What are your opinions on using medicinal marijuana?

Well they argue the fact that people start abusing it eventually. And that its more likely for kids to get a hold too. It can be addictice and increase the number of drug dealers, driving accidents and stuff.

Maybe they can put it in a safe. But I can see where it could become addicting. But all pain medicine at that level is addicting.

I think the it should be made legal for scientists to make verification studies as to whether the substance is beneficial for patients who have certain diseases. For example, whether it is beneficial for late stadium cancer patients. Just the same procedure that any new medication usually goes through. Or any old medication that is to be used for new purposes.

And if these studies are positive, then, and only then, I think that using it for medical reasons - for example as a pain medication for cancer patients - should be made legal. But people should of course get it on prescription only. Just like morphines or other addictive substances.

And there should be controlled, supervised ways of production and circulation as is with all other medication - to make sure that patients get only clean quality substance, and that it doesn’t get to people who do not have a prescription.

is it available as a medicine ?

I don’t see the problem.

There is little doubt that it confers benefit in a limited number of pain-related and perhaps in a small number of psychiatric conditions, and that a large number of people believe it helps them in whatever they consider to ail them. The difficulty is that belief and hope give it a strong placebo effect, from simple anecdotes of individual benefit to whole communities believing it has special powers as a magic or spiritual potion. Clinically-controlled studies are rather thin on the ground and somewhat variable in their support, and the costs of these mean we are unlikely to get a more reliable picture soon, especially given the number of studies that would be necessary to answer the question in respect of every cited application. As the main effect is mood-enhancement, it can be difficult to distinguish between this effect and the effect in question. Dosage is also uncertain, and an effective dose may vary both by individual and by the individual’s dosing history. It is also unclear what would constitute a course of treatment, as the individual response may vary widely. Most importantly, and as with all medicines, side-effects vary by dosage and by genetic factors in each individual. The quantity of active ingredient in different plant strains means that standardisation of dosage is hard to achieve - and the content of active per gram of plant may vary quite widely between plants of the same strain. Sensitivity to side-effects also varies by individual, as with alcohol - some individuals may become addicted relatively quickly and some not at all. Different strains have different side-effect profiles - for instance some can induce feelings of paranoia quite quickly while others may not. Other side-effects are clued by the many slang terms you may have heard. The teenage brain seems particularly sensitive to a variety of negative psychiatric effects - its use in this group would be harder to justify because a higher proportion of teenage users would be likely to have problems that are less common in adults. Another gap in our knowledge is a clear picture of the effects of long-term exposure in different patient groups, but I’d guess that someone somewhere is monitoring for patterns in at least a general population of takers. That’s just a quick summary of things that come to mind, but I’m sure you can begin to see why the issue has generated so much heat! If you want a good metaphor for this type of situation, check out the story of the blind men and the elephant. The topic you raise is a very large elephant indeed, and there is no shortage of opinion…

Depends which country (or state) you’re in, but I recall that one company had developed a sub-lingual (under the tongue) version which at least offered a consistent dose. They were also conducting clinical studies, but I didn’t hear how they came out.

Seems to me it should be available. It is helpful combating the extreme nausea that chemotherapy and AIDS patients experience. Keeping weight on and being able to eat can mean the difference between life and death. A majority of clinical oncologists feel medicinal marijuana should be available by prescription.

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