Do you think patients should have the right to use medical marijuana?

I would love to see marjuana legalized. Why should cops be the only ones who have access!!!! (I know quite a few who have a stash and are saving it for a retirement party)
Lori:hatparty:

yes it should be especially in those with long-term illnesses, if it relieves suffering why not?? Methadone is readily available for some ex-drug addicts. Why cant the cannibas be utilised. another thing maybe meds have 100's of side-effects anyway. I think its absolutely ridiculous that it is not utilised more

Isn't smoking a fatty an effective way to alleviate the post-chemo anorexia and N/V? Seems like a no-brainer in terms of CA/Aids patients. And really, these folks have suffered enough, or will soon be faced with unimaginable hardship.

Where's the compassionate side of symptom relief? If it were my husband or my brother / sister, I'd get it myself for them. The moral thing often has little to do with the legal thing.

Have you seen the effects of cancer or even cemo? If so I am all for comfort and easing n/v. It is hard to see them in so much distress. Pain meds don't relieve. Phenegren helps at times. Are we not about eleavating the most distressing parts of the disease? As well as treating.
Do you know back in the 1700's and 1800's they used coca on slaves for more production, and they did not have to feed them as much. This was ok for years until abuse of this highly addictive drug for production reasons.
Why not for legit comfort measures.

[quote=brian]Do you think patients should have the right to use medical marijuana?

Please post
your opinions and reply to our survey. Thanks I think that patient using chemotherapy and radiation should be allowed to use this type of therapy to gain back their appetite and get past their nausea. It seems that patients using Marinol for appetite loss eat much better than without it. My personal opinion, if it will help cancer patients to eat and not be sick then I'm all for it. They need their strength to regain their health and get back to their everyday lives. Vicki L. Spears LPN Tennessee

"jmo" means just my opinion.

As a 30 year veteran RN with ER, Critical care, dialysis, and hospice experience I have noticed a high degree of ethanol intake by 2 groups of people: the elderly and patients with chronic pain who are unable or unwilling to take prescribed pain meds, or whose MD's are guilty of undertreating their pain. I have a close relative who was in a near fatal car accident 20 years ago; he is 56 years old and had been self medicating his pain with large daily amounts of ETOH. Six months ago he had to detox when he learned during a hospitalization for respiratory failuren that he had developed cirrhosis. He is now on the list for a heart-lung transplant and he is taking PRESCRIBED pain medication finally. As a society, we Americans seem to be resolved to seeing our elderly waste away due to anorexia which is often accepted as part of the aging process. It's not. After interviewing hundreds of frail octo- and nanogenarians as to their medical history, I have found that loss of appetite is often secondary to poor pain management for arthritis, past injuries or surgeries. (When YOU'RE in pain, do you feel like eating?) How many times have I begged an MD for something stronger than darvocet for post op ORIF pain for a sleepless, restless, confused elderly patient only to have the MD d/c all pain meds and sedation? (They always say its the narcotics that is causing the confusion, etc.) If I had a nickel for all the elderly patients whose mentation cleared after their pain was FINALLY under control and they were able to get some much needed sleep... or a dime for those patients whose appetites increased when their pain was relieved. Yes, I am all for marijuana being made legal. Unlike ETOH, it is not toxic to every cell in the body, long term use does not result in cerebral atrophy, Wernicke's psychosis, and cirrhosis of the liver. It's first documented use was in 2700 B.C. in China when it was used to relieve pain DURING surgery. Since that time, aside from ritual uses, it has been predominantly used from the MIddle Ages, through the 1700's and 1800's for sedation, dysmenorrhea, and of course pain relief. Unfortunately, it is also the only drug that patients can grow in their back yard. It doesn't take a Kirkegaardian leap to figure that the inability to corner the market on production is probably one reason pharmaceutical companies aren't lobbying Congress to legalize its use. And as long as we have a preponderance of opiophobic doctors and a DEA that persecutes those MD'S who treat pain as aggressively as if they're the corner crack dealer, how can we possibly expect a reasonable outcome to this issue?? By all REASONABLE, LOGICAL standards legalizing marijuana should have been a no-brainer by this 21st century. Instead, since around 1980 or so, our governing bodies seem to have adopted "throw the baby out with the bathwater" as its guideline for all decision making. Everything is Black or White. PERIOD. I apologize for this being so long. I have a real problem being brief. Sorry.
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I was almost afraid to click on this thread, and am thrilled with the responses. Can't wait to join the ranks of the obviously rational and intelligent group that call themselves nurses

btw, for anyone interested, this is an interesting study...

http://www.rism.org/isg/dlp/ganja/an...Interview.html

I am part of a drug safety awareness board that brings up interesting obscure studies quite often. this is a good one!!

My father suffered from advanced peripheral neuropathy. My sister and I once asked him would he want marijuana (my sister joked that she lived right behind the high school and could probably get some in a few days – LOL) to help with the pain, as he had a very high drug tolerance (he used 100 mcg fentanyl patches changed every other day and took Tylenol 3 as needed). He was on both federal and state retirement, and of course would lose both if caught, and all he said was, “I have too much to lose”. His response led me to believe he would have used it if it didn’t mean potentially losing his income – not to mention his health insurance.

LEGALIZE it and let this country move on…think of the money we’d save in police time and court costs. Besides, you never hear of someone shooting someone over a dime bag, but they’ll shoot each other over a rock of crack in a minute. Tax the crap out of it, but let’s move on to real criminals, please.

Rarely have I ever seen someone stoned get behind the wheel....they're too busy finding cosmic patterns hidden in the kitchen linoleum to even GET UP.....

BTW - ETOH - chemical "shorthand" for ethyl alcohol, the drinkable stuff, commonly known as booze.

And I am still laughing at the poster who started his/her sentence with, "Isn't smoking a fatty...?" THAT was funny!

I absolutely agree with the use of Marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Many people are relieved of nausea and loss of appetite from Marijuana when the Merrinol just doesn't work for them. I worked in Oncology for quite a while and also volunteered with an AIDS organization and have heard reports of this from people who resorted to pot after other medications including Merrinol didn't work.