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An Update: Medical Marijuana in
Michigan
March 1, 2010 - NPR
ANN ARBOR, MI - Michigan's medical marijuana law took effect in April
2009, but some patients say getting the drug is still a problem.
Michigan's voters said yes in November 2008 to an initiative that
would allow people with certain medical conditions to grow and use
marijuana.
That includes cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, to name a
few.
For 51-year-old Nick - who asked us not to use his last name -- the law
meant relief from chronic pain he's suffered since he was injured in a
car accident 15 years ago. He is unable to work and rarely leaves his
Washtenaw County home.
"People think there are a lot of drugs that you can take for pain," he
says. "Pain is one of the most common complaints of the citizens of the
United States. But there really aren't. There are about four or five
basic groups of drugs that they can give you, and each one of them has
dangerous side effects when they're taken long-term."
Nick knows about those drugs. He's been dependent on opiates, including
morphine and oxycontin -- for many years. He says marijuana helps him
reduce his narcotics use by about 40 percent.
But Nick says finding a doctor to formally recommend medical marijuana
for him was a challenge, because most simply aren't educated about the
law, or don't want to be involved.
He eventually found Dr. Robert Kenewell in Troy.
Kenewell now specializes in evaluating patients who want to apply for a
state permit to use medical marijuana.
"If you can put yourself in the shoes of someone who's truly suffering,
the pain that becomes so severe that it occupies your every thought,"
Kenewell says. "You can't escape from it, no matter what you do, you
can't hold a regular conversation with somebody, because no matter what
you're talking about, your mind is constantly coming back to the pain.
It's a really terrible way to live."
Linda Vanni is a nurse practitioner for the Karmanos Cancer Pain
Service in Detroit.
She says Karmanos does not allow smoking of any kind on its premises --
and that includes marijuana. But the hospital does prescribe Marinol, a
pill that contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
But Vanni says it doesn't give the same sense of well-being that smoked
or vaporized marijuana does.
She also says some patients get the drug without going through the
state's registration process or having a registered caregiver grow it
for them.
"Many of these people are senior citizens, so maybe not of the group
that maybe had used marijuana in the past, when they were younger,"
Vanni says. "And I'll usually say something to the effect of, Would you
like to share where you're getting it? And they'll usually say my
grandchildren helped me get it."
Nick grows his own marijuana plants. But he doesn't understand why the
state won't provide information on where to get seeds or clones of the
plants.
Nick says Michigan Medical Marijuana Compassion Clubs do offer guidance.
He hopes the state's law will be streamlined to make it easier for
patients to access the drug.
"Why do you want to hurt sick people? Some of these people are
literally in the process of dying, he says. "They can't find relief any
other way. You just can't imagine this unless you're experiencing it,
and you don't experience it until it's too late to change your opinion."
The Michigan Department of Community Health says more than 17 thousand
people applied for medical marijuana cards since April 2009.
About 9 thousand registrations have been issued, and just under four
thousand caregiver registrations have been issued.
"Nick knows about those drugs. He's been dependent on opiates, including morphine and oxycontin -- for many years. He says marijuana helps him reduce his narcotics use by about 40 percent."
Of course it does everyone knows mixing a little weed with opiates will increase the nod at least x2. If that guy stopped all opiates completely and just smoked weed I bet he would not get much if any pain relief. Im all for people being able to get medical marijuana but no one is ever going to convince me that marijuana is an effective pain killer. It literaly makes every aspect of any pain I am feeling more noticable and I focus it on it to the point of being obsessive until the high is gone.
-------------------- "I just need to check inside ya asshole SIR.... Asshole clear!"
Quote: PeterGriffin467 said: "Nick knows about those drugs. He's been dependent on opiates, including morphine and oxycontin -- for many years. He says marijuana helps him reduce his narcotics use by about 40 percent."
Of course it does everyone knows mixing a little weed with opiates will increase the nod at least x2. If that guy stopped all opiates completely and just smoked weed I bet he would not get much if any pain relief. Im all for people being able to get medical marijuana but no one is ever going to convince me that marijuana is an effective pain killer. It literaly makes every aspect of any pain I am feeling more noticable and I focus it on it to the point of being obsessive until the high is gone.
I agree with this dude. I used to have back problems and shooting pain from a nerve in my leg (hit by a car) and every time I blazed when I was in pain it intensified the pain so much that I wouldn't dare smoke it again till my pain was gone. Three things I agree that it helps with though are 1. Nausea 2. sleeping problems 3. appetite. That would be sweet if pot killed some pain. I guess if the pain was bad enough you could blaze enough fast enough to pass the hell out. No pain in deep sleep ya know.
Quote: PeterGriffin467 said: "Nick knows about those drugs. He's been dependent on opiates, including morphine and oxycontin -- for many years. He says marijuana helps him reduce his narcotics use by about 40 percent."
Of course it does everyone knows mixing a little weed with opiates will increase the nod at least x2. If that guy stopped all opiates completely and just smoked weed I bet he would not get much if any pain relief. Im all for people being able to get medical marijuana but no one is ever going to convince me that marijuana is an effective pain killer. It literaly makes every aspect of any pain I am feeling more noticable and I focus it on it to the point of being obsessive until the high is gone.
I agree with this dude. I used to have back problems and shooting pain from a nerve in my leg (hit by a car) and every time I blazed when I was in pain it intensified the pain so much that I wouldn't dare smoke it again till my pain was gone. Three things I agree that it helps with though are 1. Nausea 2. sleeping problems 3. appetite. That would be sweet if pot killed some pain. I guess if the pain was bad enough you could blaze enough fast enough to pass the hell out. No pain in deep sleep ya know.
It really does work wonders for pain managment, more so to some than others. It effects everyone differently, you know. Its not really accurate to say that Cannabis cures all pain, or the inverse, no pain on it's own.
-------------------- Nothing I say or do is factual; every single thing I write is a work of fiction. Got no idea what I'm talking about here~
"Once in awhile, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right"~ (Grateful Dead)
"o puer, qui omnia nomini debes"; "You, boy, who owe's everything to a name"~ Mark Anthony
"Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum."; "Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system."~ Cicero
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