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Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

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Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#91

Post by DanBC »

millstone wrote: post #74
deelowe wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Treating chronic pain has less to do with pain relief and more to do with mental health. Sometimes people just want to forget or feel different for a while. Also, opiates suck!

Where'd you get this idea? Any citations? Your comment reads condescending to me: "my pain is all in my head." But it's not, and treating my mental heath is treating the symptoms and not the cause. The best thing for my mental health would be an end to my physical pain.

You've said that your mental health is suffering because of the pain you're in.

People offering mental health treatment are not saying the pain is "all in your head"[1]. They're saying you deserve treatment for all your problems, not just a focus on one specific pain problem.

We've known for sometime that treatment for mental illness is more effective if it looks at more than the patient's mental illness - if it looks at all the biological, psychological, and social factors.

This concept is moving into physical health treatment, especially for long term pain.

And it seems that mental health treatment can reduce the amount of pain that people feel.

[1] I'm not sure if you realise just how dismissive this sounds. Mental illness is debilitating and one of the top ten causes of years lost to disability. Those people aren't "making it up", which is the implication many will draw from your "all in my head" comment.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#92

Post by akiselev »

pmoriarty wrote: post #57
zensavona wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem from the pharma companies point of view is that they have patents on a lot of their drugs, granting exclusivity on production. Marijuana is a plant which anyone can grow (and thus compete with them).

I don't think most marijuana smokers are going to want to bother growing their own marijuana any more than cigarette smokers bother to grow their own tobacco. People are also very attracted to brands and swayed by marketing. I don't doubt for an instant that the marijuana industry is going to be gigantic if it ever becomes fully legal in the US.

I don't think the economics are comparable at all. Given that cannabis is literally an invasive weed, getting started is really easy and takes very little (horizontal) space. A past neighbor in Northern California just randomly stuck a few seeds from a dispensary in the middle of her backyard garden, did a little research on how to take care of it, and four months later had more cannabis than the entire block could smoke before the next harvest was ready.

A single tobacco plant won't yield much more than 2 ounces and that would last a pack-a-day smoker less than a week, saving them about $40 (not including labor of actually making the class A cigarettes). 2 ounces for a single cannabis plant is a relatively poor yield but would still last an 8th-a-day smoker 2 weeks and save them at least $400 and there is up to a 10x difference between a poor yield and an excellent yield. The reward/effort ratio for these two plants is worlds apart so I don't think the comparison to tobacco is particularly helpful.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#93

Post by Joakal »

jessep wrote: post #28

I get kidney stones pretty often (6 times in the last 8 years). I vomit from the pain, convulse on the floor, lose all sense of self as I just struggle to survive the sensation. It is intense. Usually I have to go to the emergency room for IV opioids. Then they give you some to take home after you pass the peak of the pain. Last time it happened to me, I went home at around 6pm after going into the hospital that morn…

Have you tried riding rollercoasters with kidney stones?

Apparently some people did a study and found that it can be effective at passing kidney stones. Was in news last year https://www.ems1.com/medical-clinical/articles/129734048-Stu...

They also said it's good as preventative measure (dislodging before they get too big).

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#95

Post by zzrg »

M_Grey wrote: post #37
jessep wrote: post #28

I get kidney stones pretty often (6 times in the last 8 years). I vomit from the pain, convulse on the floor, lose all sense of self as I just struggle to survive the sensation. It is intense. Usually I have to go to the emergency room for IV opioids. Then they give you some to take home after you pass the peak of the pain. Last time it happened to me, I went home at around 6pm after going into the hospital that morn…

I have a friend who lost a bunch of weight (and was very overweight) in a relatively short period. He then developed gout, which is apparently agonizing. He did the same things as you, and like you, is "in awe". Just having seen the difference in him I'm prettied impressed too. I'm glad that you've found something that works for you.

I also have gout. Weed does help somewhat during intense flare-ups. However, NSAIDs inhibit cannabis reuptake (or something), so you can't effectively use both weed and an NSAID. And given the choice between the two, NSAIDs are much more effective for me.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#96

Post by dutchbrit »

okonomiyaki3000 wrote: post #94

Maybe these patients aren't aware of the risks. Maybe they don't know it can KILL!!! http://hightimes.com/news/chelsea-clinton-suggests-marijuana...

This is hardly proof that it kills. And mixing particular drugs with particular other drugs can always cause issues. This doesn't make marijuana a 'killer'.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#97

Post by zzrg »

X-Istence wrote: post #78
M_Grey wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a friend who lost a bunch of weight (and was very overweight) in a relatively short period. He then developed gout, which is apparently agonizing. He did the same things as you, and like you, is "in awe". Just having seen the difference in him I'm prettied impressed too. I'm glad that you've found something that works for you.

Pain from gout is excruciating. It is incredibly painful, and you can't put pressure on it, you can't even cover it with a light sheet, you can't sleep... and it goes on for days, sometimes weeks. My longest attack was 2 months long. Standard opioids didn't touch. Should have tried MJ instead.

Have you tried Naproxen? Works well for me.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#98

Post by nthcolumn »

They are making it 'more' illegal in the UK. You are drug tested if you are pulled over by their pigs and their companies do urine tests on every single employee regardless of role and fired. Unless you are an exec I bet and for something you could have done legally over a month ago stateside.

My niece has Crohn's. From a lovely vibrant kid she has managed this pain with a smile and nearly died once or twice. She is ill again now. How many of those cunts snort coke before their big hypocritical speeches?

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#99

Post by DanBC »

nthcolumn wrote: post #98

They are making it 'more' illegal in the UK. You are drug tested if you are pulled over by their pigs and their companies do urine tests on every single employee regardless of role and fired. Unless you are an exec I bet and for something you could have done legally over a month ago stateside. My niece has Crohn's. From a lovely vibrant kid she has managed this pain with a smile and nearly died once or twice. She is…

>> their companies do urine tests on every single employee regardless of role and fired.

https://www.gov.uk/monitoring-work-workers-rights/drug-testi...

> 2. Drug testing

> Employers have to have consent if they want to test for drugs. Usually this is when they have a full contractual health and safety policy, which should be in the contract or staff handbook.

> Employers should:

> limit testing to employees that need to be tested

> ensure the tests are random

> *not single out particular employees for testing unless this is justified by the nature of their jobs

> Workers can’t be made to take a drugs test but if they refuse when the employer has good grounds for testing, they may face disciplinary action.

https://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace-issues/health-and-safety/dr...

> Despite claims from drugs-testing companies, there is no real evidence that drug-testing is becoming common-place in British workplaces. It is mainly used, often with union agreement, in safety critical areas such as transport and energy generation or after an incident. There is also increased usage in the construction industry. However generally where wide-scale drug testing has been considered it has been rejected either because of cost, union objections, or doubts over the effectiveness.

Re: Given Choice, Patients Will Choose Cannabis Over Prescribed Opioids

#100

Post by jk563 »

nthcolumn wrote: post #98

They are making it 'more' illegal in the UK. You are drug tested if you are pulled over by their pigs and their companies do urine tests on every single employee regardless of role and fired. Unless you are an exec I bet and for something you could have done legally over a month ago stateside. My niece has Crohn's. From a lovely vibrant kid she has managed this pain with a smile and nearly died once or twice. She is…

Not sure what you've seen to evidence this. I've worked for 4 companies (definitely not exec level); I've been pulled over a couple of times and not once been asked to do a drug/urine test.
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