Some Patients Are Searching For Medical Alternatives

February 4th, 2010 by Natasha King

An La Times medical reporter interviewed a group of doctors that were researching the benefits of medical marijuana. The issue of whether marijuana has any medical benefits is all determined on whom you ask–should marijuana be labeled with the dangerous drugs like PCP and heroin, or is it a miracle herb that has an abundance of uses and is being suppressed by the government–perhaps its something in between: an herb with tremendous medical benefits yet with drawbacks, worth looking into.

As the political campaigning over medical marijuana continues, a small group of scientist are investigating the effects on how inhaled marijuana treats nausea, pain, and muscle spasms

The researchers point out that all drugs carry risks–when you look into most medicine cabinets in American households, you will find them filled with aspirins, antihistamines, and pain killers. What doctors try to do is weigh the positives versus the negatives of what the medicine can do and from there they reach a decision–why not for marijuana as well, some researchers are asking.

The truth, say researchers, is that marijuana has medical benefits that assist with those living with cancer pain, multiple sclerosis, nausea associated with chemo therapy, and chronic pain syndromes. Research has shown that the risks associated with marijuana are real but generally small. Newer medical discoveries of the medicinal benefits of marijuana have been since hindered the research team says.

Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of hematology and oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and professor of clinical medicine at UC San Francisco, says he sees cancer patients in pain, not eating or sleeping well, experiencing nausea and vomiting from treatment, and being depressed about their situation.

He notes that he finds joy that he resides in California where the use of medical marijuana is permitted by state law, even though federal enforcement continually raiding cannabis shops in the state and also scrutinize physicians who accept cannabis as a form of treatment for the patient.

“I can talk to patients about medicinal cannabis [and] I’m often recommending it to them for these indications,” Abrams says.

The use of marijuana for medical purposes has a history that goes back thousands of years. The plant was used all throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for ailments like earaches, child birth, stress relief, and pain relief.

Medical researchers have recently began to investigate marijuana’s effects on various kinds of pain such as damaged nerves in people with HIV, diabetes and spinal cord injury; to cancer; and from multiple sclerosis.

For the past three plus decades, Dr. Reindhurst has studied the medicinal effects that nirvana seeds have been used in history. She has a web site full of information on the nirvana seeds and the many uses it has had throughout human civilization.