legalized marijuana

flo · August 16, 2007, 07:07:19 AM

want some feed-back on this since I know there are cancer survivors on here and others that have lost loved ones to cancer. What is your opinion on legalizing this drug and have you used it, FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES. When Lewis was so ill and had absolutely no appetite, we were told by some friends that marijuana would help him. We asked the oncologist about it and he said research was being done and he could give us a prescription for it, but that no pharmacist would fill it. There were members of our family that knew known users and they acquired some for Lewis and he did try it, it a pipe, cause he was too weak to roll it and I didn't know how. In his case it did nothing, matter of fact he was too weak to keep it lit and wondered at the time what so many seen in it. There is a lot of talk on the TV right now and just wondered what other people's opinions are on the subject.

Wilma · August 16, 2007, 08:07:05 AM

If there is any merit to this claim, why hasn't it been developed by the drug companies into controlled medicines? If there were something available by prescription that would work on pain without side effects and not addictive, I would be the first to support it. As it is I take a prescription addictive pain medication. I am careful about taking it and my doctor says at the rate I am going I will never be addicted. But there is still that possibility. I don't think I will become addicted to the medication as quickly as I could become addicted to being without pain for several hours. Just the thought of being able to move without pain makes me want to go take one right now. I will wait until this afternoon so that I can have that feeling better time up to bedtime.

flo · August 16, 2007, 08:31:38 AM

my understanding is, and correct me if I'm hearing it wrong, that marijuana is to be used as an appetite enhancer, not a pain killer. I don't ever think I've seen an over-weight drug user, come to think of it. Of course guess there is no way of knowing who uses marijuana and who doesn't unless it's by personal knowledge. Just wondering if anyone has used it for an appetite enhancer for medical reasons and if it worked. As I stated it did not in Lewis' case. It is legalized in several states, according to news reports and now they are trying to legalize it in Kansas. If it does have merit, how will they control it's use on the streets?

Wilma · August 16, 2007, 09:07:05 AM

While Jim was on chemo, he had no appetite at all. Things went so fast from there that we didn't have time to try anything. I thought that when he finished the chemo that his appetite would come back. He didn't finish the chemo.

frawin · August 16, 2007, 09:24:39 AM

Florene, I have read articles and had others claim that marijuana reduces the nausea for Chemo patients, if that is the case then I think it should be available by prescription just as any other narcotic or drug that is helpful. It seems to me that it would be controlled much the same as other pain killers, if you have it in your possession then you have to have it in the container that shows it was prescribed to the person that has it in possession. I watched my brother suffer with chemo and if I had known then that Marijuana might haqve helped I would have found some place to buy it.
Frank

flo · August 16, 2007, 01:31:26 PM

I have heard many people say that marijuana is not habit forming. Whether it is or not, I don't know. Have no personal experience in that field

but do know that a lot of pain killers are very addictive so if that is true, then marijuana would be the pain killer of choice I would think. Don't they now have some sort of pill that they give chemo patients that helps with the nausea? Lewis, as I have stated before, was not a candidate for any kind of treatment so have no experience in that field either.

Wilma · August 16, 2007, 02:14:27 PM

Yes, there were some pills that were to be taken while on chemo. Jim didn't seem to have much nausea, just no appetite and no desire for much of anything. He didn't even lose much hair. What did happen was that the chemo shut down his kidneys. Because of this and some other problems caused by the chemo, the girls and I decided to stop the chemo. The dialysis only helped for a little while. Old melanoma got him.

Diane Amberg · August 16, 2007, 02:45:51 PM

Compazine is sometimes given for nausea associated with chemo.

Wilma · August 16, 2007, 03:11:15 PM

Personally, I would like to see all personality altering substances abolished for good. And that includes my late father-in-law's one time profession. But then without illegal substances to sell what would the criminals turn to for income and recreation. More rape and murder?

From personal experience with people that smoked marijuana, it is a personality altering substance. It might not alter the personality to a more disagreeable or dangerous place as some other drugs can but it does happen. And as far as being addictive, even this Forum is addictive, but then the Forum isn't illegal. Maybe it does have some medicinal value, but there surely are legal medications that can do the same thing. If marijuana is such a great thing for doing what some people claim, why haven't the drug companies jumped on it?

Diane Amberg · August 16, 2007, 03:44:22 PM

I was going to stay out of the marijuana topic, but maybe I can answer a few questions. Marijuana is a very complicated thing, medically speaking. In many people it does stimulate appetite, in some it does help nausea. It absolutely does help lower intraocular pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients. Because it has not been regulated, street "weed" is very inconsistent in it's strength. What could be helpful in one person could be an overdose in another. It is commonly not pure, and can be contaminated by bacteria, heavy metals and other bad stuff. Doctors insist they can perscribe other legal drugs that can do all the things marijuana can do. It can cause lung cancer just like tobacco can. Marijuana is not physically addicting like heroin. The psychoactive ingredient, THC, can be a mild painkiller, and causes euphoria, but commonly causes short term memory loss and can cause squamous cell carcinomas. On the street it is called a "gateway drug", because it can keep very bad company. Often, young people are introduced to marijuana first and then led down the path to more dangerous and seductive drugs. If a person is suffering from cancer effects, anguishing family members want to try anything that might improve quality of life. Who cares if the person becomes addicted to a painkiller? Research goes on, but at this point I doubt it will become legal in most states, wth the possible exception of glaucoma patients.