docs say no plant should be smoked...
- Thread starter leaffan
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MarijeJane
Well-Known Member
In States With Medical Marijuana, Painkiller Deaths Drop by 25%
By Douglas Main
America has a major problem with prescription pain medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. Overdose deaths from these pharmaceutical opioids have approximately tripled since 1991, and every day 46 people die of such overdoses in the United States.
However, in the 13 states that passed laws allowing for the use of medical marijuana between 1999 and 2010, 25 percent fewer people die from opioid overdoses annually.
“The difference is quite striking,” said study co-author Colleen Barry, a health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The shift showed up quite quickly and become visible the year after medical marijuana was accepted in each state, she told Newsweek.
In the study, published today August 25 in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers hypothesize that in states where medical marijuana can be prescribed, patients may use pot to treat pain, either instead of prescription opiates, or to supplement them—and may thus require a lower dosage that is less likely to lead to a fatal problem.
As with most findings involving marijuana and public policy, however, not everyone agrees on a single interpretation of the results.
It certainly can be said that marijuana is much less toxic than opiates like Percocet or morphine, and that it is “basically impossible” to die from an overdose of weed, Barry said. Based on those agreed-upon facts, it would seem that an increased use in marijuana instead of opiates for chronic pain is the most obvious explanation of the reduction in overdose deaths.
Not so fast, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer at Phoenix House, a national nonprofit addiction treatment agency. He said that the immediate reduction in overdose deaths is extremely unlikely to be due to the substitute use of the herb, for one simple reason: Marijuana isn’t widely prescribed for chronic pain.
“You don’t have primary care doctors in these states [prescribing] marijuana instead of Vicodin,” he said. Even in states where medical marijuana is legal, it is only prescribed by a small subset of doctors, and, therefore, probably couldn’t explain the huge decrease in opiate-related overdose deaths.
Kolodny says the study results are more likely due to a host of factors. One example is differences in state policies to cut down on over-prescribing of opiate medications. Also, many people who overdose on painkillers are already addicted, and these individuals are naturally among the most likely to take too much, Kolodny told Newsweek. States that pass progressive laws to treat addiction may be more likely to lower their rates of overdose deaths; for political reasons these states may also be more likely to legalize medical marijuana.
“This is a good example of where policy change has gotten ahead of the science,” Barry said. She and Kolodny would probably agree on that point.
News Type:
CannaPULSE
http://biotrackthc.com/news/cannapulse-states-medical-marijuana-painkiller-deaths-drop-25
By Douglas Main
America has a major problem with prescription pain medications like Vicodin and OxyContin. Overdose deaths from these pharmaceutical opioids have approximately tripled since 1991, and every day 46 people die of such overdoses in the United States.
However, in the 13 states that passed laws allowing for the use of medical marijuana between 1999 and 2010, 25 percent fewer people die from opioid overdoses annually.
“The difference is quite striking,” said study co-author Colleen Barry, a health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. The shift showed up quite quickly and become visible the year after medical marijuana was accepted in each state, she told Newsweek.
In the study, published today August 25 in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers hypothesize that in states where medical marijuana can be prescribed, patients may use pot to treat pain, either instead of prescription opiates, or to supplement them—and may thus require a lower dosage that is less likely to lead to a fatal problem.
As with most findings involving marijuana and public policy, however, not everyone agrees on a single interpretation of the results.
It certainly can be said that marijuana is much less toxic than opiates like Percocet or morphine, and that it is “basically impossible” to die from an overdose of weed, Barry said. Based on those agreed-upon facts, it would seem that an increased use in marijuana instead of opiates for chronic pain is the most obvious explanation of the reduction in overdose deaths.
Not so fast, said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, chief medical officer at Phoenix House, a national nonprofit addiction treatment agency. He said that the immediate reduction in overdose deaths is extremely unlikely to be due to the substitute use of the herb, for one simple reason: Marijuana isn’t widely prescribed for chronic pain.
“You don’t have primary care doctors in these states [prescribing] marijuana instead of Vicodin,” he said. Even in states where medical marijuana is legal, it is only prescribed by a small subset of doctors, and, therefore, probably couldn’t explain the huge decrease in opiate-related overdose deaths.
Kolodny says the study results are more likely due to a host of factors. One example is differences in state policies to cut down on over-prescribing of opiate medications. Also, many people who overdose on painkillers are already addicted, and these individuals are naturally among the most likely to take too much, Kolodny told Newsweek. States that pass progressive laws to treat addiction may be more likely to lower their rates of overdose deaths; for political reasons these states may also be more likely to legalize medical marijuana.
“This is a good example of where policy change has gotten ahead of the science,” Barry said. She and Kolodny would probably agree on that point.
News Type:
CannaPULSE
http://biotrackthc.com/news/cannapulse-states-medical-marijuana-painkiller-deaths-drop-25
WHATFG
Well-Known Member
O.d.ing was my biggest fear when I was taking such a large dose of morphine. If I forgot whether or not I took the next dose, I would have to wait for the withdrawals to start then go oh take your pills dummy. Didn't happen often but enough that I made sure I hadn't already took it.
The Hippy
Well-Known Member
I smoked banana peels once...does that count?
The Hippy
Well-Known Member
lol They probably though they got high too. I gave a guy a QP of spent tained weed and he thought it was great....WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I sold tea leaves to losers in joints LOL
Jackal69
Well-Known Member
not fluent in hippiness wtf does that mean hahahaha
The Hippy
Well-Known Member
Weed that had a pile of butane ran across it..thereby stripping it of all Trichs. Essentially making it hemp. He said it great....mind over matter maybe?? I laughed myself to the point where i needed to smoke a whole bunch of MJ....oh wait that had nothing to do with it. I just did that cause I like it.
leaffan
Well-Known Member
One night, a long time ago....I don`t know if I was drunk or high or maybe both...I was in buddy`s truck and almost shit my pants. There was this massive, I mean MASSIVE field of pot right in front of my eyes. Well he slammed on the breaks, we both got out and started going ape shit pulling these huge buds off these enormous plants. We filled the back of his truck in no time and got the hell out of there. We felt like we hit the jackpot, our lotto numbers came in !!!!
He drove us back to my house, and we grabbed some buds and took them in to the house for a fast oven dry...anticipaaaation....gotta get back to the field...wtf do we do...smoke first...yeah....
OH FUCK.....it`s hemp....bummer....
He drove us back to my house, and we grabbed some buds and took them in to the house for a fast oven dry...anticipaaaation....gotta get back to the field...wtf do we do...smoke first...yeah....
OH FUCK.....it`s hemp....bummer....
We used to sell Madoc hemp in high school, for about a week ...each year....until everyone caught on. 
Didn't matter how big a bob marley joint you rolled
Still grows wild there and is the best hemp world wide and no one grows it.
Biggest ugliest seediest, thickest dam plants.
Didn't matter how big a bob marley joint you rolled
Still grows wild there and is the best hemp world wide and no one grows it.
Biggest ugliest seediest, thickest dam plants.
Geronimo420
Well-Known Member
edible or vaporizing are the best way to go...but every now and then a sacrifice my health for a good old joint
OGEvilgenius
Well-Known Member
Studies show increased lung capacity in marijuana smokers. Slightly lower lung cancer rates too. No evidence of typical long term respiratory illness associated with tobacco. Increased likelihood of acute bronchitis though. That's what the numbers show. Some studies conflict with the above but they are all piss poorly designed and include duel use substance users.
That said, vaporizing should be even better.
That said, vaporizing should be even better.
Magenta Thumb
Well-Known Member
More insight into the mind of MDs as they view LP and product naming conventions:
http://www.cmaj.ca/site/earlyreleases/marijuana-info.pdf
http://www.cmaj.ca/site/earlyreleases/marijuana-info.pdf
