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There is a bullshit cultural milieu surrounding the use of cannabis. The general perception seems to be that marijuana is not only a completely harmless substance, but actually a panacea capable of alleviating/curing a vast array of medical conditions. However, its use is hindered by mean, moralistic politicians who are kept in the back pockets of nefarious pharmaceutical interests. This perception would be fine if cannabis was a completely harmless substance with a wide array of medicinal uses, as has been intimated in The Coast’s recent story about the PEACE EAST festival, but it is not. It is sad to see an article pandering to these poorly formed ideas rather than engaging in substantive journalism.
There is a developing body of knowledge on the benefits and consequences of cannabis use based on (gasp!) rigorous scientific evidence. An editorial attached to a systematic review and meta-analysis published by the Journal of the American Medical Association in June lays it out nicely. Cannabis use can be beneficial in specific situations (treating nausea and vomiting secondary to chemotherapy; specific pain syndromes and spasticity from multiple sclerosis), but other than that, the evidence for medical use is scant. These areas deserve further study to determine proper doses of the specific compounds involved, so they can be properly regulated and effectively applied. Until there is rigorous scientific evidence indicating otherwise, all other medicinal uses of cannabis appear to be nonsense.
There are several consequences of cannabis use, including the well-documented increased risk of the development of a psychotic disorder in those individuals who are vulnerable. For people who develop psychosis in the context of cannabis use, the severity of the disorder is increased and overall outcomes are reduced.
The earlier and more frequent the cannabis use, the worse off things go, generally. There is also emerging evidence that cannabis use in adolescents interferes with brain development (actually changing the size/shape/structure of the brain), with long-term effects on cognition, behaviour, affect and neurochemical functioning, even once use has ceased. Cannabis use in adults over the age of approximately 25 does not carry this risk—it is related specifically to stages of brain development happening during adolescence/early adulthood. Which is, sadly, when many people begin sustained cannabis use.
As well, one in 10 people who use cannabis develop a substance use disorder. (People generally find this idea laughable, because cannabis not “addictive” in the way something like an opioid is. But ask anyone with a gambling disorder whether something that is not physiologically addictive can cause significant life problems.) Cannabis use also has a negative impact on other mental health issues, as it becomes an easy way to escape feelings of depression and anxiety. This avoidant behaviour tends to entrench those negative experiences. Every time you avoid things that trigger your depression or anxiety, you strengthen those mental phenomena.
Catering to poorly informed ideas about marijuana use can have serious implications. Given this, it is sad to see The Coast contributing to the bullshit cultural milieu we inhabit.
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This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2015.
I think the author is unfortunately spouting old fear-mongering stats. For example, the development of psychotic disorders – correlation does not equal causation. The ICSDP has published a paper showing common cannabis claims and hw they are not supported by scientific fact. Check out the link: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/michaela/pages/61/attachments/original/1439332294/State_of_the_Evidence_Cannabis_Use_and_Regulation.pdf?1439332294
As a pharmacist, I feel comfortable saying that, like all drugs that are commercially available, and any other substances out there, cannabis is not for everyone. There is not a drug created or cultivated that is safe or appropriate for everyone. It is also not harmful to everyone. Individual use should be an individual decision.
As much as I do respect the opinions of the author, I would ask the readers to please investigate further. I was taken back by the story of the Figi family, where their daughter Charlotte Figi suffered severe seizures as a result of Dravet syndrome. They introduced a high cannabidiol content with a low dose of tetrahydrocannabinol and this eliminated the seizures substantially. Yes, cannabis can be modified to increase or decrease THC or CBD levels depending on the condition. I would also like to mention two great doctors from Victoria British Columbia, Dr. David Hepburn and Dr. Robert Sealy. Their lectures and workshops disseminate the propaganda and focus on the testimonies and medical evidence. We can also examine the research done from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. The researchers noticed that cannabinoids have the ability to slow tumor growth and even selectively promote cancer cell death in a process known as “apoptosis.” These findings replicate those uncovered in a Spanish Study from 2013, which specifically looked at THC as a potential anti-cancer agent. The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in the case of Mr. Owen Smith favored his constitutional right to amendment 7. If the Supreme Court of Canada deems cannabis a medicine in light of evidence they were presented with, I think they out trump this author.
This post is complete and utter bullshit. Let’s ask Mr. MacDonald to explain the endocannabinoid system and how it works in combination with the cannabinoids found in marijuana.
http://norml.org/library/item/introduction…
Everything has risk involved with it from sugar to heroin and everything in between. What are the consequences of prescription drugs? Does he list the side effects of drugs that are advertised on TV for you to “ask your doctor if they may help you?”, such as depression, headaches, accelerated heart rate, bleeding ass, death, etc… every single.day. It’s funny to think that an all-natural drug such as marijuana, and its use for thousands of years, and our science community spends more money on trying to disprove its medical properties than it does finding more uses for it. It’s medicine that can be grown by every single person on earth for pennies, and replaces many expensive prescription drugs that are highly addictive and destructive to patients and their families. I’m not saying that marijuana is “right” for everyone, nor am I suggesting enforced use, but one thing is for sure, it is undeniable by anyone in the medical community that marijuana has profound effects on a person’s body, mind and soul.
I say Mr. MacDonald should be ashamed for using his credentials to scare the public with nothing more than catch phrases from “Reefer Madness”.
What about severe epilepsy …
Author has used the phrase “bullshit cultural milieu” in 2 of 3 articles.
Impressive average.
“These areas deserve further study to determine proper doses of the specific compounds involved, so they can be properly regulated and effectively applied. Until there is rigorous scientific evidence indicating otherwise, all other medicinal uses of cannabis appear to be nonsense.”
He ain’t wrong, yo.
There is not a single fact in this entire article. This is an opinion piece at best. You are most definitely entitled to your opinion – but to act as though your opinion is based in “rigorous scientific evidence”, while indirectly stating the opinions of those pro-cannabis are not scientifically based, is the real bullshit here.
“Until there is rigorous scientific evidence indicating otherwise, all other medicinal uses of cannabis appear to be nonsense.”
No, they appear to be anecdotal. Meanwhile, our drug approval process is rotten to the core, corrupted by pharmaceutical money. Scientific citations attesting to this fact are available on request for anyone who doubts it.
According to the Institute of Medicine, the risk/benefit profile of cannabis compares favourably with most pharmaceuticals.
Note that Health Canada has authorized Cessamet, pure synthetic THC pills and Sativex, a phytopharmaceutical mouth spray made from whole cannabis extracts. They do not seem very concerned about psychosis and addiction.
Nor is Health Canada alarmed that doctors are prescribing SSRIs, off label, to minors with developing brains. They have issued a black box warning advising against it, cautioning that SSRIs are known to cause suicidal ideation. There is scant evidence that SSRIs are better than a placebo for most of the conditions for which they are prescribed.
Cannabis use can also have a positive impact on mental health issues, as it is an easy way to escape feelings of depression and anxiety, rather like SSRIs, only better. Research shows that most chronic cannabis consumers are self-medication psychological and emotional problems such as ADHD and PTSD, typically stemming from childhood trauma. Cannabis is currently being investigated for the treatment of PTSD.
Until the author suffers from debilitating effects of MS as I do, I suggest he take his paranoia and his unsubstantiated arguments and read the vast studies out of Israel.
He may find them enlightening if he can open his mind but a wee bit.
Fuck Mental Health
“There is a developing body of knowledge on the benefits and consequences of cannabis use based on (gasp!) rigorous scientific evidence.”
Yes there is; and obviously this so called “journalist” has absolutely no idea how to research it so here are some links to multiple studies and research and the many medical benefits of cannabis from cancer treatment (cannabis kills cancer cells) to pain management and anti-seizure applications as well as alzheimer’s and arthritis.
http://medicalmarijuana.ca/for-doctors/marijuana-health-studies
http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/index.php?Itemid=135
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/michaela/pages/61/attachments/original/1439332287/Using_Evidence_to_Talk_About_Cannabis.pdf?1439332287
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/michaela/pages/61/attachments/original/1439332294/State_of_the_Evidence_Cannabis_Use_and_Regulation.pdf?1439332294
Thank you for publishing this well thought out article from a professional. When I responded to the article last week (with my thoughts about the known medical impact of long term marajuana use) I was barraged by crazed rhetoric, including one post from a total stranger who commented that she could “shake me” for my opinions! Obviously there is a great divide in perspective, but I tend to acquiesce to facts. We have bought into the cultural myth that pot has no impact on health whatsoever. The zealots wax poetic about the “benefits” or shift the subject to a discussion about alcohol. I stand my ground as someone who has observed a lifetime of impact of long term use on friends from my own generation.
“I stand my ground as someone who has observed a lifetime of impact of long term use on friends from my own generation.”
Care to elaborate?
“The zealots wax poetic about the “benefits” or shift the subject to a discussion about alcohol.”
Really? 13 posts and yours is the only one that references alcohol. “
“with my thoughts about the known medical impact of long term marajuana use”
Yes, they are just that, YOUR thoughts.
Let me ask you this, Mare, if you or your family member was suffering and your doctor told you that MM would be beneficial in your/their comfort and quality of life instead of a harsh, highly addictive prescription pill, would you ignore his advice and use the same points you used today to discount his professional opinion, or would you trust they he/she had your best interest in mind and give it a try?
Oh great, another misinformed “therapist” , here is an article from a real newspaper, not a pretend one with a column from a bullshit pretend therapist. “Surprising news about teens, marijuana, and health issues. It’s all good.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/08/05/good-news-about-teens-and-marijuana-no-links-to-depression-other-health-issues-new-study-says/
“one in 10 people who use cannabis develop a substance use disorder” – and your point? First of all, correlation does not equal causation. Further, how many people who *don’t* use cannabis develop a substance use disorder? And what exactly do you define as a “substance use disorder”? That’s just one point of this article, in which I can poke a whole as big as Texas.
I agree with some of his claims and disagree with others. I think the “medical” use of marijuana – for many – is simply a way to legalize and legitimize their use of pot. It’s simpler, easier back-door way to avoid standing up and say, “I like to smoke pot”.
Now for others, there is the “medical benefit” they achieve from its use. While there is a lack of supporting scientific evidence, there is a body of anecdotal reports stating benefits exist. I sometimes wonder if this benefit is simply the placebo effect. The more you become your illness, the more ill you become. If pot takes you out of that mind set, you “heal”.
As for pot, decriminalize it; get high; relax; ignore the stupid comments.
I smoke pot daily, for the record.
Charlie Brown,
there is no “lack of supporting scientific evidence”! There is a vast amount of peer-reviewed, scientific evidence, published in the most eminent, professional journals:
http://clear-uk.org/static/media/PDFs/medicinal_cannabis_the_evidence2.pdf
Evidence was not my point… and I refer to double-blind, placebo-based, controlled studies like that which is performed with pharmaceutical medications.
…oh my….and his credentials are what??? another wanna be highly prized and followed writer??….and how many patients?…hey all of you who didn’t respond….don’t blame you..not worth the time to
That guy is an idiot. Just because something hasn’t be proven scientifically doesn’t mean it has no merit, if people are getting relief from something, who is he to say it’s bullshit. Plus the whole reason it hasn’t been studied is because of those greedy politicians and pharmaceutical companies. The link between Cannabis and psychosis is shoddy at best. No one really knows if Cannabis causes psychosis, or if people with psychotic disorders tend to self medicate with Cannabis. I know loads of people who have smoked their whole life with no ill effects. I do believe that it’s possible for Cannabis to bring out latent mental disorders, but any drug could have that effect in the right individual. I agree with him that Cannabis can affect a child’s development, more in the sense that getting high is so much fun, especially when you are young and haven’t experienced much life yet. It can mess up a young mind’s priorities. Let’s just legalize and regulate already so people can stop arguing over nothing.
If everyone actually read the entire article they would have noted that he clearly acknowledged there are valid medicinal uses for cases such as chronic pain (e.g. from cancer). I don’t believe anyone will dispute this and that was certainly not his point. The long term view of daily use, most specifically from teenage years on, is indisputable. Someone asked about my observations throughout my life, so I will elaborate. I have seen extremely capable people squander their opportunities in life due to chronic marajuana use. They were simply unable to crawl out of the lassitude created by being stoned on a daily basis. I have seen the impact on young people in terms of school performance. I have always referred to it as “the great detractor”. This is not an observation of casual use, but rather the people who must start their day high and cannot get through the day without remaining in that state. By no means am I a prude. I grew up in the 70’s, and have a lifetime of experience. I agree there are many other chronic addictions that cause long term health problems as well. They are not under discussion in this particular forum. That being said, this is my opinion, and everyone is entitled to their own. That is the great thing about such a public forum.
Lachlan MacDonald admits to the medical benefits in some cases, but fails to recognize the mental health benefits due to his own personal beliefs without any factual evidence. While he claims that “getting high is bullshit”, does he feel the same about the plethora of pharmaceutical medications that also make you high with ‘proven’ damaging and dangerous side effects?
Pharmaceutical medications are a crap shoot. If it works you continue using it, when it doesn’t work you move on to another one. So my challenge to Mr. MacDonald would be to find me any pharmaceutical medication that works for any condition without the risk of overdose or damage from long term use. With over 5000 years of documented medical use and not a single death, I can only say “good luck”.
Instead of wasting his time spewing out the same old rhetoric, he might find a better use of his time by attending one of the Brain Health Matters events put on around Atlantic canada by Maritimer’s Unite for Medical Marijuana.
Honest to Gad, what is your primary malfunction, MareFallRiver? Everyone here is talking about Medical Marijuana and you consistently ignore this and go off on a tangent about some of your vague “personal experiences” or observations of recreational use. The thing is with Medical Marijuana (MM) is that people who are already sick and suffering with some debilitating illness/injury/mental health problem don’t have a “lifetime of opportunities” to “squander”. In the case of my family member, who had MS and other probably related health problems, is now dead, that’s right, D.E.A.D. dead, at quite a young age for an adult. What did that person “squander” by not being able to get out of bed without being “high”, or as I like to refer to it in their case, comfortably medicated or able to function? Is there any of this that resonates with you on a personal level? I mean you did grow up in the seventies and you are certainly no “prude” so you can pass judgment, right?
It is most disappointing to see that there are still people out there that cannot distinguish the difference in a discussion between “Medical Marijuana” and just the plain old, everyday “recreational use marijuana”. The two conversations are completely different and do not have anything to do with one another. They are not interchangeable, period. You can “have an opinion” when it comes to recreational use, but unless you are a medical professional or a patient, I’m very sorry to say, you are not afforded that same right. As a society we do not make medical decisions based on some chick from Fall River’s “opinion” about a completely unrelated topic.
it is a drug that has side effects. like EVERY other drug on the market. It is however an excellent pain killer and one of the best options for people with MS
Typical article written by a constipated linear mind.
When will humans speak from experience as their reference for why they think what they think.
knowing the map is not the same as knowing the territory.
LAME ARTICLE. LAME MISINFORMED PERSPECTIVE. 2015 LOL.
I guess when you post an article like this in the Coast, you can expect all the crazies to attack you. You have a lot of courage Lachlan. Don’t let the druggies on this forum get to you.
We live in a duplex in HRM and our neighbours who allegedly used Marijuana for medical reasons smokes it multiple times through the day. Trouble is, there must be many members in this same family who needs this same substance, as it appears many of their visitors also use it for ***** whatever reasons.
For me, I am very sensitive to smells and odours. The smell of this “skunk” like odor permeates the air to the point, we are unable to open our windows, and on warm days, if we do open our windows, we are overcome with the acrid smell of this substance emits. We feel our right to clean and fresh air is being violated. We politely asked our neighbors to take into consideration that the smell makes me very nauseated, burns my eyes and etc., and they seem to ramp it up more, perhaps to the point of aggravating or taunting us with this smell. If someone does need it for medical reasons, and has a doctor prescribing it to them, we certainly do not want to see them cease using it if it truly helps them. But what we would like, is that they use it in a manner which we are not bombarded with the acrid smell it emits. Unfortunately, smells like this do not obey boundaries and the smoke trespasses to all other areas where the wind and air currents will take it.
How do we find a way to find a happy medium without having shouting matches with our neighbours? We just want the ability to be able to open our windows without being overcome by this acrid skunk smelling smoke filling our living room air. We want the ability to breathe clean air. We are non smokers and do not feel we should have to breathe in other people’s second hand smoke coming from an adjacent property.
We just ask they employ the use of either a ventilation fan that would either absorb the smoke or they employ other ways of using this medication/drug so it would not invade our personal space.
Anyone else have this type of experience and how did you handle it?
As someone who has worked in mental health for ten years, has struggled my whole life with these issues, and has numerous friends that are also affected; I could not agree more with the author. Thanks for offering a not-so-popular opinion.
It’s the only thing that helps with my epilepsy and everyone complaining about the smell can f*** off, I mean it. I have seizures if I do not consume cannabis, without it I would probably be dead.
I hate this article because it just demonizes a medical product that has huge potential but is being held back by people like you.
Yes there are consequences of taking ANY drug or medication. The focus on attacking Cannabis rec users also REALLY HURTS disabled folk like me who are just trying to live.
I hate rec users and I hate the dispensaries here because nobody knows the science behind anything they just put whatever trash companies like Phyto products in their stores and wonder why stock that only has a 6 month shelf life isn’t being sold within 6 months, usually a year or two. Which is awful for the medicinal properties.
The amount of garbage I’ve had to deal with because of people having some kind of moral stance against cannabis, but sure let’s keep alcohol legal. My friend drank himself to death last year, I’ve never heard of anyone smoking themselves to death ( unless they were smoking Vitamin E which was a thing in vape carts a few years back ).
It’s cool to be lumped in as a “druggie” because I use medical cannabis the way my doctors have told me too.
I don’t know think about other people before putting garbage like this out there, also I cannot find the author’s email, social media, and there are no similar pictures of this person on the internet. Which makes me question, is this person even real? I cannot find the author on LinkedIn, twitter, facebook, anything. It’s like he either is EXTREMELY well versed in OpSec or he just doesn’t exist.
This website is trash.