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

Nurses General Nursing

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

    • 1265
      Yes
    • 128
      No

1,393 members have participated

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

Please post your opinions and reply to our survey. Thanks

i think pot should be treated like alcohol, in that it should be illegal to be impaired while driving or at work etc. i think it should be a controlled substance because it's not gonna go away and it's very common and accessible.

i dunno if limiting it do prescriptions would help because people can and will abuse it whether it's prescribed or not...people abuse and traffic other prescription drugs (like morphine or other painkillers) there should be treatment for abusers even though i dunno if the addiction is more mental than physical

it does definately have therapuetic benefits and smoking it or eating it unrefined is the most effective. i trat a pt with nabilone and he says it's not nearly as effective as smoking it. he has a not e formr his doctor to show anyone who has concerns when he does smoke it.

my dad grows his own and has since i was a kid....it was different when i was younger ....it was recreational...but he has had a lot of digestive problems in the past 10 years...but now has stage four cancer...the pot really helps with his appetite, nausea and promotes relaxation...he grows his own because now a days a lot of stuff is altered or too potent and it can be demoralizing to have to call a dealer.

in the past i have also use it for therapeutic reasons...prior to nursing...for my appetite, nausea and relaxation...i had lost 30lbs, was unable to hold food down, i was on disablity...i eventually found out the cause was my back and a new bed fixed the problem.

...on another topic there should be more strict guidelines to limit trafficing of prescribed medications, you'd be amamzed at how easy it is to get a prescription you don't need and sell the doses. it's insane and criminal!!!!

any who marijuana is a good topic. keep an open mind and speak up!!!

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And a resounding AMEN to that!:smokin:

Then again, I've long believed marijuana should be legal for anyone over 21, government-regulated and taxed just like tobacco and booze are. That would not only keep a lot of otherwise innocent people out of the legal system, but get criminals out of the business. Makes perfectly good sense if you ask me......but who asked me?:cool:

Amen!!!!!!!!

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Totally agree with everything you said, and yeah...it is JMO too! :smokin:

i agree with you too....but what's 'jmo' mean?:confused:

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There was a Govmt. study in the 70's that proved it was less harmful than ETOH.

what is 'etoh'?

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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

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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

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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.

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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.:smokin:

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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

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i agree with you too....but what's 'jmo' mean?:confused:
"jmo" means just my opinion.
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Specializes in CVICU, PICU, ER,TRAUMA ICU, HEMODIALYSIS.
Do you think patients should have the right to use medical marijuana?

Please post your opinions and reply to our survey. Thanks

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.

Registered User

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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 :D

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

http://www.rism.org/isg/dlp/ganja/analyses/DreherInterview.html

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

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