Cannibis for self medicating Re: (unknown)

[Guest guest]

I think those are all good questions. And I suspect there are neuroscientists,

as well as some folks among us, who know about the neurological issues. I

don't.About the self-medicating with street pot vs legal medical use of

cannibis, I think we do need to recommend folks not use the street level drugs for a

variety of reasons. One is simply that, in its current model, it supports a

rather seemy and dangerous black market where many, many people are used and

abused. Second, however, is that one can never know what might be added to pot

to increase the " kick. " Cannibis may not be too severe

psychologically, but if some street weed is spiked with some angel dust, it'll

be different story.So, that would bring us back to Joanne's

experience with the medical cannibis or the program in the video from Pedro of the

folks in California. Those may be a heck-of-a-lot safer for both the patients

using it and the folks who otherwise would be stuck in the tangle of the

drug-dealing underworld.Finally, if someone grows their own weed and

knows it's clean, the debate would take a different angle. But I won't go there

today.Wow, this discussion has gotten a lot more interesting than I

thought it would after Pedro's first question...TimOn Fri, December 5, 2008 11:19 am EST,

Bleiweiss wrote:

Folks,

Question: There are some people with certain mental health issues who we all

know " self medicate " with things like pot and alcohol. The research seems

to be pretty clear that drinking actually does damage axons and synaptic connections

as well as reduces the levels of certain good brain hormones. So it is always a good

idea for folks with depression both uni and bi-polar and many other problems like

Anxiety to abstain from drinking so their brains can actually heal and re-establish

and grow new connections and things. Also that drinking for such patient frequently

can lead to a following depression days later.

Meanwhile docs frequently write Rx's for benzos and the like so these types of

patients can calm down and reduce certain secondary symptoms of the problem. My

question is are the benzos and other " legal " drugs that much safer than

alcohol in terms of brain chemistry and structure? Also where does pot fit in here?

Is there any good evidence that pot does or does not do such or similar harm? Where

I'm going is that I'm sure we all know a few patients like this that use a few hits

of joint to soothe or calm themselves (anxiety or to self treat the bad part of

Mania) and that they probably prefer their pot to the legal Rx meds. Might this be

another legitmate use for Medical Pot or does it do more harm than good? Or is the

jury still out on this one? It just seems that everything I read on this issue seems

to say that patients should avoid all street drugs including Pot, and I'm just

wondering is this only because it is still illegal and controversal or is

there good evidence like for alcohol for recommending that they stay away for it?

Thanks much...

From: joanne holland To:

Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2008 8:03:33 PMSubject: Re:

(unknown)

Funny you should mention that, Pedro. Just a couple of days

ago I was told some history about the process of making cannibis

illegal, during the period of time that alcohol become legal again. Some

historian clamed that they selected cannibis as the new illegal drug

because they didn't want to fire drug enforcement employees and it was

primarily used by the non-caucasian groups..the comment was that

" only Negro Jazz singers were using it. " Apparently

professionals called it Cannibis, but when it became illegal the feds

decided to use the name the Mexicans used for it, marijuana, because

they felt that would help garner support as it sounded foreign.

I find that as the stuff becomes more like a medication, I get

more formal about my approach to it. I call it by the scientific name. I usually don't make a lot of jokes about it. My medical cannibis

patients say they don't share their medication.. .if they are with

another person with a card, each will use their own medicine separately,

rather than the " pass it on " behavior that you see with

recreational use. This drug is in transition.. .I think 14 states have

laws allowing medical use of Cannibis. I suppose we can just choose to not know about it now, but sooner or later there will be more good

information.

Watching my attitude and behavior change about this is an

interesting study in " medicalizing " attitudes. The unexamined

life is not worth living. And, no, I never use it myself.

Joanne Holland DVM/MD

From:

Pedro Ballester Subject: Re: [Practiceimprovemen t1] (unknown)To: Practiceimprovement 1yahoogroups (DOT) comDate: Thursday,

December 4, 2008, 3:44 PM

Sometime ago, some historian made a comment on a History Channel

documentary to the effect that the prejudice against MJ was based on

discrimination/ prejudice against Mexicans. Whereas the Caucasians

abused ETOH, the darker skinned Americans used " weed " . When I was an Anesthesia resident, many CRNAs

" relaxed " at home with THC, they were competent and

motivated.The movie " Humboldt County " gave a

different perspective on MJ and Medicine, it should be available in DVD,

I watched it on the HDNET movie channel. Penn Gillette had one episode

of the Showtime series on medical MJ:http://www.youtube.

com/watch? v=gbI6HbOSTgEhttp://www.youtube.

com/watch? v=leg3_gcE3p8Maybe reason and logic will

allow the Scientific analysis...-- Pedro Ballester, M.D.Warren, OH

---------------------------------------- Malia, MDMalia

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