mmmm I have neurpathic pain in my feet (the nerves have been cut) as well as chronic pain for other reasons (I have crohn's - which often leads to painful joints which I have - as well as arthritis) - I've tried various strong painkillers from the dr but they either leave me unable to function enough to go to work or have horrendous side effects (gapapentin springs immediately to mind)

I have also been to Amsterdam many times (that is all I will say in public!)

However, how does your friend propose to function enough to do her job or everyday chores etc if she's stoned?

 

mmmm I have neurpathic pain in my feet (the nerves have been cut) as well as chronic pain for other reasons (I have crohn's - which often leads to painful joints which I have - as well as arthritis) - I've tried various strong painkillers from the dr but they either leave me unable to function enough to go to work or have horrendous side effects (gapapentin springs immediately to mind)

I have also been to Amsterdam many times (that is all I will say in public!)

However, how does your friend propose to function enough to do her job or everyday chores etc if she's stoned?

Well that's a good question.

But saying that she is unable to work at the moment due to her pain getting progressively worse. The hospital won't consider nerve blocking injections etc.

 

I'm sure I read someone on here saying a form of it was available on the NHS - was it to vaporise or something similar? I think it might have been @mrs phas who mentioned it - apologises to her if I've got that wrong.

Personally if I were in chronic pain that affected my ability to function and enjoy life then I would do whatever I could to relieve it. I would start out by looking at something like a total elimination diet and seeking the help of a more open minded doctor but certainly wouldn't rule out using cannabis (although unfortunately I found it rather hallucinatory resulting in rather inappropriate behaviour ) I would be concerned about getting a long term supply and involving friends and family in that with any possible repercussions for them though.

 

At the end of the day, to me, it's what works. If she's in such pain that she can't function normally & Cannabis relieves that pain then I don't see an issue. I'd swap "feeling a little stoned" for agonising pain in a heartbeat....

 

I used to smoke a small amount everyday and it never once affected my ability to perform in the working environment. I was never happier either.

My advice, don't grow your own but if you must, don't get caught.

 

Students seem to smoke it and manage uni ok .

Personally, if a person is in so much pain they can't function properly anyway then I don't see the harm in using cannabis. By the sounds of it your friend was happier when she was smoking it.

My mum has arthritis, and on particularly bad day all she can do is sit down, I often see her trying to fight back tears, and she is very slow walking with even the aid of a walker. At night she wakes herself shouting out in pain just rolling over. If there was a way to lessen it I'm sure she'd try anything

 

I'm all for whatever works, but having recent witnessed a young lad having psychotic episodes bought on by cannabis and will probably have them for the rest of his life, I'd be very careful and have a second person assess your mental state while using it and shortly after it has worn off

 

How young was he Rona and how long had he been smoking it for? I saw a programme quite a while ago now and its been found to cause most problems in pre adolescent and young people
because their brains are still developing and maturing for it can affect them differently and cause various harm.
Having said that I also saw a programme on anti depressants I think one in particular called seroxat which was licenced for use in adults but was being given out to teenagers and adolescents
that in a lot of cases had the same sort of affects causing suicides and allsorts in young people again due to affects on brains that were still developing and maturing.

The link below is New Zealand but explains about the risks in psyscosis amongst other things in adolescents.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/christchurch/otago018744.pdf

 

I have chronic pain. I only take half a diazepam once in a while. Anti-inflammatories are a no no because I have stomach issues and although I don't live far from the Netherlands I cannot smoke cannabis because of my job. I work 6 to 7 days a week and sometimes pain is really unbearable ...

 

Medicinal marijuana has been proven to help alleviate not only chronic pain, but is also an important resource for a lot of other medical issues including the nausea associated with chemotherapy, and the tremors associated with Parkinson’s disease.
FWIW, marijuana doesn’t have to be smoked. It can be eaten, or just the oil used.

 

Personally I have never tried or particularly advocate the use of recreational drugs, maybe because I'm too worried about the affects and what it would do to me so you could say I wimped out even when it was offered freely on occasion In fact I don't like taking anything pharmaceutical wise unless I have no choice including the stuff I have to take on a daily basis for endocrine defficences
so not many people are probably much more anti drugs or anti pharmacueticals then moi.

I can though understand that if you are in constant pain cant function and cant sleep etc. and have tried everything else pain relief wise the docs have to offer (which lets face it are not completely without risks or side affects either especially longer term use) then I can see why someone would in desperation try cannabis and if it did give some relief so they could sleep and function continue to want to use it. Like the saying goes to know a man you have to walk a mile in his shoes.

Don't know how in date this is but it may be some use to your pal, Its the Law on medical Cannabis in England and Wales
http://www.release.org.uk/law/uks-law-medical-cannabis
http://medicalmarijuana.co.uk/legal/uk-medical-cannabis-guidelines/

There is also Medical Marijuana UK which is an information group that gives information on new medical research and information that may be useful to your friend if they google it.

 

 

Same here @Sled dog hotel I never even get drunk because I don't want to be out of control of myself. And only take medicine if I really really have to.

But the benefit of these seem worth it for the people who need it, and all for it if it is regulated and improves a person's quality of life

 

medical marijuana is only available on prescription if you have M,S, you can ask to join a study but obviously wont know if youre put into the placebo group or not
You can get low strength cannaboidal vaping juice from many vaping outlets, vaping is said to be the best way of getting it into the bloodstream, it is not illegal and contains none of the illegal thc stuff
it didnt work for me, I have neuropathy, lupus, osteo and poly arthritis, I have duloxetine 60mg for the neuropathy, it is an antidepressant but one of the side effects is it helps neuropathy, especially at night, it doesnt kill the pain but does dull it to alevel where i am able to sleep
I also have a 7 day buprenorphine transdermal patch, 20mcg per hr, slow release, because i a major reaction to opiods and true morphine [trippy was not the word]
the dr wants to increase it, as do I, as the pain is still 10+, but at the moment its causing me to sleep a lot [which with the lupus brain fog aint a great combination]
maybe after christmas
tbh Ive found the only way to manage the chronic pain is to keep moving, sitting/lieing to long causes me to seize up,
even if its just a little bit at a time with resting in between,
for example
i can no longer walk the two littlies, except for last thing at night, so my boys do it for me, but thunder is a 100yrd girl now, picks up her pee mail, answers it, does her deposits and back indoors, so I make sure, however bad i feel I do walk her three times a day

 

Just throwing this one out there too.
Medication is not the only option when it comes to chronic pain. A lot of complimentary therapies have shown a lot of promise when it comes to managing and living with chronic pain. Tai chi, yoga, acupuncture... All have been clinically proven in small studies.
The problem is, big pharma is well, big. And powerful. And if too many people get relief from a yoga class and a joint in the evenings, who are they going to sell their prescription drugs to?
And lets not forget. Opiate based drugs are ALL addictive. Addiction means more meds. Meds to get you off the addiction, meds to cure the “depression” caused by your addition.... It can get very scary as you look in to it more and more.

 

.

 

How young was he Rona and how long had he been smoking it for? I saw a programme quite a while ago now and its been found to cause most problems in pre adolescent and young people
because their brains are still developing and maturing for it can affect them differently and cause various harm.

He is young, late teens, not sure how long he's been taking it

 

such a shame these kids just don't realise what they may be doing to themselves, I should imagine some of it is peer pressure and they also seem to be able to get old of it easily especially in some areas which doesn't help.

 

If there were a way for it to be strictly regulated and closely monitored, to make sure that the patient was the only one taking it and that they didn't continue the treatment if it caused further problems, then I wouldn't have an issue with it. But I don't think I'd trust our NHS to regulate it properly, and the thought of legalised but unregulated cannabis use is scary!

I know a lot of people argue that it is harmless, but I've seen what it can do. I knew someone in his early 20s who used it on recommendation of an older 'wiser' ?!!! person who said he had used it for years with no problem. Tragically, the young lad wasn't so fortunate - it totally destroyed his mind.

 

Can I just point out that smoking one or two joints at a party/ a couple of nights a week - the way most "well functioning" students do is very different from smoking 3-4 joints a day the way OP's friend did? I'm not sure when she found time to go about doing anything at all if all she did was smoke? Medicinal cannabis is used for pain relief. It sounds to me she just kept herself high 24/7...

 

Well, that and a medicinal dose of medical marijuana isn’t to get you high any more than a prescription dose of morphine isn’t like shooting heroin.

The fact is, drugs are drugs are drugs. We like to think that “legal” drugs are all nice and harmless, and “street” drugs are bad and make you crazy, but what makes a drug legal and another illegal is often based more on what is going to make profits for big businesses and not what is best for humans.

For example we know that most SSRI drugs used for depression actually increase thoughts of suicide, especially in younger patients. Somehow this is an acceptable “side effect” (there are no side effects, there are just effects of the drug) in a pharmaceutical drug, but “side effects” with marijuana - which might have nothing to do with the drug and more to do with the pot being cut with something else are completely unacceptable.
Think about who is feeding us this information....

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana/

 

Opiates are used. Though more controlled now.
Surely cannabis extract can be put in pills.
But I have a bone to pick with the use of cannabis.
It might trigger psychotic disorder if you prone to it.
Those disorders most commonly surface in late teens...bilpolar and schizophrenia...the most prevalent.
So as to my professional knowledge: Not good for young adults.
Plus it creates habit hard to break. Ask heavy users. Boys after Afgan...
Many of my friends were users and some got really badly affected.
Even totally grown up successful people. Being stoned takes lots of productive time away from your work, your studies, family and friends. Relationships break down.
And so on.
I witnessed it and was helpless.
So I would say no.

But if maybe it was someone in later years...suffering a lot ...lonely?

But not a teen. With real life to live.

 

I think if it was made legal here, it could help a lot of people. Unfortunately street strains are bred with high THC (the trippy compound) and that is where we're seeing people with neurotic side effects. Medicinal cannabis is bred to be higher in CBD, which is the pain reliever. I use a CBD vape myself, as I suffer from migraines and muscle/joint pain from work, and whilst I'm certainly not floating on a cloud, it takes the edge off and helps me sleep easier, making me less achy the following morning, and I feel better using that than dosing up on nothing but paracetamol or coedine - I can't use NSAIDS due to asthma and I hate to think what I'm doing to my liver if I took paracetamol all the time.

 

I fully support the legalisation of medical marijuana because the drug has known medicinal qualities, such as its ability to relieve stress and pain. Some US states have already have this system in place. Unregulated use of the drug can potentially have negative effects on the user, so the main benefit of marijuana being legalised solely for medical purposes would be that only the people who have a legitimate condition could easily access it.

 

If it's controlled like any other legal drug and helps people, I don't see why it should be an issue. Most (if not all?) drugs can have unwanted side effects. Even your innocent, over the counter paracetamol comes with a list of possible side effects and can lead to addictions. I know of someone who's pain killer addiction started with paracetamol for a toothache.

Also just wanted to add that not everyone who smokes dope gets stoned. My friends ex has smoked for so long now that it has no effect on him and he functions like any other human being. The only time he's any different is when he runs out of weed and can barely finish a sentence