Doctors prescribe smoking, what is this 1940?
The one thing about medical marijuana that has always blown my mind is that there are doctors prescribing smokable marijuana rather than derivatives such as teas, oils or pills.
I can’t help but be reminded of early 1900s advertising suggesting all of the supposed health benefits of smoking cigarettes. Claims that they would aid digestion, cure asthma, promote dental health, and help you stay physically fit. Despite all of these claims having since been proven false, for arguments sake, lets say even if there were legitimate medical benefits to smoking cigarettes there is still the downside that smoking as a general practice is horrible for your body. Causing not only cancer but conditions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
We can say that marijuana contains less additives than cigarettes, but we know that even smoking “clean” tobacco in cigars or pipes is harmful. Although studies have found that THC has less cancer-promoting properties than nicotine, both marijuana and tobacco smoke contain similar carcinogens and the long-term effects of marijuana use are still unknown. Also the combustion of any material whether it’s tobacco, marijuana, or even fire wood releases toxins and carcinogens. If you’ve ever sat by a campfire all night and woke up with a sore throat or irritated lungs, you can probably draw the conclusion that our bodies were not intended to breathe smoke.
By the 1950s as continued tobacco use started to produce noticeable negative symptoms, the advertisements became more defensive using slogans like “less irritating” or “better for you” than other brands, showing off new and improved filters, and boasting about being the brand that physicians themselves chose to smoke. Back then without long-term research they really didn’t know how harmful smoking was beyond some coughing and an irritable throat. So if by now it is common knowledge to physicians that smoking is harmful, why would doctors discourage smoking one substance and prescribe smoking another? Especially without the advent of long-term research on the substance.
Although there is insufficient research by unbiased parties on either the positive or negative effects of marijuana, unlike tobacco, there is an incredible amount of testimonial and circumstantial evidence as to it’s medicinal uses. In fact NPR reported that in states where medicinal marijuana is legal, sales dropped significantly for medications that treat chronic pain, anxiety and depression. After saving medicare millions of dollars and helping to prove that patients truly are using marijuana as a medical treatment these trends have initiated a review for reclassification under national drug policy which could make it more readily available.
Many people have expressed how marijuana has helped to control their ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, nausea, and sleep disorders. Where it is legal it is also commonly used to treat chronic pain due to conditions like fibromyalgia, nerve damage, injury, surgery, or severe menstrual cramps. It is sometimes prescribed to ease the side effects associated with Lupus treatments. THC both in marijuana and in pill form have been used to treat severe pain in patients with terminal illnesses. Marijuana has also been linked to relief from psychosis, seizures, and spasticity.
In addition to reducing stress and anxiety, cannabis teas and oils can be used for a variety of other treatments as well. Teas are less potent than smoking and in some countries are used to treat colds and fevers. Cannabis oil is said to boost appetite and optimize digestion, strengthen heart health, and in some cases believed to prevent or even treat certain cancers.
With all of the purported medical uses for marijuana it would be ludicrous not to consider making it more accessible. Especially since, when compared to alternatives like opioids and antidepressants, there is almost no risk of fatal overdose. However it is worth noting there are concerns about the psychoactive nature of the drug, and also that although effective smoking is probably not the safest delivery method.
One of the authors of the study referenced by NPR, W. David Bradford, warns in regards to side effects and safety issues surrounding marijuana “Just because it’s not as dangerous as some other dangerous things, it doesn’t mean you want to necessarily promote it. There [are still] a lot of unanswered questions.” Currently medical marijuana is not covered under health insurance which makes it prohibitively expensive for some patients, the DEA is expected to make a decision regarding a new classification this summer. However it almost seems like backwards progress to make a medication more accessible before a lot of the safety concerns are answered.
Hopefully as legalization becomes a more standard practice there will be an increase of legitimate research conducted on both the benefits in regards to medical use, as well as the potential negative effects. If marijuana holds the secrets to curing cancer, treating anxiety, seizures and insomnia, and relieving pain with less risk of fatal overdose, then it seems it would be beneficial to study it closer. It would be ideal to be able to hone in and isolate the properties that are beneficial to each of these individual conditions and release safe, clinically tested treatment options. Rather than touting a carcinogenic substance as a cure-all miracle drug.
