Study shows marijuana pill reduces pain
Recent
studies on marijuana in England, Israel and Canada acknowledge the benefits of
smoking marijuana to manage pain. Researchers in Israel noticed a significant
decline in the amount of prescribed medications taken by patients. After a yearlong
study they noted participants took 1.7 pills less per day when smoking
marijuana. Along with pain relief, each of the 72 patients studied also
reported other positive effects after smoking three times daily over the course
of the one year study. Researchers from McGill University in Canada reported that
patients with chronic neuropathic pain experienced pain relief, improved mood
and better quality sleep after smoking cannabis. In England, Dr. Michael Lee from
the University of Oxford has done research involving participants taking MRI’s
after smoking marijuana. Dr. Lee stated “'Cannabis
does not seem to act like a conventional pain medicine. Some people respond
really well, others not at all, or even poorly. Brain imaging shows little
reduction in the brain regions that code for the sensation of pain, which is
what we tend to see with drugs like opiates. Instead cannabis appears to mainly
affect the emotional reaction to pain in a highly variable way.” These MRIs may be able to predict who will respond to
cannabis according to Dr. Lee.
This
international research may have lit a fire under researchers in America as the
U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse funded a study that concluded what
thousands of marijuana users have known for years, marijuana helps for pain
management. Don’t light a celebration joint just yet. The new study conducted
at Columbia University in New York suggests that a pharmaceutical drug
containing the active ingredient of marijuana may be more effective for pain
when compared to smoking the herb. The study group was comprised of 15 men and
15 women who were regular marijuana smokers in good health. In five
experimental sessions participants were asked to smoke marijuana, take the oral
pill, or a placebo. They then participated in a “cold pressure test”, in which
they placed their hands in 39 degree water and answered questions about the
intensity of pain and how high they felt. Both the smoked marijuana and the
higher dose pharmaceutical pill increased pain tolerance and decreased pain
sensitivity as the people took an average of 12 to 13 seconds longer to report
feeling pain from the cold water than when they took the placebo. While the group felt the effects from the
joint peak in 15 minutes, the capsule took almost three hours. Researchers
noted that the pill and the joint were equally effective at controlling pain
but suggested that the pill offered longer relief compared to the smoked
marijuana. Subjects also felt less high when taking the capsule than smoking
the joint.
So what is
this new miracle drug? It’s called
dronabinol but you may know it as the FDA approved drug Marinol. That’s right,
the same shitty drug that has caused nausea and other horrible side effects
since 1985 is making a comeback with a new generic name and propaganda. The price
for dronabinal remains at a staggering $700 a month, but your insurance company
will have plenty of economic incentive to cover most of that expense. With such
large kickbacks available it is certain that the pharmaceutical companies will
have all the backing they need as they attempt to take over the medical
marijuana world. Hold onto your joints, this is going to be one long ride.
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