Serving patients' best interests

My mother died 2 years ago of COPD, after a long illness. She only weighed a few pounds over 70 when she died at 74 years old. Her doctor told us that every single calorie she took in went into the effort of breathing. Every little exertion, including eating, took away her breath. And any reserves of energy. Not hungry, does not eat. Not eating leads to no energy. It's a vicious circle.

If medical marijuana had been available she may have lived longer, with more energy, as ingesting marijuana seems to make people hungry. That's why, in those 13 states where marijuana is available to patients with certain illnesses, people being treated for cancer, etc.; these patients are able to keep their weight up, and thus their energy for other tasks of living. Such as breathing, and eating.

I could have found some pot for my mother, but she wouldn't hear of it as it is illegal. I'm sorry that I didn't make it more of an issue, as most of her family lived into their 80s and beyond, even with serious illnesses. Though Mom couldn't have smoked it, she could have eaten it in brownies or whatever. I'm sure there are plenty of recipes for such on the Internet.

Cannabis sativa is a God-given plant, just like any other available resource on this planet, with certain qualities that make it unique as a medicine. Name me any other drug that has over 250 possible indications. As used in medicine, from wikipedia.com : An indication is "A valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery."

I agree with this gentleman's letter. Any medical treatment should be between a doctor and their patient, with treatment based on the best available options. Not the most expensive, the newest, or the ones with the most ads on television. But what the doctor and the patient between them have decided is the best for that particular situation.

when did 'medical' pot become different than plain ole' pot? they're one and the same.... and by the way still a drug.

Cannabis sativa is a God-given plant, just like any other available resource on this planet, with certain qualities that make it unique as a medicine. Name me any other drug that has over 250 possible indications. As used in medicine, from wikipedia.com : An indication is "A valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery."

poison ivy and other God given plants are out there too.

Missing_My_Mom wrote:

My mother died 2 years ago of COPD, after a long illness. She only weighed a few pounds over 70 when she died at 74 years old. Her doctor told us that every single calorie she took in went into the effort of breathing. Every little exertion, including eating, took away her breath. And any reserves of energy. Not hungry, does not eat. Not eating leads to no energy. It's a vicious circle.
If medical marijuana had been available she may have lived longer, with more energy, as ingesting marijuana seems to make people hungry. That's why, in those 13 states where marijuana is available to patients with certain illnesses, people being treated for cancer, etc.; these patients are able to keep their weight up, and thus their energy for other tasks of living. Such as breathing, and eating.
I could have found some pot for my mother, but she wouldn't hear of it as it is illegal. I'm sorry that I didn't make it more of an issue, as most of her family lived into their 80s and beyond, even with serious illnesses. Though Mom couldn't have smoked it, she could have eaten it in brownies or whatever. I'm sure there are plenty of recipes for such on the Internet.
Cannabis sativa is a God-given plant, just like any other available resource on this planet, with certain qualities that make it unique as a medicine. Name me any other drug that has over 250 possible indications. As used in medicine, from wikipedia.com : An indication is "A valid reason to use a certain test, medication, procedure, or surgery."
I agree with this gentleman's letter. Any medical treatment should be between a doctor and their patient, with treatment based on the best available options. Not the most expensive, the newest, or the ones with the most ads on television. But what the doctor and the patient between them have decided is the best for that particular situation.

we felt the same way our mom dead from cancer and the dr told us if we could get her weight back up we give her more cemo but she couldnt eat so me and my sis were going try to fined it but she wouldnt hear to it

tin lizzie wrote:

when did 'medical' pot become different than plain ole' pot? they're one and the same.... and by the way still a drug.

Yes, and so are aspirin, Zantac, Vitamin A, Lipitor, etc. As for poison ivy, it is not a drug with medicinal properties, as far as I'm aware.

Cannabis, however, has many "applications" with few side effects.

Some facts:

Hollywood Today - 29 Sep 08 wrote:

The pharmaceutical industry markets, sells and profits greatly from prescription drugs that, at best, mainly work in 30% to 50% of people and, at worst, actually contribute to hospitalization, permanent disability, disease, illness and death. Prescription drugs have killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War and on a yearly basis.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), prescription drugs are now the fourth leading medical cause of death in the U.S. and Canada, behind only cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Hollywood Today - 29 Sep 08 wrote:

The top ten drug companies (which included European companies) had profits of nearly 25 percent of sales in 1990.

In 2001, the ten American drug companies in the Fortune 500 list ranked far above all other American industries in average net return, whether as a percentage of sales (18.5 percent), of assets (16.3 percent), or of shareholders’ equity (33.2 percent). These are astonishing margins. For comparison, the median net return for all other industries in the Fortune 500 was only 3.3 percent of sales. The most startling fact about 2002 is that the combined profits for the ten drug companies in the Fortune 500 ($35.9 billion) were more than the profits for all the other 490 businesses put together (33.7 billion).

Let me emphasize this again. The combined profits of the ten largest US drug companies reaches 35.9 billion - a sum higher than the combined profits for all other 490 corporations on the Fortune 500 List!

http://www.palmspringsbum.org/medical.html