The other highly surprising thing I learnt at the recent SSDP UK conference was just how amazingly effective cannabis is as a medicine. Obviously, I knew that marijuana was available as ‘medicine’ in some countries and US states. But I largely thought the quotation marks were serving a purpose. While I had no doubt that it was a good psychic remedy. If it was at all genuinely medicinal, I had the vague idea that it’s main benefits were largely secondary, a palliative that helps managed pain and nausea. In fact, medical marijuana does a lot more than that. A hell of a lot more. To give you some idea take a look at this list of over a hundred treatable conditions. And it really is treatment, not just management of pain and other side effects. It may even cure cancer.
The point was brought forcefully home to me at the conference by two patient/activists, Clark French and Greg de Hoedt, who hosted a panel on their own experiences. Clark French has multiple sclerosis and has at times been confined to a wheelchair by his condition. Taking regular medications certainly helped his condition but often with numerous unpleasant side effects, which then required more drugs with more side effects. Before trying medical marijuana he was on a cocktail of 11 different medications and he was still sick. Then he discovered that marijuana helped with every single symptom. Since then he has visited California to talk to medical marijuana professionals and discover which strains would work best for him. His MS is still there but it is much more under control and as a result of using marijuana he has cut down to just one other medication.
Click here to continue reading
No comments:
Post a Comment