Medical Marijuana

KatiepooRN · Mar 3, 2013

I have a patient who receives it, but it is prescribed to stimulate appetite. It has been extremely effective in that regard. I've not seen it used for anything other than stimulating appetite.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Mar 3, 2013

I have a patient who receives it, but it is prescribed to stimulate appetite. It has been extremely effective in that regard. I've not seen it used for anything other than stimulating appetite.

Me, too, in the marinol form. In acute care, I have yet to see it used for pain control.

Of course, there is a place for this substance in medical care, just as there is for morphine and codeine or any of the narcotics.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Mar 3, 2013

I havent seen it in practice, but the ANA's official position is pro-medical marijuana, either in pill form or the smokeable form.

TerpGal02, ASN · Mar 12, 2013

I have had 2 pts at my last job that had medical marijuana cards in other states, its not legal in my state. Both stated it was for pain management and while I have no doubts MMJ has its place and can be useful for pain, I don't think it was ever very useful for either of these two people. The first was absolutely the most delusional pt I have ever met and claimed MMJ was the panacea for his chronic pain from a genetic disorder (that he did actually have), and then when you talked to his family, apparantly he became unmanageably psychotic while using MMJ and still c/o severe pain. The other was an addict of epic proportions and would say and do anything to get her hands on any substance she could put into her body.

tewdles, RN · Mar 13, 2013

I have cared for patients using Marinol and who have used medicinal marijuana in a variety of forms.

Anecdotally I would say that the results from the Marinol are not as good as from the marijuana, per patient reports.

I was an oncology and post op patient that used medicinal marijuana for my nausea, anxiety, and as an appetite stimulant.

It was a wonderful antiemetic, I used lozenges and suckers with excellent results and no QT changes common with the more common drugs. I fear that there was nothing that was going to improve my appetite during that time, and mj did not help...I NEVER felt hungry.

Post operatively the medicinal mj did help with my mild to moderate pain, but for me it required doses that adversely affected my cognition (I got high), so it was not my preferred method of pain relief