Medical Marijuana
Medical Marijuana
Within healthcare, specifically long term Chronic Pain, there’s only one other topic other than “Opioids” that evokes more heated debate causing clear polarization within our society…….you guessed it…..Medical Marijuana.
Before tackling this one…….
mypainweb.com offers my extensive personal patient experience. I’m not a medical healthcare professional/provider. All content within mypainweb.com shares my knowledge/understanding/personal experience/study & research of Chronic Pain and related topics.
Upon even a short visit on mypainweb.com, the visitor can see I share facts along with outcome/results/experiences from my own Chronic Pain journey of over 25 years.
As far as Chronic Pain goes…Chronic Pain itself is met with controversy & debate. My Chronic Pain began as a result of a serious injury on September 20, 1994 and has continued to worsen from that day to the present. Chronic Pain for me has been felt every hour of every day without fail…..
mypainweb.com is not a substitute for seeking out advice/counsel from a doctor or other Medical Healthcare Professional. By all means, use mypainweb.com to help you gain a better understanding of options & paths as you face the many obstacles of living with Chronic Pain to help you improve your quality of life.
What Medical Marijuana IS NOT? ……
Unless you have dedicated yourself to pour over the exploding medically accepted research on Medical Marijuana, you don’t know what it is. Understand this….the recent Medical Marijuana research is conducted the very same way research is conducted by Big Pharma & the FDA. Big Pharma & FDA research is usually universally accepted, so the same standard should apply to Medical Marijuana research.
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Medical Marijuana is not your understanding of Marijuana from the 1960’s or 1970’s…..
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Medical Marijuana is not your understanding of Marijuana from your High School days….
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Medical Marijuana is not using marijuana for recreation……
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Medical Marijuana is not is not a foreign substance to our bodies…..
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Medical Marijuana is not a chronic pain strategy that should be taken lightly….
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Medical Marijuana is not a chronic pain strategy that you pursue on your own. In fact, in the State of Ohio, it is required by law that a Certified, Approved Medical Marijuana Doctor evaluate & approve a patient for Medical Marijuana.
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Medical Marijuana is not marijuana as stereotyped in movies, on TV or what one reads in the endless, non-fact-based opinion media headlines.
What IS Medical Marijuana?……
In a word……Hope….
Before I familiarize you with Medical Marijuana “facts”, you may find my previous disposition on the merits of cannabis somewhat in line with mainstream ideology.
When Legalizing Marijuana was put on the 2015 Ohio Ballot, I voted no. Why? The referendum tied Legalizing Marijuana for recreation as well as for Medical. The 2015 Ohio Referendum failed with 64% voting no.
My no vote was also due, in part, due to my opinion that Marijuana had no value in Medicine. I linked marijuana with the “stoner” stereotype. Those that used “weed” were only wanting the “high”. I also hypothesized that marijuana would only further complicate the accepted long term therapy of prescribing “opioids” for long term Chronic Pain.
My comprehensive and extensive knowledge of opioid and the government’s (DEA) classification of marijuana as a Schedule I substance further reinforced my “no” vote. Schedule I substances are considered to have no medical value and are illegal (possess, buy, sell, or use). Heroine, Cocaine among many other substances, which are highly addictive, are classified as Schedule I along with marijuana. By comparison, Opioids are classified as a Schedule II substance.
Want to learn more about the Schedule (classification) of substances/drugs?? Click on the following link:
So why the “flip” from “against” Medical Marijuana to “supporting” Medical Marijuana ??
My Pain Management Doctor and I reached the decision to discontinue my Intrathecal Drug Therapy. My 17 year history with this advanced, high-tech medical device therapy is wrought with device malfunctions, programming issues, intrathecal drug compounding problems along with other legitimate concerns.
Bottom line…..our confidence in the reliability, dependability & safety of intrathecal pump technology is extremely low. While the intrathecal pump did offer some decent relief from time-to-time, it failed to do it consistently.
The risk of continuing to use intrathecal pumps far outweighs the risks. Understand that the intrathecal pump’s reservoir holds several weeks (sometimes months) worth of potent opioids. In the event of a pump device failure, it’s possible a fatal dose of opioids is delivered to the patient without warning. Such an occurrence has happened in the past and will likely continue.
Click on my link below to learn more about my intrathecal pump journey:
My Pain Management Doctor & I reached this decision shortly after my 2/28/2018 Anterior Cervical Decompression Fusion surgery.
An implanted spinal cord stimulator is a non-opioid/drug therapy option that offers limited pain relief (mostly in the legs). The next generation of more advanced spinal cord stimulators will be released soon. It’s predicted they will have the capability to offer additional relief.
While I’ve been prescribed oral opioids for decades along with other types of medication (Gabapentin, Neurontin, muscle relaxants, etc), opioids remain my sole pain management therapy. Long term oral opioid therapy challenges & health concerns are well documented. My own long term oral opioid experience concurs that relying on opioids for the worsening pain I’ve been experiencing offers a dismal outlook.
So….what pain relief strategies are left ??
All other non-invasive strategies have been trialled and/or are being implemented during the past 25 years. You can review these at the link below:
Together with my Pain Management Doctor we discussed Medical Marijuana as a potential long term pain relief strategy.
My Pain Management Doctor is a well known Pain Management Doctor & Surgeon considered an expert among his peers in his field. He also is one of the State Medical Board Directors and is well versed in the recently approved Medical Marijuana Control Board in Ohio.
With over a decade together, my Pain Management Doctor knows my complicated medical history well. We’ve developed a team approach to managing my pain whereby my active participation is used along with my Doctor’s expertise. We have 2-way communication that creates trust & respect.
When Medical Marijuana was put on the table as a potential serious option my immediate response was surprise & disbelief. Simultaneously, I knew there were no more “tools in the tool box”.
My Doctor explained he was confident there is a safe way to use Opioids along with Medical Marijuana. He suggested I meet with a Doctor he knows that is also a Medical Marijuana expert approved by the State of Ohio to approve patient’s for Medical Marijuana.
I agreed to pursue an initial appointment with this Doctor to assess Medical Marijuana. In the meantime, I began to search for reliable Medical Marijuana research, data, studies, etc to learn all that I could.
It didn’t take long for me to realize everything I knew about Marijuana (Cannabis) was completely wrong and unfounded. On the contrary, I experienced a “eureka’ moment whereby the latest Cannabis research & facts during the past 10 years was just cause to “flip” my opinion of Medical Marijuana.
I found myself motivated to continue to learn more…..mypainweb has organized a series of “tabs” to share my findings:
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