated in humans, cautions Roman Rukwied, who studies pain and inflammation at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. "We are far before the day when we could say 'oh, I have a nickel allergy. I will smoke marijuana and I won't have it anymore'," he says. "That is definitely not the case."
 
Medical marijuana does not increase teen drug use
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/short ... ana-d.html
13:54 21 June 2012
Health
Macgregor Campbell, consultant

(Image: David Young-Wolff/Getty Images)

Teens in the US are smoking more pot, but don't blame medical marijuana. A recent survey of risky behaviour in teens indicates that while marijuana use has risen in recent years, the increase is not due to the drug's legalisation for medical purposes.

Marijuana use is currently legal for medicinal purposes in 17 US states, but the federal government still regards the drug as an illegal substance. Federal officials have recently increased efforts to shut down legal marijuana dispensaries deemed to be too close to schools and universities.

A team of three economists led by Daniel Rees of the University of Colorado at Denver analysed data from the US Centers for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Survey to find out whether legalisation of medical marijuana leads to increased drug use in teens.

The survey tracks a number of behaviours, including self-reported marijuana use. Rees and colleagues sifted through data for the years 1993-2009, looking at outcomes such as marijuana use at school, frequent marijuana use, and the use of other substances, including alcohol and cocaine.

The team found that while teen marijuana use has risen since 2005, the increase was not correlated in a statistically significant way with whether or not the state that teens resided in had legalised the drug. "There is anecdotal evidence that medical marijuana is finding its way into the hands of teenagers, but there's no statistical evidence that legalisation increases the probability of use," said Rees in an online statement from the University of Oregon.

A number of recent studies have added support to proponents' claims that cannabis and cannabis-based treatments are safe and effective for conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to multiple sclerosis, but legalising medical marijuana has been a tough sell in US states this year. Ballot initiatives have failed in 11 states so far, and passed in just one. Seven more states are slated to decide what side of the fence they fall on later this year.
 
Ticket To Ride: Pot Sellers Put Seniors On The Canna-Bus
Shirley Avedon, 90, had never been a cannabis user. But carpal tunnel syndrome, which sends shooting pains into both of her hands, and an aversion to conventional steroid and surgical treatments are prompting her to consider some new options.

"It's very painful; sometimes I can't even open my hand," Avedon says.

So for the second time in two months, she has climbed aboard a bus that provides seniors at the Laguna Woods Village retirement community in Orange County, Calif., with a free shuttle to a nearby marijuana dispensary.

The retired manager of an oncology office says she's seeking the same relief she saw cancer patients get from smoking marijuana 25 years ago.

"At that time (marijuana) wasn't legal, so they used to get it off their children," she says with a laugh. "It was fantastic what it did for them."

Avedon doesn't want to get high from anything she uses. So on her first trip, she picked up a topical cream that was sold as a pain reliever. It contained cannabidiol, or CBD, but was formulated without THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient.

"It helped a little," she says. "Now I'm going back for the second time hoping they have something better." ...

FULL STORY: https://www.npr.org/sections/health...canna-bus?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=science
 
Not sure if this is ok as it’s veterinary medicine, but... my greyhound has bone cancer. He’s on painkillers from the vet (tramadol.... ) and someone suggested trying CBD oil. It’s made a HUGE difference to his pain levels and mobility, and he’s happy and full of life fourteen months after diagnosis. This is MASSIVELY unusual, as he’s not had any active cancer treatment, since the prognosis is usually so bad. Our previous greyhound also had bone cancer and lasted 3 months from diagnosis. When Henry was diagnosed they actually told us he probably only had weeks...
 
Not sure if this is ok as it’s veterinary medicine, but... my greyhound has bone cancer. He’s on painkillers from the vet (tramadol.... ) and someone suggested trying CBD oil. It’s made a HUGE difference to his pain levels and mobility, and he’s happy and full of life fourteen months after diagnosis. This is MASSIVELY unusual, as he’s not had any active cancer treatment, since the prognosis is usually so bad. Our previous greyhound also had bone cancer and lasted 3 months from diagnosis. When Henry was diagnosed they actually told us he probably only had weeks...
So sorry to hear that, but glad to hear that the oil is helping.
 
Daily dose of cannabis extract could reverse brain's decline in old age, study suggests

Well it works on mice..

David Nutt, the former government drugs adviser and professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said he was not surprised at the potential for THC to improve memory in old age. “The key question now is does the same apply to humans? Clearly this needs to be tested, but it will not be possible in the UK due to the ridiculous restrictions on cannabis research occasioned by its being a schedule 1 drug.”

Michael Bloomfield, a clinical lecturer in psychiatry at University College London said: “What is particularly exciting about this research is that it opens up a whole new chemical system, the endocannabinoid system, as a potential target for new avenues of research, which could include illnesses like dementia.

“However, we are still in very early days and further research is needed,” he said. THC produces complicated and sometimes apparently opposite effects depending on the dose, the age of the person taking it, and how often the drug is administered, he warned. “This means that the possibility of doctors potentially prescribing cannabis, THC or similar compounds for memory problems in older people is still a long way off,” he added.
 
Evening, it's very interesting to read the views of all of you concerning cananbis. My missus has fibromyalgia and is in constant pain, she read about cananbis tablets to help release the pain/make it manageable. My question for you is what would be the after effects? I have never tried cananbis but know a few people who do. Having read your posts it seems that it does work. Many thanks for reading this and ready to read any replies.
 
Evening, it's very interesting to read the views of all of you concerning cananbis. My missus has fibromyalgia and is in constant pain, she read about cananbis tablets to help release the pain/make it manageable. My question for you is what would be the after effects? I have never tried cananbis but know a few people who do. Having read your posts it seems that it does work. Many thanks for reading this and ready to read any replies.

My understanding is that tablets don't contain THC which is the pyschoactive component in cannabis, so there may be very little in the way of side-effects. The only way would be to try them, see what happens. I don't think she's going to get 'high' on them but the proof of the pudding is in the eating..

I think I'd try them before getting onto prescription painkillers. If they don't work you haven't lost anything.
 
Evening,Hunck and many thanks for your reply. The Missus has painkillers to take but not really effective. One them is going to be on a register as a prohibited drug, so makes me think what's the difference? I'll have a word with her and she is in contact with some people on the fibromyalgia website she goes on, she what advice they give her. Again many thanks.
 
Evening,Hunck and many thanks for your reply. The Missus has painkillers to take but not really effective. One them is going to be on a register as a prohibited drug, so makes me think what's the difference? I'll have a word with her and she is in contact with some people on the fibromyalgia website she goes on, she what advice they give her. Again many thanks.

Sorry to hear your wife is in constant pain - must be horrible. Yes, probably a good idea to look up online to see what others think having used it. There's probably a lot out there if you look. The trouble with painkillers or probably any drug, is that you get used to it & they stop being so effective so you need more.. best of luck.
 
... My missus has fibromyalgia and is in constant pain, she read about cananbis tablets to help release the pain/make it manageable. My question for you is what would be the after effects? I have never tried cananbis but know a few people who do. Having read your posts it seems that it does work. Many thanks for reading this and ready to read any replies.

Unfortunately, there are no easy or conclusive answers at this time.

Pain relief - particularly when dealing with neuropathy as in fibromyalgia - is one of those fuzzy areas in which a given medicine may or may not work at all, or may not work with the same effectiveness across time.

Another problem is that there's no way to cross-compare degrees of 'relief ' across patients. Lowered pain, like pain itself, is a subjective thing that cannot be measured directly.

The primary psychoactive component in marijuana (THC) isn't included in any prescription pills of which I'm aware. My point is that issues of dependency (if you believe in them in the first place) shouldn't be a problem if you stick to mass market mainstream pills.

Other marijuana chemical components have been shown to be relatively effective in isolation, but I'm not aware of any compelling or conclusive results. My point is that 'they' are still working to figure out which, and / or how many, of marijuana's components represent a reliable approach to pain relief.

The biggest problem is that fibromyalgia isn't so much a matter of structural issues causing pain as a matter of when and how the nervous system 'registers' apparent pain. There's still no consensus on what the underlying causes really may be.

Finally, there's no consensus within the medical community whether medical marijuana is or isn't a useful approach to dealing with fibromyalgia. A reasonable overview of the debates and uncertainties can be found in this WebMD article:

https://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/features/fibromyalgia-and-medical-marijuana#1
 
Morning, my missus did buy some cananbis tablets and they did help in the first few days but she doesn't feel that there's that much relief. I said take the course of the tablets and see. The only after effects she gets are some really weird dreams...
 
Did try CBD oil for a few weeks last Summer, as I'm starting to get arthritic knees and really want to have a few more years of playing competitive cricket. I was hugely optimistic, having read the lurid claims and really wanted it to help.
I bought the strongest legally available version from Holland and Barrett.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice any effect (apart from the slightly unpleasant damp cardboard and cut grass taste).
So, FWIW, despite CBD's trendiness and the lurid claims, I am deeply sceptical that it will do anything for joint pain.
 
Here's a type of story we'll probably be seeing more frequently - an adverse health incident blamed on medical marijuana overdosing ...
Marijuana Lollipop May Have Triggered Man's Heart Attack
A marijuana lollipop with a very high dose of the drug's active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may have triggered a man's heart attack, according to a new report of the man's case.

The 70-year-old man decided to try edible marijuana to see if it would reduce the pain from his osteoarthritis and help him sleep. The man had smoked some marijuana in his youth, but had never tried an edible product, according to the report, which was published today (Feb. 11) in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

One night, the man consumed nearly an entire marijuana lollipop, which contained a staggering 90 milligrams of THC, more than 12 times the dose in a typical joint.

Within a half hour, the man experienced "fearful hallucinations," followed by "crushing chest pain," the report said.

The man was taken to the hospital, where doctors determined that he had had a heart attack. The patient had a known history of heart disease, but he was taking several medications for his condition, and had not experienced a heart problem for more than two years. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/64732-marijuana-lollipop-heart-attack.html
 
This study in Ontario illustrates how physicians are still hesitant to prescribe medical cannabis even after it's been legal for 20 years.
Doctors still reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis: McMaster

Main concerns relate to possible ill-effects and a lack of understanding regarding their effectiveness as painkillers

Ontario doctors are still hesitant to prescribe medical cannabis to patients suffering long-term pain 20 years after it was first introduced, says a new study carried out at McMaster University.

Physicians surveyed said their main concerns relate to possible ill-effects and a lack of understanding regarding their effectiveness as painkillers.

Of particular concern among doctors were potentially harmful effects on cognitive development, a possible worsening of existing mental illnesses in patients and the drug's effects in older adults, which may include dizziness or drowsiness.

Meanwhile, the number of Canadians using medical cannabis has soared from just under 24,000 in June 2015 to 377,000 by September 2020. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/mgh-vaf040921.php
 
"Northumbria police questioned Mrs Tabram's image as a cosy ex-chef doing a handful of doddery friends a good turn. A statement said: "The set-up at her home bore all the hallmarks of any sophisticated drug dealer. While it was not proven to whom she intended to supply the cannabis, we believe she is a drug dealer in the traditional sense."

I think this paragraph is important here.

Before I read the article I was ready to cheer on the little old granny who found a quite puff every night before bed helped her arthritis and thought - "go on girl, stick it to the man!"


But the woman in the story doesn't sound like she fits that.
 
Something I learned today, the 20th of April is cannabis day (or marijuana day, or whatever). I know everything gets a commemorative day now, but do the tokers really need a special 24hrs to be reminded to light up?

See here:
Article

Wiki calls it a "Counterculture holiday" - try asking your boss for the day off to smoke hash, kids.
 
It turns the sky pink.

An alien invasion? Season five of Stranger Things? A portal to the timespace continuum?

Residents in the northern Victorian town of Mildura were left pleasantly dumbfounded on Wednesday evening when the night sky was set ablaze with an eerie pink glow.


“It was very bizarre,” said Tammy Szumowski.

“I was on the phone to my mum, and my dad was saying the world was ending.”

But the explanation was far more mundane. Pharmaceutical company Cann Group confirmed the lights were coming from its local medicinal cannabis facility, where the blackout blinds had been left open.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...-australia-medicinal-cannabis-marijuana-plant
 
A little behind the times but worth a read - turns out CBD has been clinically trialled...

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/how-safe-is-cbd/

CBD is simply another pharmacologically interesting chemical. It may turn out to be, in one form or another, a useful drug. There is preliminary evidence that it may be useful in treating anxiety and other mood disorders, and have antiemetic properties. Actually, one form of CBD has been purified, studied, and FDA approved as a prescription drug for certain kinds of epilepsy, Epidiolex. It is a bit strange that a drug is available simultaneously in a prescription and “herbal” form.

A 2019 review found:

"Nearly one-half of CBD users experienced [adverse drug events, ADEs], which displayed a general dose-response relationship. Common ADEs include transaminase elevations, sedation, sleep disturbances, infection, and anemia."
“Transaminase elevations” means effects on the liver while anemia could mean bone marrow suppression. These are concerning side effects because they can indicate organ toxicity. Also, just as with any drug, controlled trials are limited in their ability to detect rarer side effects. These tend to come out only when the drug is in wide use, which is why drugs are monitored after they are on the market. As an example, there is a recent case report of a patient who had a severe cardiac reaction to herbal CBD. She had prolonged QT intervals, which indicates an adverse effect on electrical conduction in the heart. This led to a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. No other cause was found, and the abnormal rhythm resolved when she stopped the CBD supplement.
 
Did try CBD oil for a few weeks last Summer, as I'm starting to get arthritic knees and really want to have a few more years of playing competitive cricket. I was hugely optimistic, having read the lurid claims and really wanted it to help.
I bought the strongest legally available version from Holland and Barrett.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice any effect (apart from the slightly unpleasant damp cardboard and cut grass taste).
So, FWIW, despite CBD's trendiness and the lurid claims, I am deeply sceptical that it will do anything for joint pain.
Although it's a few years too late.......

With CBD oil you need to start with a weaker or weakest strength oil then build up to stronger strengths over time otherwise the body just rejects it.
 
It turns the sky pink.

An alien invasion? Season five of Stranger Things? A portal to the timespace continuum?

Residents in the northern Victorian town of Mildura were left pleasantly dumbfounded on Wednesday evening when the night sky was set ablaze with an eerie pink glow.


“It was very bizarre,” said Tammy Szumowski.

“I was on the phone to my mum, and my dad was saying the world was ending.”

But the explanation was far more mundane. Pharmaceutical company Cann Group confirmed the lights were coming from its local medicinal cannabis facility, where the blackout blinds had been left open.

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...-australia-medicinal-cannabis-marijuana-plant
I see similar most nights.
35660B75-9628-4D43-B477-C5322D658670.jpeg
538448EA-D4DB-4182-A474-12C534762E0F.jpeg
 
Evening, it's very interesting to read the views of all of you concerning cananbis. My missus has fibromyalgia and is in constant pain, she read about cananbis tablets to help release the pain/make it manageable. My question for you is what would be the after effects? I have never tried cananbis but know a few people who do. Having read your posts it seems that it does work. Many thanks for reading this and ready to read any replies.

If the pills are cannabis, side effects could include anxiety and depression, important to start very low until you know the dose that works for you, tolerance builds quickly and she'd have to do what's called a T Break or Tolerance Break every so often where you don't use for weeks or months to lower your tolerance level. Taking too high of a dosage could exacerbate the depression/anxiety side effects. It would be the same with the "Deltas" that is THC derived from hemp, available in Delta 8, Delta 9 and Delta 10. The deltas are a close but much less potent form of the THC found in cannabis.

There's also CBD, which is not narcotic or psychoactive but many people report pain relief from it. There are several strains, from CBD to CBG to CBN.

CBD and Hemp derived THC are legal in the US, but I don't know what's legal in the UK or elsewhere.
 
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