New study: Marijuana useful for treating pain

[dlorde]

I don't believe there is evidence to back this up. I have searched pretty thoroughly and to my knowledge, there have been no credible studies looking at the effect of cannabis on driving ability.

If you know of something along these lines, please pass it along.

I remember reading a Northern European study (Scandinavian?) some years ago with students on a driving simulator, comparing the effects of cannabis and alcohol. The results showed that while both negatively affected reaction times, alcohol tended to cause faster, overconfident driving, cannabis tended to result in slower, more cautious driving. This made the cannabis risk factor almost equal to normal under undemanding driving conditions, and the alcohol risk factor considerably higher. However, in demanding conditions, both resulted in impaired decision making. I would guess that performance in an emergency would be poor with both cannabis and alcohol, but I don't think they tested that.

Sorry I don't have a link, but I read it online, so it ought to be out there somewhere...

 

[Thunder]

i support medical marijuana for untreatable pain and life-threatening diseases.

 

[sadhatter]

i support medical marijuana for untreatable pain and life-threatening diseases.

In an area of the world where alcohol* , cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, salvia, chewing tobacco , caffiene pills*, energy drinks*, asprin * , and Viagra* are all generally legal. Why does, of all things, pot get designated as only for untreatable pain and life threatening diseases?

(* indicates a substance that can kill or cause serious harm from an overdose. And that an overdose of said product is not beyond the realm of possibility for someone to consume. )

Everything has it's disadvantages, i like energy drinks, but if i have too many i could die, and if i have slightly too many i am rather irritable. In addition to the sugar content which is generally fairly high.

I like cigars , but the effects on my lungs cannot be good.

I like alchohol, but if i drink too much i could die, and if i drink in the wrong situation, i could get hurt in any weird number of ways. And due to lessened ability to reason i am more likely to get in a dangerous situation.

And i like pot, if i do something requiring concentration i may not be able to preform well. But to be honest i have never felt the need to get behind the wheel, or fire off a gun, or anything while stoned. And (anecdotal evidence alert) to be honest i am more scared of dangerous things while stoned.

So i just have to wonder when it can be compared to any other vice in terms of bad effect ( and an argument can be made that it is slightly better than some) , why only medical use? I am not saying sell it to kids, there are 100% rules needed. But only medical use seems a bit extreme.

 

[NewtonTrino]

i support medical marijuana for untreatable pain and life-threatening diseases.

Any reason you don't support it for things like insomnia (which is what my gf uses it for) or stress relief?

 

[geni]

That is essentially the answer that MADD gave when the group I was assisting took them to task for their stance that driving while high was the same as driving while drunk. After finally admitting that there was no evidence to back up their position, they said their stance on the issue was based on "common sense."

There loads of evidence. For example

Relationship between THC concentration in blood and impairment in apprehended drivers.

Khiabani HZ, Bramness JG, Bjørneboe A, Mørland J.

CONCLUSION: The relationship between the concentration of THC in blood and risk of being assessed impaired found in this cross-sectional study of suspected drugged drivers, supports findings from previous experimental studies of concentration related effects of THC on psychomotor performance and driving skills.

It's a known isssue and there are a whole bunch of studies into it.

 

[geni]

This study appears to confirm real benefits to medical marijuana. Is there a logical reason for not allowing it to be prescribed and dispensed?

Depends how it performs against other drugs. For example there are real benefits to medical Heroin. Doesn't mean it is lightly prescribed.

 

[geni]

Any reason you don't support it for things like insomnia (which is what my gf uses it for) or stress relief?

There are a wide range of sleeping pills on the market and medicalising stress relief may not be that desirable.

 

[geni]

So i just have to wonder when it can be compared to any other vice in terms of bad effect ( and an argument can be made that it is slightly better than some) , why only medical use? I am not saying sell it to kids, there are 100% rules needed. But only medical use seems a bit extreme.

Because the legalise Cannabis mob think that they have a better chance of getting a medical exemption through than anything else.

At least it's more logical than the hemp promotion since modernen industrial hemp contains very low amounts of THC.

 

[NewtonTrino]

There are a wide range of sleeping pills on the market and medicalising stress relief may not be that desirable.

So no reason to restrict peoples choice then right?

I guess what I'm really asking for is a good reason that it isn't just completely legal. It's not exactly hard to get anyway so the prohibition has generally failed.

 

[NewtonTrino]

Because the legalise Cannabis mob think that they have a better chance of getting a medical exemption through than anything else.

At least it's more logical than the hemp promotion since modernen industrial hemp contains very low amounts of THC.

Obviously you are biased for some reason. Care to share?

 

[sadhatter]

There are a wide range of sleeping pills on the market and medicalising stress relief may not be that desirable.

You can overdose on sleeping pills, one cannot overdose on weed.

It is not a hands down better alternative, but it is safer than sleeping pills in this sense.

And as well, stress relief is "medicalised" already in the form of many different medications for just that issue. And if one wants to take that a step further , alcohol and tobbacco are over the counter stress relief, as well as any number of stress relief pills of a naturalistic nature that one can find at any pharmacy.

Finally, your statement seems very self contradictory. You say on one had you can buy sleeping pills, but then flip and say that medicines designed to combat stress are bad. So do you dislike sleeping pills as well, it is the same basic thing, except instead of stress your "medicalising" sleep. And if you dislike them, why would you state them as an example of a preferable alternative?

No offense intended, but an honest assessment of your posts by me, is that they reek of knee jerk reactions that are intended for the " hey man" school of pot smokers. And maybe they fly with said group , who is not known for their skill in debate, nor their ability to reason. But the majority of people who smoke it are perfectly functional , normal people. And your going to have to do better than vague statements such as " medicalising stress relief may not be that desirable" to win us over.

 

[geni]

So no reason to restrict peoples choice then right?

Not a valid argument in the field of medicine. Mustard gas is known to have anti-cancer properties (and a number of drugs were developed from this). You don't have the choice to get it on prescription.

 

[sadhatter]

Obviously you are biased for some reason. Care to share?

My guess is it is the same type of bias i have to endure when i inform someone i smoke. Some intelligent people equate weed with hippies, hippies with woo, so by association any weed smoker is a burn out hippie.

The problem is that the people who scream about smoking weed ( we all know the guy i am talking about. The guy in the weed bandana wearing the trailer park boys shirt, with a pot leaf tattoo and a joint behind his ear.) are the stupid people, so unfortunately when pot gets mentioned , or legalization comes up, the protests, the videos and the interviews are given to these idiots.

While the people like myself sit back and not draw heat. And realize that if it becomes legal, protests that tend to give the next city a contact high are not going to be the cause.

 

[NewtonTrino]

Not a valid argument in the field of medicine. Mustard gas is known to have anti-cancer properties (and a number of drugs were developed from this). You don't have the choice to get it on prescription.

It's not a medical argument, it's a freedom argument. I can understand people thinking medical MJ is a bad idea (although I don't). I can't understand people that want to restrict people from making their own decision about using MJ though.

 

[sadhatter]

Not a valid argument in the field of medicine. Mustard gas is known to have anti-cancer properties (and a number of drugs were developed from this). You don't have the choice to get it on prescription.

Your right, things with horrible side effects, such as dying are not a preferable alternative to things that don't. And medical laws try and help enforce this fact.

Most of the time.

 

[NewtonTrino]

My guess is it is the same type of bias i have to endure when i inform someone i smoke. Some intelligent people equate weed with hippies, hippies with woo, so by association any weed smoker is a burn out hippie.

The problem is that the people who scream about smoking weed ( we all know the guy i am talking about. The guy in the weed bandana wearing the trailer park boys shirt, with a pot leaf tattoo and a joint behind his ear.) are the stupid people, so unfortunately when pot gets mentioned , or legalization comes up, the protests, the videos and the interviews are given to these idiots.

While the people like myself sit back and not draw heat. And realize that if it becomes legal, protests that tend to give the next city a contact high are not going to be the cause.

If it quacks like a duck...

 

[geni]

Obviously you are biased for some reason. Care to share?

Well yes I admit a pro legalisation bais. I find some of the attempts at legalisation by the back door to be problematical.

The industial hemp approach for example results in people running around overstateing the advantages of hemp as a crop. This kind of misinformation spreading to be a worring mirror of the tactics used by the anti recreational drugs loby. It's particularly irritating in the UK where industrial hemp can and is legaly grown (although france grows far more).

The medical one though is has the potential to have far more serious consequences. It encorages people to spread false information about medical benifits (which unquestionably exist. arsenic has medical benifits) which risks in people abandoning more effective treatment.

The medical one is also mildly insulting. Are you seriosly suggesting that we can't isolate the active ingredients and thus provide far better dosage control?

So argue for the legalisation of recreational cannabis (heh even the victorians mostly viewed it as harmless) but please do so dirrectly.

 

[NewtonTrino]

Well yes I admit a pro legalisation bais. I find some of the attempts at legalisation by the back door to be problematical.

The industial hemp approach for example results in people running around overstateing the advantages of hemp as a crop. This kind of misinformation spreading to be a worring mirror of the tactics used by the anti recreational drugs loby. It's particularly irritating in the UK where industrial hemp can and is legaly grown (although france grows far more).

The medical one though is has the potential to have far more serious consequences. It encorages people to spread false information about medical benifits (which unquestionably exist. arsenic has medical benifits) which risks in people abandoning more effective treatment.

The medical one is also mildly insulting. Are you seriosly suggesting that we can't isolate the active ingredients and thus provide far better dosage control?

So argue for the legalisation of recreational cannabis (heh even the victorians mostly viewed it as harmless) but please do so dirrectly.

We disagree less than you think. And I'm pro legalization through the front door.

I do think there are significant medical benefits though. And no, I don't think a pill would have the same benefits as smoking/vaping does.

 

[geni]

We disagree less than you think. And I'm pro legalization through the front door.

I do think there are significant medical benefits though. And no, I don't think a pill would have the same benefits as smoking/vaping does.

Probably would. The reason I suspect that people are likely to report worse results is the greater degree of control over dose timing with the various inhalation methods.

 

[NewtonTrino]

Probably would. The reason I suspect that people are likely to report worse results is the greater degree of control over dose timing with the various inhalation methods.

I have no idea why but the ingested high and the smoked high (and the vape high) are all different. If someone could make you a pill that work make you "smoking high" I would be impressed.