Medical marijuana benefits proven?

[Donald G]

To Liam ...

I do not think that anyone with any knowledge of marijuana has thought of it as a Gateway drug for at least the last twenty years or so. The very most that can be said about THC marijuana is that it is quite probably habituating to about 5 to 8% of the people who use it regularly; as compared to alcohol at 18 to 20%. Whether either leads to other drugs is a matter of lifestyle and choice.

[Silverstarqueen]

Nobody, that is except Harper and our Minister of Health. Meanwhile millions of Canadians are using marijuana instead of far more addictive and problematic prescription drugs for pain,arthritis, stress, depression, anxiety, etc.

[LiamHaddock]

yes and unfortunately under current Harper government and strict regulations it causes many to be unable to afford medical marijuana due to the high cost. And then they are trying to take away the right to grow a medicinal plant and forcing the patient to pay inflated insane prices for your "legal" corporate medicine, often un-affordable if on minimal income or have large perscription. If you can afford it its often not the strain you find works best for you or there is stock issuses. Forcing patients to go to criminals for affordable medicine, the strain they need or illegally grow your own. Its a shame that Harper and others are against legalization when marijuana is not near as harmful as alcohol or tobacco and is actually medicinal. And prohibition does nothing to stop the illegal marijuana drug trade it only helps it thrive. If everyone could go into a legal dispensary for recreational or medicinal marijuana and the competition forced prices down for all that could be a good thing if dispensaries are regulated to ensure no criminals involved and create jobs and help create real access for all to easily benefit from marijuana.

[Donald G]

To Liam ...

" FORCING them to go to criminals ... " is a situation that exists only in your mind. In reality people in Canada can access Marijuana and Marijuana products that have been medically proven to assist with given medical conditions.

What you are demanding is nothing less than drug experimentation at home. To many the objective is to access FREE THC Marijuana when it has, so far, proven to be the least effective for medical purposes of all of the compounds in Marijuana ... and the most profitable to sell on the criminal market for those who have home grows.

[jimsenchuk]

Colorado’s Marijuana Revenue Is So High, The State Has To Give Residents Money Back

Colorado has collected so much marijuana tax revenue since the plant was legalized, that now a state law may return some of the overall tax money collected directly into residents’ pockets.

The Colorado state constitution puts a limit on how much tax money they are legally allowed to collect. Colorado has brought in so much that the state actually has to give some of the revenue back.

That means that the $50 million in recreational pot revenue collected in the first year alone of legalization is going to tip the scales of legality itself, and require some of the money to be given back. This has put law-makers and politicians in a bit of an awkward situation, as neither Republicans nor Democrats want to give any of the money collected back.

“I think it’s appropriate that we keep the money for marijuana that the voters said that we should,” Republican Senate President Bill Cadman said.

“This is a little bit of a different animal. There’s a struggle on this one,” Republican Sen. and budget writer Kevin Grantham said.

“It’s just absurd,” Democratic state Sen. Pat Steadman, said.

“I have no problem paying taxes if they’re going to schools,” a Colorado marijuana consumer, Maddy Beaumier, 25, said as he shopped at a local dispensary.

David Huff, 50, a carpenter from Aurora, said that this is the least they can do. The state taxes add 30% more onto the price of marijuana, he explained. That’s too much.

“I don’t care if they write me a check, or refund it in my taxes, or just give me a free joint next time I come in. The taxes are too high, and they should give it back,” Huff explained.

The refund is due to a 1992 voter-approved constitutional amendment which Colorado called the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. It requires Colorado to pay back taxpayers whenever the state collects more revenue than what is allowed, based on a formula, factoring in inflation and population growth.

Mike Elliott, a representative of the Denver-based Marijuana Industry Group said that they haven’t been pushing for lower taxes on marijuana… but that is something lawmakers should seriously consider. Mike notes that the state law would allow them to cut taxes without even bringing it to a vote.

http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/09/c ... oney-back/

[jimsenchuk]

To Liam ...

I do not think that anyone with any knowledge of marijuana has thought of it as a Gateway drug for at least the last twenty years or so. The very most that can be said about THC marijuana is that it is quite probably habituating to about 5 to 8% of the people who use it regularly; as compared to alcohol at 18 to 20%. Whether either leads to other drugs is a matter of lifestyle and choice.

Harper sure thinks this way

[Silverstarqueen]

To Liam ...

" FORCING them to go to criminals ... " is a situation that exists only in your mind. In reality people in Canada can access Marijuana and Marijuana products that have been medically proven to assist with given medical conditions.

What you are demanding is nothing less than drug experimentation at home. To many the objective is to access FREE THC Marijuana when it has, so far, proven to be the least effective for medical purposes of all of the compounds in Marijuana ... and the most profitable to sell on the criminal market for those who have home grows.

I have experimented at home with a number of OTC and prescription medications, none of which work for my auto-immune condition and resulting chronic pain. My doctor is no help whatsoever. I have tried to get a referral but he won't do that either. So I am "forced" to find my own way. I don't want FREE anything, I want access at a reasonable cost, even if I have to grow my own or find a grower of the best product for my condition. Our Brilliant Health Minister and PM have a different plan. Which is not working for a lot of Canadians. I wish they would stay out of the gardens of the nation and let people grow their own medicine if that's what works for them.

[LiamHaddock]

To Liam ...

" FORCING them to go to criminals ... " is a situation that exists only in your mind. In reality people in Canada can access Marijuana and Marijuana products that have been medically proven to assist with given medical conditions.

What you are demanding is nothing less than drug experimentation at home. To many the objective is to access FREE THC Marijuana when it has, so far, proven to be the least effective for medical purposes of all of the compounds in Marijuana ... and the most profitable to sell on the criminal market for those who have home grows.

This does not exist only in my mind and only shows how ignorant you can be to the true benefits of marijuana. Your experience comes from what you read and your days of being a cop focusing on marijuana as harmful drug not the wonderful medicinal plant it truly is.

I am a Medical Marijuana patient. You have no personal medical experience with marijuana. You may know someone with a prescription but you personally don't use it so you really don't know. All your sources and info you have provided me as proof of all your crazy theories has always been discredited quickly. As always I'm interested in new studies/info if you have some new ones to share I'd love to look into them as I'm sure others would.

I have prescription narcotic painkillers that I could take all day long, kill my liver and probably get addicted. But sometimes I have to take them by I really don't like to.

I have sever osteoarthritis and am waiting for a new hip. Before that I managed for 10 years with medical marijuana alone with osteoarthritis in my hips.

The current government would happily have me take bottle after bottle of cheap Narcotic Painkillers aka Hill Billy Heroin pills. Instead I take a few a weak when days are extremely bad and medical marijuana cant keep it manageable. Thankfully HIGH THC marijuana is there to help myself and many others from being addicted to painkillers or having to take them at all.

I do smoke HIGH CBD marijuana as well. unfortunately it doesn't cut the pain. it helps a bit but no where near as much as HIGH THC.

Im registered with a Health Canada Licensed provider under the new MMPR system. The cost of my prescription would be minimum $720 a month to over a $1000 a month depending on strain and guess what the HIGH THC ones cost the most.
Who can afford that and mortgage/rent really???

There are MANY current medical marijuana patients in my situation and many other people that don't even bother getting a prescription because of the cost barrier of legal medical marijuana.

Now what about people with fibromyalgia or other chronic life long conditions that have even larger medical marijuana prescriptions on disability or low income. What are they to do?

They have no choice but to grow or go to illegal sources for cheaper medical marijuana. tell me what else they could do if they are low income in this situation.

It doesn't matter even if everyone was prescribed only CBD marijuana in your fantasy world as you only think it has benefit which is not true, but even in that case it's still unaffordable.

You preach Colorado but they are not the solution they are not meeting patients needs. Any regulation you put it Canada or anywhere else will never prevent the illegal marijuana trade.

Its time to legalize.

You will never get it just like Stephen Harper will never get it lol.

ITS NOT ALL IN OUR MINDS! if anyone needs their mind checked its you!

[jimsenchuk]

[LiamHaddock]

they should've had a medical marijuana prescription or it should just be legalized! An adult shouldn't need a permission slip lol

[Donald G]

To Liam

Using your "proof" standards, if I claim that I THINK Heroin or Cocaine will help my PTSD condition because I know of someone who told me it helped them, then I should have a personal right to demand that the government permit me free access to them REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO PRESENT MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT EITHER ONE DOES SO.

As much as you would like to believe otherwise there is no credible evidence whatever that you and Silverstar and Gixxer have more knowledge than the entire world medical field combined. You are obviously badly disillusioned regarding the limited extent of your knowledge regarding Marijuana, especially THC marijuana.

[Silverstarqueen]

Donald, if I use marijuana or some other herbal product, and it improves my mobility or lessens my pain, do you really think I need some medical expert to tell me the result?
What you think about heroin or whatever is irrelevent.
If someone has used prescription pain meds such as narcotics or the more powerful NSAIDS and then found marijuana works as well or better with fewer side effects, do you really think they are that stupid they can't tell which medication helps them function better with fewer side effects?
Many medical specialists do recognize the benefits people are experiencing, and are happy that their patients may need fewer or no narcotics, or less seizure medications, or manage to get free of anti-depressants (which often don't work and actually have a side effect of increasing suicidal tendency.)
So no, I don't think you very well informed on the issue at all.

[Gixxer]

To Liam

Using your "proof" standards, if I claim that I THINK Heroin or Cocaine will help my PTSD condition because I know of someone who told me it helped them, then I should have a personal right to demand that the government permit me free access to them REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO PRESENT MEDICAL EVIDENCE THAT EITHER ONE DOES SO.

Yes thats right Donald, people should be allowed to put whatever they want into their own bodies. Why is it any of your business, or the governments?

As much as you would like to believe otherwise there is no credible evidence whatever that you and Silverstar and Gixxer have more knowledge than the entire world medical field combined. You are obviously badly disillusioned regarding the limited extent of your knowledge regarding Marijuana, especially THC marijuana.

I've never claimed to have more knowledge than the entire medical field, just real life experiences. So its very easy to cut through the B.S. fear mongering tactics false misinformation that people like you, Steven Harper, and Rona Ambrose suggest it is.

[Donald G]

To Silverstar ...

You keep coming back to THC pain reduction as if reducing the pain was some kind of test of effectiveness for every medical condition known to mankind. NON psychoactive CBD actually has far more proven and suspected medical uses than THC. In addition it does not have any of the proven and suspected harms inherent in THC.

[Donald G]

To jimsenchuck ...

I wonder how many of those "overdoses" are suicide attempts or related to people living on the streets where there is no quality control over what is ingested ?? Having worked on the streets for years I suspect that that is the case with a very large percentage of them, especially women.

I wonder what small percentage would be considered "accidental" overdoses by people using drugs on prescription ??