the medical marijuana movement

i want to start this post to get on the right track and i hope it stays there

www.cannabismd.net...

this is a great site for beginners to get basic knowledge of the medical marijuana community

id like to start off with discussion regarding this website and medical marijuana to get people going in the right direction


there are many illnesses this substance can help treat when used maturely and responsibly

like all medications there is the potential for abuse, there is the potential for negative side effects

according to scientific study the negative side effects of marijuana are greatly overshadowed by its benefits


that is the way we go about approving medications for use


every day there are basic medications that have very serious side effects including death

marijuana is not one of those drugs, you would be very hard pressed to find a death attributed to marijuana use since the beginning of recorded history


many pharmaceuticals we take are dangerous for us, they have many side effects, marijuana has the potential through proper research and development to make us no longer live dependently on such harmful drugs


right now with marijuana's legality it is very hard for scientists and doctors to do the sufficient testing (research and development) that is needed to make marijuana the "wonder drug" that it has the potential for

the only way they will be able to do the necessary research and development is if the laws change, allowing freer study of the substance in the medical community world wide

the only way it will be legalized is if people educate themselves properly

it will be hard to erase the years of false propaganda and the hippy mentality surrounding the substances past of abuse, however used properly it has tremendous potential

if we truly want cures for cancer, or at least real treatments for cancer and many other issues we deal with in life, we need medical marijuana to be a nationwide if not worldwide thing


i urge everyone to keep a open mind, search out for the true answers and always remember, there isnt a pharmaceutical here on earth that isnt abused, the same will go for marijuana, we can not let the few bad apples ruin the bunch

hydrocodone, morphine, ritalin are all abused, yet we still allow those medically as we realize the benefits outweigh the risks


the benefits of marijuana are much more overwhelming then any of the above mentioned medicines and much less harmful according to scientific study, not opinion

i also urge everyone to look into the new policy by the obama administration stating they will no longer over ride state law and prosecute responsible medical marijuana users in states where it is legal

that policy now opens the doors for states to vote on whether or not to legalize medical marijuana without fear of aggression by the federal government

learn how you can play a part in helping treat millions around the world


a great site to get started is the obvious one

www.norml.org

there are many other websites out there for medical marijuana advocates, this is just one, this also may not be the best one, just the most well known

this website like all others also has its own propaganda and falsities due to the decades of misinformation that has taken place, only with mature responsible study will we ever find out the whole truth on the benefits of the substance that has been used since the days of the ancients


edited for some spelling and grammar mistakes

[edit on 29-11-2009 by Dramey]

[edit on 29-11-2009 by Dramey]

i also would like the 1st reply to this post to state how much i appreciate the opportunity to discuss such a serious topic here on ats

without the owners compassion this would not be possible

out of respect for the people who have made this possible lets do our best to help administration and report abuses as soon as we see them and do anything else in our power to keep this site moving in the right direction as great things can come out of this opportunity

to narrow down the norml website to direct people in the right direction to give them an idea of what they can do to help the movement they can check

www.norml.org...


capwiz.com...


these are just a very few of the websites available to get you started in the movement

Thanks ATS, let me bow down before you and say about time. Good enough?

Anyway, off the top of my head. Medicinal uses.

1 Insomnia
2 Appetite
3 Glaucoma
4 Possible cancer inhibitor
5 Emotional distress
6 Phsychological disorders
7 Pain killer
8 Safest drug in the world
9 NEED I GO ON

First off, thank you ATS for setting up this forum If more research could be done to find out all the potential uses for Medical Marijuana then maybe that would open up the possibilities for more people to start a real discussion on how to deal with this issue. I have a very close friend with MS who does find marijuana helpful, more so than some of the drugs she has been prescribed. Of course big Pharma won't like this since it will cut into their profits.

I posted in the other thread, here's what I said:

"*raises hand*

Someone in my family passed away from cancer. The marijuana he was prescribed did not help with his nausea or other symptoms from the chemotherapy.

So I'm sure it works for some people. Didn't work in this case."

reply to post by ravenshadow13


just so people on this thread can see what i replied and said to your post in the other thread

i am sorry to hear it did not work

i do want to make it clear that it does only work for some

right now it is believed that among the "anti-nausea" medication and steroids used to treat nausea, medical marijuana is the best we have available

even the best we have available is not enough however

also many factors can contribute to whether or not it will work

this can range from the type of chemotherapy being used

to the type of medical marijuana used, that is the other reason we need further research and development

there are 100s of strains of marijuana available

one person may have used one strain, and it helped

another may use another strain and see no relief

that is why this is just the beginning and we need much more research and development in order to have a true medicine


unfortunately the people i know who died, due to legal reasons never even had the option to try any type of medical marijuana

only through legalization and trial and error will we find the way to help all


in addition to all of that, while is has showed benefits of some cancers, it has showed no benefits in other cancers, without research, we will never know fully which cancers those are

just to give people an idea who may not be familiar

just with lung cancer alone i believe there are 4-5 different types between small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and even those have their own categories of each i believe

it will take a lot of study to find out which strain of medical marijuana affects which strain of cancer a patient may have

and again i am very sorry to hear of your loss, thats why i am such an advocate for change in regards to this substance, i know there are many medicines out there, but from my own research, from my conversations with many oncologists, it is my belief that the best opportunity in defeating cancer lies with either medical marijuana, nano technology or stem cells


personally, i trust medical marijuana much more since it has been around since the times of the ancients, whereas we still dont fully understand nano technology, or stem cells




seems i cant spell or speak grammatically tonight, my apologies for the edits

[edit on 30-11-2009 by Dramey]

Originally posted by governmentsecrets
F "medicinal" - how dare you tell me i can't smoke a plant if i choose to? stay outta my life, Gov-nerd-ment.

while many people may agree with you

this is not the place for that type of rhetoric

it is my prerogative to follow ats rules and respect their wishes

they have respected us enough to allow us to speak responsibly, it is our duty to do so

your post has been reported to ats staff and i will continue to report any post not following ats t and c


this thread is not here to discuss legalization for personal use

this thread is solely here to discuss the medical benefits of millions of people suffering around the world and what we can do to try to help them

this thread is for discussion of medical use of the drug, not childish abuse

this may be a free country, but there are laws we must abide by, so we must play the game the way it was designed

it is foolish to think right now that we can legalize it across the whole board

just like allowing tobacco and alcohol to be legal it is irresponsible to allow marijuana to be fully legal

however it is just as irresponsible to keep it illegal medically

we know morphine helps people, but we dont preach "its a plant, its a plant" even though it comes from a plant


please all future posters stick to the medical side of this discusion

[edit on 30-11-2009 by Dramey]

There is a reason why they call it POT. Your life will eventually go to pot. The Blackfeet tribe in Montana call it, "mottaeeh or Devils smoke.

Originally posted by Violater1
There is a reason why they call it POT. Your life will eventually go to pot. The Blackfeet tribe in Montana call it, "mottaeeh or Devils smoke.

if u abuse it your life will go to "pot"

its just like anything else in the world, you can use it or abuse it

if you choose to abuse it, you are a fool with issues

the blackfeet tribe in montana is probably not the most scientific group to use as your source to back the belief that medical marijuana use ruins your life

honestly there are many in the world who have wonderful lives that are very wealthy and still have to use marijuana for medical reasons

I have been using medical marijuana for several years since I moved to CA. I have an idiopathic gastrointestinal issue that inhibits hunger and my ability to eat. If it weren't for medical marijuana I don't know where I would be. Since I have found the real benefits of this drug I have been donating to initiatives throughout the US and I would like to think myself an advocate. I think fair and legal distribution for real issues should be allowed at the federal level. A lot of people take advantage of the lax system and get it for recreational use but this happens with many legal drugs such as morphine, oxycotton, and a plethora of other prescription drugs. Should we take a closer look at the whole system and allow effective drugs to be used or do we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
Someone in my family passed away from cancer. The marijuana he was prescribed did not help with his nausea or other symptoms from the chemotherapy.

So I'm sure it works for some people. Didn't work in this case."

First Ravenshadow, let me say I am sorry for the loss of your family member. The loss of someone to cancer takes a major toll on those who are watching from the outside, not to mention the suffering endured by those stricken with such a horrible ailment.

It appears that your family member may not have been consulted by a medical professional who is aware of the benefits and applications of cannabis, either that or they were forced to obtain their cannabis from the black market in a state where it is still illegal. If you dont know where your cannabis orginates, how can you know what was used to grow the plant. This results in 'unnatural' chemical additives being used to fertilze the plant....and god knows what that nasty Mexian Cow Dung had it in that was used, or what other chems may be hiding in their home-concocted liquid fertilizers.

Are you aware that there are hundreds of different strains of cannabis? Strains vary widely, much like the different strains of grapes used to produce flavors and/or aromas in wine.

The thing is, these different strains can be used to treat different symptoms. Someone may need medicinal cannabis to treat hunger issues due to wastings disease from AIDS, they would probably need a strain that has more of the chemicals to enduce hunger. Whereas someone who needs to use medical cannabis for pain relief from nerve pain may want to avoid increasing their appetite, while increaseing the chemicals to relieve said pain.

In short, there are more than 400 natural chemicals that occur in cannabis, and these chemicals are concentrated in different quantities based on the strain. The balances of these multiple chemicals, and the relief that they bring the medicinal user are not fully known. If proper research was allowed then there would be many advances in the knowledge of what these chemicals can do and in what amounts they are needed for a specified relief effect. If research was allowed, the medical cannabis user community would benefit substantially because there would be the development of specific strains for specific complications.

Again, I am sorry for your loss, but those who may be inclined to reach out to your medical profesional about medical cannabis, may want to research their symptoms and search for specific strains that are used to combat their ailments. Now this is a complicated thing to do in states where it is not legal to use medicinal cannabis, but the information is out there and if applied properly to your situation you will make out much better in the long run.

reply to post by frey51


excellent explanation and i am glad you spoke on those

it is very important that everyone realize what you said

there are many different strains of marijuana, each containing not only sometimes different chemicals, but different levels of chemicals in each strain

on top of that there are many different types of illnesses, many different types of bodies in the human genome


it will take a large amount of research to perfect the situation

thats why its so important for us to stop wasting time keeping this substance illegal, we need it legal for at least medical use so we can allow our intellectuals and drs to learn how best to use the benefits provided by medical marijuana




right now theres no debate about the efficiency and ability of morphine to help pain

we didnt just pick up that plant one day and instantly have the ability to make modern morphine

we cant just go pick that plant and inject it expecting it to work like modern morphine


it would be foolish for people to expect anything different from medical marijuana


we cant just grow it pick it and smoke it and expect it to be this magical drug, it will take time to learn what strains and what chemicals affect a specific situation, once that is done however, then we will have our "magical plant"