Posted on 05/31/2017 4:24:26 AM PDT by Kaslin
Let's talk about marijuana.
Specifically, let's talk about how and why I came to be one of the countless parents across America (and around the world) who have let their chronically ill children try it.
A groundbreaking new study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on the health benefits of cannabidiol for children with epilepsy. The randomized, double-blind, controlled study found that among children with Dravet syndrome taking cannabidiol, the decrease in the frequency of convulsive seizures was 23 percentage points greater than the decrease in seizures among children taking a placebo.
Cannabidiol is one of hundreds of chemical components found in cannabis plants. Unlike THC, the most famous of marijuana's compounds, CBD is nonhallucinogenic and nonaddictive. It doesn't make you high. CBD can be extracted from hemp and sold as an oil. That's what the pioneering Stanley Brothers of Boulder, Colorado, did several years ago when they conceived and manufactured "Charlotte's Web" -- named after Charlotte Figi, a Colorado Springs girl with Dravet syndrome whose seizures dramatically decreased after using CBD.
Until now, evidence of marijuana's benefits for pediatric epilepsy patients has been largely anecdotal. The new CBD study, led by researchers at the NYU Langone's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, is a hugely significant development because it uses the scientific gold standard of a randomized controlled trial. Other limited clinical trials involving CBD have explored the drug's therapeutic benefits for pediatric patients with conditions ranging from anxiety to movement disorders to inflammatory diseases, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
My own interest in pediatric use of medicinal marijuana is more than academic.
When my daughter, Veronica, fell ill in late spring of 2015 -- unable to breathe normally, bedridden with chronic pain and fatigue -- she saw dozens of specialists. Among those doctors was a leading neurologist at one of Denver's most well-regarded hospitals who treated intractable cases. The various drugs prescribed to my daughter weren't working and had awful side effects.
One of them, a potent anti-epileptic drug called Trileptal, was supposed to treat the severe motor tic that left her gasping for air nonstop for months. But Trileptal ended up causing extreme loss of appetite, more fatigue and temporary dystonia, while doing nothing to alleviate the tics. The constant jerking of her body caused one of my daughter's hypermobile shoulders to dislocate multiple times a day -- increasing her pain and anxiety.
To our surprise, the mainstream neurologist suggested Veronica try CBD. This doctor had other young patients who used CBD oil with positive results, but she could not directly prescribe it because of her hospital affiliation. So we did our own independent research, talked to a Colorado Springs family whose son had great success using CBD to treat his Crohn's disease symptoms, consulted with other medical professionals and friends -- and entered a whole new world.
Two physicians signed off on our daughter's application for a medical marijuana card. She became one of more than 360 children under 18 to join Colorado's medical marijuana registry in 2015.
And we became pediatric pot parents.
For Veronica, CBD provided more relief than all the other mainstream pharmaceutical interventions she had endured, and without the scary side effects. But ultimately, it was a temporary remedy for her complicated basket of neurological and physiological conditions. We were glad for the chance to try CBD at the recommendation of medical professionals, and glad that so many other families are having success with it.
Our experience showed us the importance of increasing therapeutic choices in the marketplace for all families -- and trusting doctors and patients to figure out what works best.
It flies in the face of current science to classify CBD oil as a Schedule I drug, as the feds did at the end of 2016. Nor does it make sense to draw the line at CBD if some patients and doctors believe that the benefits of using THC therapeutically outweigh the potential harm.
As a lifelong social conservative, my views on marijuana policy may surprise some of you.
I used to be a table-pounding crusader for the government's war on drugs. When I worked in Seattle in the 1990s, I initially opposed efforts to legalize medical marijuana. I also opposed efforts to loosen restrictions on conducting studies on the potential therapeutic effects of using marijuana.
But the war on drugs has been a ghastly quagmire -- an expensive and selective form of government paternalism that has done far more harm than good. What has this trillion-dollar war wrought?
Overcrowded jails teeming with nonviolent drug offenders. An expanded police state enriched by civil asset forfeiture. And marginalization of medical researchers pursuing legitimate research on marijuana's possible therapeutic benefits for patients with a wide variety of illnesses.
The Trump administration has sent mixed signals on a medical marijuana crackdown.
So let me be clear as a liberty-loving, conservative mom: Keep your hands off. Let the scientists lead. Limited government is the best medicine.
Thanks for the ping. Happy this family was able to get their child some relief.
For many, including myself cannabis is medicine.
We should all have access to the medicines we need when we need them. This includes cannabis.
Thanks for sharing your story. I pray the cannabis oil will provide you the relief you seek.
“This is not the pot of the 60’s and 70’s.”
You’re right & thank goodness it’s more potent. For medicinal purposes especially. When I can get the same medicinal benefit while using LESS cannabis thats a big win in my book.
The old pot was no Chanel No. 5 either.
Good luck to you in your search for relief.
You deserve it. You do not deserve the pain and suffering you currently experience.
Note: they grow all different sorts of pot nowadays meant to do different stuff, medically-wise.
Some types are meant to be primarily anti-inflammatory, while others are meant to make a person groggy, etc.
I grow and use a medicinal type based on a strain called “Diesel”. It has a unique smell. It may not be the best for my maladies but it is all I got, and I do not want to ever enter the drug-dealing world of criminals. A random old guy just gave me a seed and off I went. Now my main expense is bagged dirt.
I think it was the ABC After School Special with Scott Baio.
Yes, and if I am not mistaken Israel is the only country I can think of that has researched it in a scientific manner. I understand M.M's dilemma, without getting into the weeds I know a parent wanting to go and try the CBD for a child in desperate need of it. However the whole pot shop thing and the increase in stoners? No, I am sorry. I am no MD but where is the efficacy in that model in regards to responsibility of the product and prescribing it? What dosage is best for your back or knee pain, oral or a topical ointment made with consistency and a consistent dosage? As much as we complain about big pharma, they may have a roll here in making this "product" sane and as ubiquitous and fungible as baby aspirin.
I’ve never been against the legitimate medical use of any substance. Hers is legitimate.
Recreational users have no sympathy from me although I also agree with current law enforcement philosophy of treating users as victims and not the criminals.
Dealers should be tried and convicted of premeditated murder if any of their customers fatally overdose. Death penalty to follow.
So what did you hope to achieve posting this particular “story” that comes from a TV show in the 1980’s that is about teens using cannabis (something I do not support unless there is a vital medical reason to do so)? How is it relevant to this particular thread?
Standard rule for me is to never eat prepared food in Colorado anymore. Only canned foods preferably bought out of state.
My favorite Colorado mountain towns has now been overrun with homeless and potheads.
Big war going on herein Florida about medical marijuana. Health dept wants zero smokable pot, some want what is effectively a grower cartel of 7 growers, some want the market opened.
"Overcrowded jails teeming with nonviolent drug offenders."
Pot sellers maybe, and people addicted to other drugs, sure...but I just don't think our jail overcrowding is due to packs of pot users. Sure there is always a case that can be pointed to that is extreme, but those aren't the rule.
On to the medical use. If it works, great. Lots of medicines are derived from, or are synthetic versions of, plants found in nature. But why not treat pot like those other medicines. I don't take aspirin without reading the bottle to see how many to take, but if I were to use pot medicinally, there would be very little control over the dose of the active ingredients. People with chronic back pain take opiates in pill form, rather than chewing opium paste right off the poppy. Why not do the same with pot?
Some fighting here in Maryland too. One real problem is that the bar is set pretty low to get a purchase card.
It sounds like Michelle’s daughter has a true, legitimate medical problem that might be ameliorated by the effects of pot.
I suspect that is not the case for most seekers of medical marijuana cards.
Seizure Meds are used very unsuccessfully for Peripheral Neuropathy pain. Their side effects/addition issues are actually worse than the PN Intractable Pain. Just pitched the 11th 1.
Trial of Cannabidiol for Drug Resistant Seizures in Dravet Syndrome
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1611618
NO ONE IS REPORTING on the Suicide STATS caused by intractable pain for incurable diseases! And calling it Chronic Pain is NOT the correct terminology, it is INTRACTABLE PAIN. Here is just 1 incident, many more go unreported by the LSM. NASCAR Legend’s Chronic Pain Led to Suicide
http://nationalpainreport.com/nascar-legends-chronic-pain-led-to-suicide-8819960.htmlsuicide-8819960.html
Pharma Spin Only Belongs in Fiction
https://townhall.com/columnists/mytheosholt/2017/05/31/pharma-spin-only-belongs-in-fiction-n2333686?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Florida resident here. The state gov’t seems uninterested in enacting the will of the voters here regarding medical cannabis. If the Health Dept’s rules & such don’t comply with Amendment 2 there will be lots of lawsuits.
IMO, it will be 5 years or more before the 1st patient is able to purchase the medicine they need & that 71% of Florida voter’s want folks to have access to.
***This is not the pot of the 60’s and 70’s.****
I remember kids mixing it with other things to try and make it more potent.
I also remember the Paraquat weed killer that was sprayed on the Mexican crops, harvested quick before the weed killer took effect, and sent north into the USA.
Who knows, maybe their pain relief really came from the Paraquat instead of the pot!
Wonder if the legal growers will do what the cigarette companies did. They sprayed their tobacco brands with more nicotine to make it all come out smooth.
Will pot growers do the same?
Many prescription painkillers are derivatives of the opium poppy. How does that differ from medicinal marijuana? However, it appears to be a trade off, as marijuana has been noted to have serious, life-long side effects.
You catch someone with bolt cutters, a bike trailer filled with stolen goods and 15 grams of meth, and a report that they used those bolt cutters to slam a fellow tent city resident over the head. In many jurisdictions, you convict on the meth and send the person to jail, case done.
As for medicinal properties - where's the double blind studies of the most common sleep aid and pain reliever in the United States? Where's a doctor's prescription for 200ml of 80 proof alcohol, or a study comparing the effectiveness of a 100ml dose?
If drug companies can find places in the world to conduct trials of some pretty vicious poisons, I find it ludicrous to assume they can't find similar places to test the effectiveness of the component drugs in marijuana.
Is it just like alcohol? That the recreational aspects simply dwarf any medicinal study?
I'm all for ending prohibition; I think it is an awful expansion of federal powers. But let's not play pretendy that there's some vast otherwise innocent incarcerated population or that the majority of use will be anything other than recreational.
It does. Many years ago I was at some outdoor party when everyone smoked pot. I had to leave because I couldn’t stand that smell. I asked myself how can anyone stand that stench.
Bump
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