Benefits of Medical Marijuana

There are few subjects that can stir up stronger emotions among doctors, scientists, researchers, policy makers, and the public than medical marijuana. Is it safe? Should it be legal? Decriminalized? Has its effectiveness been proven? What conditions is it useful for? Is it addictive? How do we keep it out of the hands of teenagers? Is it really the “wonder drug” that people claim it is? Are the benefits of medical marijuana just a ploy to legalize marijuana in general?

These are just a few of the excellent questions around the subject of the Benefits of Medical Marijuana, questions that I am going to studiously avoid so we can focus on two specific areas: why do patients find it useful, and how can they discuss it with their doctor? Marijuana is currently legal, on the state level, in 29 states, and in Washington, DC. It is still illegal from the

federal government’s perspective. The Obama administration did not make prosecuting medical marijuana even a minor priority. An estimated several million Americans currently use medical marijuana, supported by approximately 85% of the American population for legalization.

Marijuana without the high

The least controversial extract from the hemp plant is known as CBD (cannabidiol), as this component of marijuana possesses minimal, if any, intoxicating properties. Marijuana itself has more than 100 active components. THC (which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol) is the chemical that causes the “high” that goes along with marijuana consumption. CBD-dominant strains have little or no THC, so patients report very little if any alteration in consciousness. You can experience all the Benefits of Medical Marijuana without worrying about the psychoactive properties of THC.

Patients do, however, report many benefits of CBD, from relieving insomnia, anxiety, spasticity, and pain to treating potentially life-threatening conditions such as epilepsy. One particular form of childhood epilepsy called Dravet syndrome is almost impossible to control but responds dramatically to a CBD-dominant strain of marijuana called Charlotte’s Web. The videos of this are dramatic.

Uses of Medical Marijuana

The most common use for medical marijuana in the United States is for pain control. While marijuana isn’t strong enough for severe pain (for example, post-surgical pain or a broken bone), it is quite effective for the chronic pain that plagues millions of Americans, especially as they age. Part of its allure is that it is clearly safer than opiates (it is impossible to overdose on and far less addictive) and it can take the place of NSAIDs such as Advil or Aleve, if people can’t take them due to problems with their kidneys or ulcers or GERD.

Medical Marijuana and Pain Management

In particular, marijuana appears to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis, and nerve pain in general. This is an area where few other options exist, and those that do, such as Neurontin, Lyrica, or opiates are highly sedating. Patients claim that marijuana allows them to resume their previous activities without feeling completely out of it and disengaged.

v I have also heard of its use quite successfully for fibromyalgia, endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and most other conditions where the final common pathway is chronic pain.

Marijuana is also used to manage nausea and weight loss and can be used to treat glaucoma. A highly promising area of research is its use for PTSD in veterans who are returning from combat zones. Many veterans and their therapists report drastic improvement and clamor for more studies, and for a loosening of governmental restrictions on its study. Patients suffering from pain and wasting syndrome associated with HIV, as well as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease, report medical marijuana’s purported assistance.

This list does not aim to encompass all conditions but rather provides a brief overview of the types of ailments that medical marijuana may alleviate. As with any treatment, claims of effectiveness should be critically assessed and approached with caution.

Talking with your doctor

Many patients find themselves in the situation of wanting to learn more about medical marijuana, but feel embarrassed to bring this up with their doctor. This is in part because the medical community has been, as a whole, overly dismissive of this issue. Doctors are now playing catch-up and trying to keep ahead of their patients’ knowledge on this issue. Other patients are already using medical marijuana, but don’t know how to tell their doctors about this for fear of being chided or criticized.

My advice for patients is to be entirely open and honest with your physicians and to have high expectations of them. Inform them that you view this as a part of your care and anticipate them to be knowledgeable about it, capable of guiding you or directing you to the necessary information. My advice to doctors is that regardless of their stance—whether supportive, neutral, or opposed to medical marijuana—patients are adopting it.

Even though rigorous studies and definitive “gold standard” proof of the benefits and risks of medical marijuana might be lacking, it’s crucial to familiarize themselves with it, maintain an open-minded approach, and, most importantly, be non-judgmental. Otherwise, our patients will seek out other, less reliable sources of information; they will continue to use it, they just won’t tell us, and there will be that much less trust and strength in our doctor-patient relationship. I often hear complaints from other doctors that there isn’t adequate evidence to recommend medical marijuana, but there is even less scientific evidence for sticking our heads in the sand.

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Benefits of Medical Marijuana

Marijuana without the high