Interesting article on medical cannabis

[Gary]

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I am all for it but this presents some interesting things. I think it could change some peoples opinion.

[Frog42]

I have a bottle of CBD on my table and a source for cannabis should I want that. I don't believe any deity will send me to Hell over it.

It's about time they legalized pot with the number of drunks causing chaos. Smoking too much will only give you the munchies. Getting too drunk can injure or even kill people. Anyone who tries to drive either way deserves to end up in jail though.

[Howie]

I drink beer every day, but I would never drink and drive. That's just not a smart move, and to have to live with that everyday if you had a wreck that killed someone, would be horrible.

My brother was friends with a guy that drank moonshine all the time. He drove an old hearse with the tags that said "last ride".

He was drunk, and hit another car head on. The other car was a man, and his wife that was pregnant. It killed them all except the drunk, but he was tried, and got a life sentence. He will sit in prison the rest of his life, and think about what he did.

[Cherie]

Same way that you do not take pain med and drive or drive after a dose of Zanaflex or Baclofen.... You need to not overestimate your limits or abilities. I think I can remember three times in my life where I have gotten home and said, I wish I did not have to drive just now and shouldn't have given the situation but a Higher Power kept everyone safe as there was no alternative that was safe.

[SuzE-Q]

Vicky, where do you get a bottle of CBD from, by chance?

[Frog42]

Vitacost is a source I use for several things:

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I get the Deva brand.

[Gary]

Here in Idaho they finally allow some kids with a rare form of epilepsy to use CBD now they MAY screen 18 more. May being the opportune word. We never did this before and we certainly don't want to try something different. And besides anything to do with cannabis is REEFER MADNESS. You would not believe the number of people here and eastern Oregon the fervently believe the movie.

In some places you can buy your own casket (potentially saving BIG money) but not here. Why? Because it will increase the murder rate! I am serious. Eastern Oregon Didn't allow MJ because Idahoans would come over the boarder. Well what do they think they do now? Oregon has no sales tax and Idaho has 6%.

Sorry I get sick and tired of narrow minded people who have the mantra "Don't confuse me with facts my mind is made up".

[SalpalSally]

Never did MJ. It would probably just make me crazier than I am? Duh!!!

[Howie]

Sally, is that even possible?

Reefer Madness was a funny movie. I saw it many years ago as we sat there and burned one, and laughed at how silly it was.

[SuzE-Q]

This is good news:

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Extensive twin study finds no link between marijuana use and IQ decline in teens

Smoking pot probably doesn’t make you stupid.
BEC CREW 20 JAN 2016

The largest ever longitudinal twin study involving more than 3,000 adolescents from around the world has found little evidence to suggest that adolescent marijuana use has a direct effect on intellectual decline.

The study analysed the results of two separate studies that traced the lives of American adolescent twins over a decade, and both found that teens who engaged in regular marijuana use lost no more IQ points over time than their non-using twin siblings.

The perceived link between dwindling intelligence and marijuana use can most recently be traced to a 2012 study by Duke University researchers, who concluded that frequent and heavy marijuana use is likely associated with a decline in IQ.

But a follow-up study - also published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - revealed that many confounding factors that have also been linked to IQ decline, such as cigarette and alcohol use, low socio-econimc status, and mental illness, were never accounted for.

"Although it would be too strong to say that the results have been discredited, the methodology is flawed and the causal inference drawn from the results premature," lead author of the follow-up study, Ole Rogeber from the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Norway, concluded.

So despite the commonly held belief that smoking pot makes you stupid, we really haven’t seen much concrete evidence to back the claim up. And now researchers from a number of universities across the US have analysed the findings of two previous reports that investigated the relationship between marijuana use and intelligence decline in twins, and found no measurable link either.

One report, known as the the Risk Factors for Antisocial Behaviour (RFAB) study from Southern California, measured the IQ of 789 twins aged of 9-10 years in 2001, then tested them again on five separate occasions over the course of the next 10 years. The Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS) traced 2,277 teenaged twins, testing them once in 1990-1996 when they were 9 -11 years old, and again in 1999-2006.

The teenagers had their IQs tested, their vocabularies and general knowledge measured, and were asked to fill out confidential surveys about their marijuana use and instances of binge drinking, and the use of other drugs, such as opioid painkillers and cocaine.

"We also examined a subset of discordant twin pairs in which one sibling had never used marijuana before and the cotwin had frequently used marijuana (i.e., greater than 30 lifetime uses and/or a period of daily use)," the researchers report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to Emily Underwood at Science, marijuana users lost about four IQ points over the course of the study, but their twin siblings that weren’t using marijuana experienced a similar pattern of decline, which suggests that some other factor was at play.

"Our findings lead us to believe that this ‘something else’ is related to something about the shared environment of the twins, which would include home, school, and peers," statistician and lead author, Nicholas Jackson from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, told her.

The researchers did find that marijuana users fared more poorly than abstainers in tests of vocabulary and general knowledge, but could not find any link to usage frequency and amount, which again suggested that something else was at play.

"If smoking pot harmed test scores, the researchers reasoned, people who'd smoked more pot should show poorer trends than those who'd smoked less," the Associated Press reports. "But that's not what the data revealed. Among users, those who'd smoked more than 30 times or used it daily for more than a six-month stretch didn't do worse."

Jackson and his team suspect that what could be going on is that kids who are doing badly in school, or declining in performance, could be more likely to give marijuana a try. "[C]hildren who are predisposed to intellectual stagnation in middle school are on a trajectory for future marijuana use," the study says.

The study does have its limitations - the facts that the teens were asked to self-report their marijuana use and IQ score doesn't necessarily equal intelligence should not be considered lightly. But it does make a convincing case that in lieu of any actual evidence that the chemicals in marijuana are somehow actively causing a decline in intelligence, future research should look into possible factors that could make a teenager more likely to use the drug, and what real effects it could be having, on things other than intelligence.

"We desperately need more research on the effects that marijuana has on the brain," Jackson told Science.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Thanks, Gary, for this very informative article.

I have read a great deal through the years about pharmaceuticals, and herbal and homeopathic remedies. Many, if not all, pharmaceuticals are based on mimicking plants, which provide healing properties. Centuries old cures.

My son's Depakote for seizure control (also known as Valproic Acid) is based on Valerian root. I strongly believe that we have everything we need on Earth to help us heal, but we've been "drugged" with chemical concoctions for so long that we're so systemically messed up now, we are reliant on pharmaceuticals.

And why would Big Pharma ever want to cure anything? There's big money in incurable diseases. All of the side effects of drugs need to be treated with other drugs. Big Big $$$ to be made in cancer, and MS, and Epilepsy, and RA, and ... the list is endless. "Ask your doctor, if (fill in the blank drug) is right for you."

Every pharmaceutical TV commercial lists dozens of potential adverse side effects, including death. In 2015, ZERO people died from side effects of cannabis. ZERO.

On our Epilepsy forum here, Porkette (Sue) has posted about her neuro's attempt to put her on CBD oil to control her seizures. There is a waiting list, a lot of rig-a-ma-role to go through, and her doctor has to be trained. Trained? Is he trained in administering pharmaceutical seizure meds? Maybe by drug reps? I don't think so. And if he wants to prescribe Tegretol for Sue, he just writes a script and off she goes to the pharmacy. But for CBD oil, she and her doctor have to be put through the wringer.

One of our children on Child Neuro was on a wait list forever to try CBD oil to control his intractable seizures. He was finally able to be in the group to receive the oil, but he didn't respond well to it. Perhaps he needs a different strain or a different dose, but there isn't enough $$ for researching this, because all of the money is being spent on creating synthetic cures in a laboratory.

One of our members on the Spinal Forum is off of opioids, and her pain is being controlled by cannabis.

Many years ago, Michael's neuro handed me a sample of Neurontin. He said, "I don't know anything about it, but you can give it a try." I came home to the internet, researched Neurontin, and threw it out.

Vicky ~ CBD oil and Hemp oil are different. Hemp oil gives you Omegas (which is great to boost your immune system) the same as you would get from Flax Seed Oil or even Fish Oil. Hemp is very healing in many forms, such as skin creams. And it's a protein, so it's available in powder form to add to one's diet.

CBD oil comes from the "other cannabis" plant and requires a prescription to obtain it.

The THC content in CBD oil is minimal, so it wouldn't make you any "crazier" than you are now, Sally, however "crazy" that is. (Are we talking about wearing a lamp shade on your head and dancing?)

I was raised on homeopathic medicine, and I support any natural alternative, which doesn't include kidney/liver failure, reduced platelets, stroke, or death as a side effect.

But, I am stuck in the regimen for Jonathan of using pharmaceuticals, because to not do so would probably end his Earthly life. It's too late to start over.

Sorry for the long post ~ but as you can see, I feel quite strongly about the right of everyone to receive the kind of medication and care they want, need, and deserve. Obstruction of that right upsets me greatly.

May we all be well despite the obstacles ~

Love & Light,

Rose

[Howie]

Well said Rose, well said!!!

[Infrared Charlotte]

Hi peeps, i smoke medical MJ each day for my pain. I must say the higher the cbd's the better the mj is for pain.

i do not drive after smoking.

I have neuros that say smoke & others that say there is no proof mj works. JEEZE LOUISE! !! wake up & smell da Ganga!

Peace

[Frog42]

If nothing else it relaxes you and that would help with the pain. I take hemp oil every day. No buzz but that's not its function anyhow.

[Infrared Charlotte]

If nothing else it relaxes you and that would help with the pain. I take hemp oil every day. No buzz but that's not its function anyhow.

Yes Vickie that's how it is. Don't forget that it makes you feel happier. I figure if I'm relaxed & happy then the pain has lessened. Don't forget the old addage ----- MIND OVER MATTER, IF YOU DON'T MIND, THEN IT DON'T MATTER.

But really folks it does help. I tried a type called 'snowman' very high in cbd's. that one was great for pain. No stoned feeling. It was really good. i have to go to a medical mj dispensary for that.

Peace