Medical Marijuana For Children

Top 5 Medical Reasons People Use MMJ

People have many reasons for smoking MMJ.

Ask 5 stoners why they smoke MMJ and you will likely get 5 reasons. There are a lot of factors in life that dictate our actions and few are predictable or unilateral. After all, it’s hard to be an astronaut in the 1600’s or if you happen to be a felon. Not so much if you are in 1970’s Ohio though.
But that shouldn’t stop us from trying to understand why people consume marijuana. It doesn’t matter if you consume flower, concentrates, edibles or use MMJ topically. If you use marijuana medically, this list probably has you on it.
Just remember that this list is in no specific order. If you disagree with the order or think something else should have been on it, call me out in the comments. Let everyone know what I missed and why it belongs there.

  1. Cancer

Approximately 39.6% of all men and women are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. While many remain benign, a vast majority grow rapidly and resist treatment. Some cancers can kill in a matter of months while others take decades to metastasize.
Research shows that MMJ helps treat certain types of cancer. There is still a long way to go but cannabinoids like THC, CBD and CBN show great promise. Especially in cancers like: breast, brain, liver, melanoma, and leukemia.

  1. Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a condition where your brain misfires and causes a seizure. But unlike popular perception, it doesn’t just come from flashing lights. Seizures may even come on unprovoked, as though out of nowhere and for no reason.
There is no cure for epilepsy and it can affect anyone, even children. There are few options on the market that are truly safe for children. But CBD is one of the few natural alternatives to prescription medications that works.
With 65 million people suffering from epilepsy worldwide, cannabis has a lot of work to do.
 

  1. Chronic Pain

Life is tough and can leave you in constant pain for many reasons. More than 1.5 billion people suffer from chronic pain worldwide with 50 million of them living in the united states. Healing can take a long time and many common pain killers come with risks of dependency or overdose.
Marijuana isn’t chemically addictive like oxycodone or dangerous in large quantities like aspirin. So as patients heal, they can reduce or eliminate using with no long term side effects. As a bonus, we still have zero confirmed deaths exclusively from consuming too much weed.

  1. Anxiety

Some people need help getting through a situation. Others need help just chilling out in general. This includes those suffering from OCD, panic disorder, phobias, bipolar disorder and many other variants.
For the 18% of the U.S. population suffering from anxiety disorders, medication makes life manageable. But not everyone wants to use Xanax to get the job done. Unlike cigarettes or e-juice, cannabis vapor doesn’t harm lungs or cause cancer.

  1. Depression

About 350 million people have depression. Many prescriptions to treat it come with dangerous side effects or are unsafe for children. While THC may be controversial for teens to have, CBD offers many of the same benefits without the cognitive impairment.
Despite this, the federal status of marijuana keeps it from being prescribed in many cases. As a Schedule 1 Drug, it is legally considered to have no medical value. Many doctors simply refuse to prescribe MMJ for religious reasons or because of corporate policies. But increasing acceptance and legal reform are lowering that number.
 

MMJ Patients Banned from Owning Gun wr

MMJ Patients Banned from Owning Gun

Marijuana Patients Can’t Own a Gun

Christopher Morales is a California Criminal Defense Attorney well versed in gun law. He believes that the Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits anyone who uses cannabis medically from owning a gun. Unfortunately for the cannabis consuming public, some state courts agree.
The exact wording on the federal law is vague and misleading because it says “unlawful user or anyone using a federally restricted substance”. Cannabis is a federally restricted substance but many states consider medical use as lawful. But gun ownership is federally protected but considered a state controlled matter. So courts had to decide if following state laws protected patients from the federal clause preventing ownership of firearms.

The Gun Control Act


The Gun Control act is also full of outdated language. There is ample evidence of outdated language contained within the 1968 document. Evidence including the claim that marijuana is addictive. Modern research has proven that cannabis creates no chemical addiction or dependency. This discrepancy and others like it have caused issues in more than one state.
A Nevada medical marijuana patient named S. Rowan Wilson filed a lawsuit in 2011 challenging the federal statute against gun ownership. Wilson attempted to purchase a gun and was denied because she has a medical card. Unwilling to give up her 2nd amendment right without a fight, she lawyered up.
Wilson’s case went all the way up to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Eventually, she lost her fight. Chief District Judge Gloria Navarro was the one who made the final ruling against Wilson. Judge Gloria says that denying the sale of guns to a marijuana patient does not violate the Second Amendment.

States Decide Gun Laws

When it comes to gun purchases, every state is different. Some states require background checks. While other states call in to check a criminal record. If Wilson went to the state of Georgia, she could have easily purchased a gun at a flea market. But that’s not the point. Wilson wanted to buy a gun in her own hometown regardless of her legal marijuana status.
It is strange how unevenly rules are applied across populations. Patients using prescription opioids are allowed to own a gun when opioids are on the list of federally controlled substances. Yet medical marijuana patients are unable to obtain personal protection. And this poses a special threat to patients who also own or operate dispensaries.
People employed in the cannabis field already can’t use banking systems to store money. Having all that cash on hand makes them a target for a whole list of nefarious people. Add to that the knowledge that they can’t legally defend themselves and trouble is almost guaranteed to ensue.

The Gun Show Loophole


According to federal law, all licensed firearm dealers must perform background checks on those seeking a purchase of a gun. But there is an escape clause called the Gun Show Loophole. At gun shows there are unlicensed firearms dealers, and they are not required to perform background checks. About 22% of all firearm sales are done by these unlicensed sellers.
Federally, the government is uninterested in closing the loophole. Federal agents routinely use it to funnel arms and ammunition to drug cartels and kinpins. After the documents regarding the federal Fast and Furious program became public, their reluctance began to make sense to the broader public. Luckily, several states have moved to stop such practices.
11 states have closed the loophole and require background checks at the point of sale. The 11 states are: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhodes Island and Washington. Eight other states require a background check and a permit for private purchasers. Those eight states are: Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and North Carolina.
None of the listed states ban ownership by medical marijuana patients or recreational users. But, possessing a firearm will likely only add fuel to the fire if charged with large-scale cultivation. Especially if the government is looking to make an example of you.

The Bottom Line


When filling out the Firearms Transaction Record during the purchase of a gun, there is a question. A Ninth Circuit Court ruling amended the question about cannabis use. The new language puts patients into a catch-22.
Originally, the text read “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” The new version includes a nifty little addition to clarify that they mean medical patients. It reads; “Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.”
What this says is that medical users are not allowed to own a gun because they are using a substance that is under the federal control substance list. Marijuana is federally illegal and therefore gun ownership while using it is federally illegal. Alcohol is not federally illegal, just restricted. That is why people shoot themselves every year while drinking and handling guns.

I Want My Attorney

When it comes to buying a gun, it is up to the seller to perform their due diligence by asking whether or not the purchaser is a cannabis user and to perform a background check. If the medical marijuana user says ‘yes’ then technically they must be denied the purchase of a gun. If they say ‘no’ and get caught for lying, they can face felony charges.
When it comes to cooperating with law enforcement, it becomes a tricky situation. According to Morales, a medical marijuana user should never disclose to police if they have drugs or guns in the vehicle. He maintains that they are under no obligation to disclose that information. When confronted with these questions, patients need to say the four magic words ‘I want my attorney’.
Recent evidence of police brutality and blatant corruption in the penal system can make asking for a lawyer scary. Police are not required to be direct, honest or limit their force. they can invade your home, kill your animals, confiscate your property and shoot you dead if they feel threatened. Don’t resist, don’t lie and don’t answer any questions without YOUR lawyer.

Do you have feedback about owning a medical marijuana card and gun ownership? Do you think MMJ patients should own guns? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Feds Study Effect Of MMJ On Opioid Use

Feds Study Effect of MMJ on Opioid Use

 What would you do with access to MMJ and $3.8 million dollars?opioid treatment

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health Systems get to find out if medical marijuana reduce opioid dependence. Researchers were granted the sum to fund the first in a new round of long-term studies. While past studies have tested cannabis in pain management in HIV and cancer patients, this has a different focus.
This study will officially investigate the effectiveness of medical marijuana in treating opioid addiction. Investigators explained their reasons in a media release by the associate chief of general internal medicine Chinazo Cunningham. She claims “There is a lack of information about the impact of medical marijuana on opioid use in those with chronic pain,” and “We hope this study will fill in the gaps and provide doctors and patients with some much needed guidance.”
There are many people who claim cannabis helps opioid users with chronic pain step down their use to safer levels. A minority of users also report that they can completely eliminate their opioid dependence with cannabis. The hope is that patients can remove their dependence entirely but only studies like this can prove it to be true or false.

The study focus on adults with HIV, chronic pain, and it uses real MMJ.opioid treatment

Study participants include 250 HIV- positive and negative adults with chronic pain. Subjects are also required to have a doctors recommendation for medical marijuana. This is the fist study of its kind to use state approved dispensaries to provide the cannabis.
Federal contractors in Mississippi normally provide “research grade” cannabis that has a THC content below 10%. Stored improperly by design and seemingly produced by putting a whole plant in a food processer, almost any dispensary would reject it. This cannabis is known as NIDA weed and these researchers decided they didn’t want it in their study.
Instead of using federally obtained NIDA cannabis like past studies, this one will use cannabis from New York dispensaries. This cannabis is produced and processed by master growers, passes laboratory testing, and has THC content between about 15% and 30%.

Up until now, evidence is mostly anecdotal.

Many people have moving personal stories but they fail to prove anything. We can’t forget the ‘placebo effect’ or projection when listening to a single person tell their story. This study offers 250 people the opportunity to produce the first peer-reviewed research on the safety and effectiveness of cannabis in treating opioid addiction.
This long-term study will also span 18 months and include web-based questionnaires every two weeks. The questionnaires focus on pain levels and the effect of medical and illicit cannabis on opioid dependence. Blood and urine samples get submitted every three months in-person at specified medical facilities. In-depth interviews of participants will explore their perceptions of how marijuana affects their opioid use.
HIV patients suffer from opioid addiction more than other populations. But there is conflict on how many actually suffer in silence. Past studies claim that over 90% of HIV patients suffer from chronic pain while others claim the number could be as low as 25%. With opioids as the go-to pain treatment for most doctors, there is a high risk for misuse and subsequent addiction.

The cards are stacked against cannabis reducing opioid use.

Medical marijuana has made serious strides in legitimizing itself as a treatment for pain. Twenty-nine states (plus the District of Columbia) have legal marijuana use in some way. Chronic pain and HIV/AIDS are qualifying conditions in all of those states.
Yet researchers have never explicitly studied whether or not medical marijuana reduces opioid use over time. Most studies attempt to prove marijuana doesn’t treat medical conditions but fail to do so. This looks at the possibility of treating pain with similar skepticism.
The best part about science is that all the evidence counts. Despite researchers personal desires, the results speak for themselves. This study is no different. “As state and federal governments grapple with the complex issues surrounding opioid use and medical marijuana, we hope to provide evidence-based recommendations that will help shape responsible and effective healthcare practices and public policies,” Cunningham said.

Medical cannabis promises hope to opioid abusers.

HIV and AIDS patients across the globe have claimed cannabis treats their pain. This is the first step in a new phase of medical research. Instead of using the lowest possible quality of weed, they plan to look at real people using real cannabis. The results will likely add to the mountain of evidence that supports medical marijuana.
There is still a long time to go before the results come in. Long-term studies take loads of time to analyze the data. Years pass before researchers publish results. Especially in studies like this. It may be two or more years before anyone can make a claim about the effectiveness of marijuana treating opioid addiction based on this research. We have to sit tight until then.
But if the past has taught us anything, it is that marijuana is a more powerful healer than we ever thought possible. This is just the first of a new wave of research but the results look to direct the following discussion heavily. Let’s just hope that those in power listen to the research.