Medicinal Smoking: Worth the Effort?

Medicinal Smoking: Worth the Effort?

Medicinal marijuana is a universally controversial issue. Between its schedule I status and the widely existing live proof from patients that it is a real deal, you cannot make up your mind easily as to whether it is acceptable.

Many people who have used marijuana, illegally or by prescription, swear by its effects. It has been described as the single most potent anti-emetic known to man, which is a life-saver for cancer patients on chemotherapy. As with all chronic and/or terminal diseases, pain is a major issue. Marijuana is a powerful analgesic and this is a proven scientific fact. Patient use has claimed marijuana to be more powerful than other pharmacological alternatives that are often described as "do not even work".

The roadblocks on the way to legalizing and respecting medicinal marijuana are countless, some of which are biased and others come from a true place. Smoking marijuana is still considered "doing drugs" and is therefore socially unacceptable. It's human nature not to excuse anyone for crossing the line unless one is faced personally with the same problem, which is why many people continue to condemn medical marijuana use. Besides smoke, tablet, edible and vaporized forms have been formulated, yet, further research is required because several patients on smoked marijuana claim oral forms to be ineffective. Vaporized forms, however, have good feedback from patients but a lot must be done to ensure its safety. Religion also plays a part, but it is not to blame. Religion has not yet said a final say on this matter, simply because we did not yet get past society so we can get to discuss this issue within the walls of a religious estate.

With all these limitations, science was not spared. Research on medicinal marijuana is extremely limited and studies that include the effects of medicinal marijuana use on already terminally ill patients are minimal. Large pharmaceutical companies refuse to research a plant that produces something that will either be too expensive as a final product and won't sell well enough, or worse, will not even get final approval from institutions like the FDA. Add to that the sky-high cost of the experiments required to reach scientific facts and you get a final "No" from almost every research center and pharmaceutical company. However, because of the established fact that people have used this plant and have benefited from it greatly, it would be an unjustifiable bias to limit or discontinue research.

All those factors are why when people talk of a final decision on this matter, regardless of personal opinions, most people would agree with me that the whole issue is inconclusive to date. While several concerns have surrounded this approach of treatment, the only option left is to keep looking for that middle ground, which takes away people's pain without putting them at risks or compromising their overall health, at the same time, answering society's questions and addressing its logical concerns.

"It is time to have more light than heat on the subject" says Dr. Igor Grant, M.D.* and I personally couldn't agree more. While maintaining people's personal freedom of choice to follow their morals, religion and concepts, the effect on the whole society is also a concern, which is why we need to keep an open mind to science, religion and society alike.

*Professor of Psychiatry and Director of CMCR (Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research) at the University of California.