CANCER PATIENTS
The antiemetic effects of cannabinoids was first noticed in anecdotal reports of decreased emesis in patients using marijuana during chemotherapy. Formal studies subsequently confirmed this effect. Dronabinol and Nabilone, the two cannabinoids that have been evaluated most thoroughly, are effective in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. These drugs may have serious side effects, however, including dysphoria, hallucinations, sedation, vertigo, dry mouth and disorientation and are therefore seldom used as first-line antiemetic therapy.
Cannabinoids are the antiemetic agents whose use is most limited by side effects, particularly dysphoric reactions. The addition of low-dose prochlorperazine to a cannabinoid regimen, however, markedly reduces the incidence of dysphoria.
In 1992 it was approved as an appetite stimulant for patients with AIDS Wasting Syndrome. Synthetic THC (Marinol) is available by prescription in pill form and is a Schedule 2 drug: highly abusable, with limited medical use. The medical use of Marinol (Nabilone in Canada and the UK) is very restricted because of harmful side effects such as addiction and mental disorders. It is low on the list of preferred options by Oncologists. (Note: Thalidomide was marketed as an anti-nausea agent with disastrous results) There are now many outstanding anti-nausea drugs available to doctors with higher safety standards.
(Drug Therapy-Grunberg and Hesketh. New England Journal of Medicine) No doctor would suggest to a patient that they should take up smoking a crude cannabis joint anymore than they would suggest to an obese or stressed patient that they should smoke a cigarette. There is also the risk of being charged with malpractice if the patient suffered a medical episode.
It should be noted that the majority of those pushing for medical use in the US and elsewhere are themselves users of cannabis in what they describe as a recreational way. These people want to make their illegal 'recreational' use legal. The US billionaire financier George Soros has invested millions of US dollars into the campaign to legalise marijuana. His money financed the California initative through PR etc, to legalise marijuana for medical purposes. However, although legal on the statute books, doctors will not prescribe it because of its addictive and poisonous properties. This Medical Marijuana scam is only the thin edge of the wedge in the pro legalisation well financed movement to legalise all drugs. Money and power are at the root of this and George Soros is no exception.
An interesting glimpse into some of the 'illnesses' for which they can smoke cannabis in California include: Athletes foot, headaches, period pains, asthma etc. This clearly defeats its credibility.
 |
 |
