I've mentioned in a couple of thread my use of medical marijuana (MM). I wanted to start a thread specifically addressing this therapy.

Presently 14 states allow possession and use of MM. A few weeks ago the Justice Department announced they will no longer be raiding the dispensaries and growers and leave enforcement to the states as they wish.

About 2 weeks ago the American Medical Association reversed their position on MM: they now state it has some medical benefits and deserves more study.

These developments are heartening to me because I have found MM very helpful for my pain. I became a "patient" about 18 months ago. A friend was a patient and helped me through the process of qualifying and then agreed to become my grower (which was extremely helpful because growing MM is not an easy task). I did my research and discovered the Canadian study that concluded MM is helpful in 35% of the cases of diabetic neuropathy.

The first social event for patients I attended astounded me. I expected to see lots of stoners. Instead, I found a roomful of people where the average age was mid-late 50s. They were sitting at tables like you might see in a bingo hall, but instead of bingo cards they had bubblers and pipes. Yeah, there were younger "stoners", but they were in the minority (at least at this social event).

In my college days, the only way I knew to use marijuana was smoke it. Since that first social event I've learned a lot of different (and effective) ways to use it besides smoking. I bought a vaporizer which has the effect of turning the medicine into a clear vapor which you inhale. Now my usual method of medicating. I also make an oral tincture. Two or three droppers of tinc before climbing into bed generally holds my pain at the level I am going to bed with.

Side effects. If you smoke it -- it is harder on your lungs than tobacco. If you have high blood pressure, MM can increase it. Yes, sometimes there is a "head" effect, but that is usually more from the sativa strains of MM. The indica strain is the one which works best for pain and it has less of a head effect (and if using a vaporizer, the head effect is less).


I'd say the expenses associated with growing and processing MM are about $100.00 a month; the expenses depend on whether you grow indoors (like my grower) or outdoors (cheaper with much greater volume). I use perhaps 2 ounces over 3 months. I learned the best way to keep it (it can lose up to 35% of its medicinal effects after a few months unless kept in an air-tight jar). I am probably going to switch to an outdoor grower this summer.

In the past year I've learned what varieties work best for me and can rotate them. If you were to look in my cupboard today, you'd see 6 jars; each is different and depending on time of day and my pain level, I pick and choose (at least 2 of the jars are "curing" -- you want to wait at least 30 days after harvest before using).

I certainly don't encourage anyone to violate the laws of their state (although if your state doesn't allow MM, you can help support changes); if you do live in a state that allows MM, I'd suggest checking it out.

I'd venture that my MM use has kept me from seeking out greater opiads. When I have pain at 6 or 7 and I use my vaporizer, the pain drops like a shot. 2 or 3 minutes and I've knocked the pain down a notch or two (or 3) for the next 90 minutes.

In one sense I'm grateful for PN, because in my case it doesn't really begin to affect me (in a disabling way) until mid-to-late afternoon when my work day is finished (I use no MM prior to work -- while head effects don't usually show up, they may and besides, my morning pain is 2 - 3). The friend who "turned me on" to MM has pain from a back injury and she uses MM almost all day long.

So, there's my story. I'm not an expert, but am happy to answer questions (I am beginning work on production of a documentary about the MM program in my state).

Thanks for listening.

Cowboy