Medical Use of Cannabis

I wrote this article just over a year ago but I could not find a paying home for it, so here it is. 

Up until the twentieth century, cannabis was frequently
used in western medicine. But more effective painkillers such as those
containing opiates were developed. And then concerns about recreational abuse
of cannabis lead to its use being prohibited. Despite it being illegal, research
continues into the medical uses of cannabis, and people continue to use it as a
medicine.

Recent research at Tel Aviv University in Israel studied
the effects of cannabis on Crohns Disease. Eleven of the study’s participants
smoked cannabis twice daily, while ten others smoked a placebo where the
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had been removed from the cannabis. The Crohns
disease of five of the eleven who smoked the unaltered cannabis went into full
remission. But so did the Crohns Disease of one of those in the placebo group.
The researchers say more research needs to be done.

Research is also under way into the effect of cannabis on
medical conditions such as ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and
arthritis. Cancer cells have been killed by cannabis in experiments. Cannabis use
has decreased nausea and increased appetites in people undergoing chemotherapy and
who are HIV positive. Cannabis is used by many people battling chronic pain. Cannabis
is also reported to help in the treatment of hepatitis C, skin cancer, migraines,
morning sickness, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
 

Possession of cannabis is illegal 

Anyone tempted to conduct their own personal research
into the effect of cannabis on their medical condition should be aware they are
committing a crime. In Victoria anyone caught with less than 50 grams of
cannabis risks being fined $700 for possession. They can be fined a further $700
if they are caught using it. The Victorian Legal Aid website says first
offenders will usually get a caution, rather than be charged and fined. People
caught with more than 50 grams risk being charged with trafficking drugs and sentenced
to jail.
 

Harmful effects of cannabis 

According to the Victorian Health Department’s Better
Health website, short term use of cannabis can cause:

·        
impaired coordination

·        
drowsiness

·        
confusion

·        
vomiting

·        
hallucinations

·        
detachment from reality

·        
anxiety

·        
and paranoia.


Long term use of cannabis can cause:

·        
poor concentration

·        
memory loss

·        
an inability to learn new tasks

·        
increased risk of infections

·        
asthma

·        
throat, mouth and lung cancers

·        
and serious mental illness such as
schizophrenia.

Many health professionals are very much against cannabis
being smoked, but are more receptive to its medical use if it is taken in other
ways. Cannabis can be smoked, eaten, diluted into a tincture, inhaled as a
vapour, drunk as a tea or absorbed into the skin as a cream or from a nicotine
type patch.

An oral spray

In November 2012 the oral spray Sativex was included on
the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. The spray contains extracts from
cannabis leaf and its flower. A change to the Standard for the Uniform
Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons still needs to be approved before Sativex
can be marketed in Australia. A final decision about that change is due on the
27th of June.

Research has shown that Sativex is effective in the
treatment of symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. If approved, Sativex will only be
prescribed to people with MS by authorised medical practitioners.

Sativex has equal parts THC, the psychoactive part of cannabis, and cannabidiol (CBD), which
typically lowers the anxiety and psychotic symptoms of cannabis. So a
ccording
to its manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals, Sativex does not produce a “high” in
its users.

Trials of Sativex on pain in cancer patients are
currently being conducted by Dr Brian Le, a palliative care specialist at Royal
Melbourne Hospital. 

Unfortunately, Sativex
could cost up to $500 a month because it will not be under the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme.
 

NSW Government enquiry into medical cannabis 

In May this year (2013) a NSW Government committee released a
report on “The Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes.” Many of the submissions
to that report suggested that cannabis should only be used when other legal
drugs have not been effective for a patient.

The committee heard from many people who illegally use
cannabis to self-medicate. They were told of a national survey where 18 per
cent of Australians with HIV said they used cannabis as a complementary
medicine. A person with Degenerative Disc Disease told the committee how she managed
to get her pain under control by eating cannabis butter and cookies. She no
longer had to take a long list of pain killers that left her wanting to spend
all day in bed.

The report recommended the legalisation of the medical
use of cannabis for people with a terminal illness and AIDS. They also
recommended that the NSW Minster for Health write to the Commonwealth Minister
for Health and Ageing expressing support for the evidence based approval of
cannabis for other patient groups, 
including those suffering chronic pain for whom existing pain management
was not effective.
 

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation

 

Alex Wodak is the Emeritus consultant at St Vincent’s
Hospital in Darlinghurst and president of the Australian Drug Law Reform
Foundation.  He wrote on The Conversation
website that the legalisation of cannabis for people with terminal conditions was
a good start. He said this should be a national approach. He also said cannabis
would be cheaper than many currently available medicines.
 

Victorian Government 

A senior media advisor at the Victorian
Department of Health, said: “Currently there are no plans in Victoria for
an inquiry into the medicinal uses of cannabis.” He went on to say “The Victorian Government will monitor
closely any plans to implement the recommendations of the recent NSW inquiry
into the medicinal use of cannabis among a very specific group of patients.”
 

Updates

 

Sativex was approved but because it was not placed on
the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme the manufacturer decided not to make it
available in Australia.

Lucy Haslam has a petition on change.org to get medical
cannabis decriminalised so her terminally ill son can use it. She recently got the NSW Premier Mike Baird onboard (picture). 

 

Links

 

NSW Government inquiry: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/7641E8D87AC53FB3CA257ABF00134E57

Alex Wodak – President Australian Drug Law Reform
Foundation, article written for the website The Conversation:

Victorian Legal Aid, drug possession in Victoria:

Sativex

Sativex trials in Victoria:

Better Health Channel, harmful health effects of
cannabis:

Crohns cannabis study

3 Responses

  1. Very informative Graham.
    I do hope that the powers that (have no idea) be, come to their senses as far as pain management goes.

    As for making it completely legal, I'm not so sure. Some people I've known who used it long term ended up not so sharp, and prone to bouts of depression. I guess the same would go for any drug, let alone alcohol.
    Short term usage though, and for those who genuinely need it, it should definitely be made available.

  2. Thanks Anthony, I'm very aware of its harmful effects to. But what harm can it do to someone who is terminally ill? Recently the police arrested a woman in Victoria who was given a tincture to her son who had a disability. It seemed to help him concentrate. From my reading of the submissions to the NSW government enquiry, a tincture is a massively dilluted liquid, a bit like aroma therapy, so there is no way a person could get high from a cannabis tincture. But they are still illegal.

  3. Hi Graham,I hope all is well with you. Healthline just published an infographic detailing how marijuana affects the body. This is an interactive chart allowing the reader to pick the side effect they want to learn more about.You can see the overview of the report here: http://www.healthline.com/health/addiction/marijuana/effects-on-bodyOur users have found our guide very useful and I thought it would be a great resource for your page: http://grahamclements.blogspot.com/2014/07/medical-use-of-cannabis.htmlI would appreciate it if you could review our request and consider adding this visual representation of the effects of marijuana to your site or sharing it on your social media feeds. Please let me know if you have any questions.All the best,Maggie Danhakl • Assistant Marketing ManagerHealthline • The Power of Intelligent Health660 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107www.healthline.com | @Healthline | @HealthlineCorpAbout Us: corp.healthline.com

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