Thursday, January 10, 2013

Taboo medicine: The clinical uses of medical cannabis

Medical cannabis is an herb evidenced to have been used for medical purposes as far back as 2737 BC. Though its production, distribution, and consumption is illegal in most countries, it has recently been approved for use in therapy and is one of the “fifty fundamental” herbs of traditional Chinese medicine.

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The FDA has not approved smoking cannabis as the solution to any condition or disease in the United States. It claims this is largely due to the lack of “good quality scientific evidence” for its use. However, several well-documented and known studies have proven the healing effects of medical cannabis. For starters, medical cannabis is a general analgesic. Specific doses are documented to relieve chronic pain that traditional pain medication has been unsuccessful in alleviating. In cancer patients, it is used to stimulate hunger after chemotherapy treatments curb the need to eat. Medical cannabis has also been proven to remove the nausea and vomiting that comes with various cancer and AIDS treatments. More recently, it has been proven to lower intraocular eye pressure, an effective treatment for glaucoma–-an eye disease in which the optic nerve is damaged, permanently damaging vision and causing blindness if left untreated.

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In 2012, the use of cannabis and “medical marijuana” for medical treatment was put to a vote. To date, 18 states have legalized cannabis for medical use. The usage is limited to prescriptions and is highly regulated, with 16 of the 18 states requiring proof of residency before being considered for cannabis treatments.

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In the 2012 elections, the state of Arkansas voted against making medical cannabis legal. See updates on former Hospital Administrator Terry Lambert alongside the state of healthcare in AR on this website.