NursingLink

My first job in a hospital as a nurse I was passing meds and had to look up a med I was giving someone - I found out that basically it was pot in a pill - it was for a cancer patient - she said it truly helped with her nausea and helped her have a little bit of an appetite. It did not make her high.  Just like with the controlled narcotics we give people, if used for the right thing, it is helpful, if misused...well, we have all seen various outcomes of that.

Pearlferret says ...

I agree that any Rx has the potential for abuse as with any other substance that's consumed, so why deny an herbal drug that can be used to treat multiple symptoms/ side effects in those with chronic illnesses?

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I've been saying this for years. I think it would be a good alternative to anti-depressants as well. There are people that need to be on anti-depressants but have adverse reactions.  Remember when being on Prozac was being used as a defense to murder charges? If cigarettes are legal why shouldn't marijuana?  We all know the the dangers of cigarettes.  What does the Surgeon General have to say about marijuana? Just think how happy this world would be...as bad as my opinion sounds, no I don't use drugs.  Legalize it and I might. Who knows it might help with my insomnia and snoring :)

Most people don't realize that there was no material drug abuse and no drug crime problem in this country until the government made some drugs illegal. (They had to reverse course on alcohol.)  This is another example of the feds creating a problem and then trying to solve it with a massively expensive and ineffective program, the "war on drugs".  Just what we needed... another "war". The drug war is responsible for this country having the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world. One in 20 Americans is in jail, most of them for drug "crimes". This is more like a government war on Americans.

I think if it can help someone in pain, then it is a good idea!

I see no difference between cigarettes, liquor and weed...we are all aware of the adverse affects of cigarettes, yet people continue to smoke and die from their use, we are all aware that consuming too much alcohol can make one incoherent and unable to operate a motor vehicle, it can even lead to death if too much is consumed at one time, yet we continue to consume it in mass quantities.  I fail to see the difference.  If there are medicinal properties of marijuana then we should utilize it.

I agree with all the Yea statements.  However I think it should be legalized for the general public not just for medical purposes (I do not smoke).  It is no worse than alcohol.......you can consume too much of either and black out, hallucinate, vomit, etc...And I think the US would see a decline in the number of people who use more potent drugs and in the need for rx drugs for comfort and depression.  Some drug costs may even be lowered.  As with any drug/alcohol some people will not handle it well and should avoid it.

How are Cigarettes being compared to Beer and pot?... now Im in it....Alcohol and Marajuana are fast paced mind altering drugs that can cloud slow and Impare judgement....agreed that Alcohol is illeagal and so shouldnt Marajuana be! Who would want to be treated By a person using Marajuana? I'll pass ty i would really Like that 18ga needle to go where it was intended... and I would really hope that the patient just recieved Cumadin because they were supposed to and not Claritin that the Dr perscribed....any questions?

So are you going to test every employee before they come on duty for consumption of alcohol or mj? Well, then you need to get on the bandwagon about drugs, prescription or not. These also impair staff. This could become a big hornet's nest. No, I do not want any medical practitioner to be impaired in anyway when they take care of me or my loved ones. But, I also hold myself to these same standards. I do not want to be guilty of performing care if I am impaired. And last I read, Alcohol is not illegal, it is just not allowed at work or when operating machinery.

The greater good for the greater number of people! This is what we should be looking at when making this debate.  Let's face it.......legalizing marijuana for medical or public use would benefit many and harm much fewer people than alcohol (and it's legalization would free up a lot of our jail space and taxpayer money).  Of course we would expect regulations and drug tests (we should see this now, but we rarely do, especially in rural areas).  Open your eyes people! Whether a drug is legal or not it is available the question is: How do we currently regulate it? 

How many nurses do you know who take Xanax?  Do they take it at work? If used as prescribed would you allow that nurse to stick a needle in your vein? You're either thinking "NO!" or "well, how is this said nurse behaving?"  What if you had a nurse taking care of you that was currently receiving chemo or radiation or dx with anorexia.....yep, they're out there.....and she was taking marinol, would you allow her to care for you?

Now let's look at the first patient you took care of that you couldn't get there pain, anxiety, depression or other distressing symptom under control...if you could give that patient a joint and improve their quality of life by 50%, would you do it?

We already have Marinol, which is the compound in MJ that is an anti-emetic. Given lots of times, and it works.   I think legalizing pot is opening Pandoras box.

K first off, obviously you cant show up to worked high, just like you cant show up to work drunk. So that issue shouldn't even be worried about. And even illegal, we just fired a girl for being stoned at work. So it still happens! Give it the same laws as alcohol, don't drive etc. etc.

Second, list off the illnesses this could benifit. MS, ALS, Cancer, Depression, Anorexia, Anxiety, Nausea. the list goes on and on.

Third, I work in long term care. We struggle with weight loss, loss of appetite, depression, chronic pain. The quality of their lives would be so much better if they could have that.

Fourth, I promise this is the last one..... TAX DOLLARS!!! Tax it just like cigarretes and booze, use that money to pave our roads, and fund medicare. Also half the people we are spending tax dollars on in jail would be out, and back to being contributing members of society.

Now I understand there are some problems with this, but are they any worse than the waste of billions every year just to try and keep this HERB off the street? And heck yes if it was legal I would smoke it!

Legalize it for everybody. Then medical marijuana programs would be unnecessary.

Tax it with a realistic tax, not like the punitive tax now which I think is still $150.00 an ounce.

In 17 years of ER my only expereinces with patients related to marijuana were those who got some potent stuff (some of which was laced with things like formaldehyde or PCP) and we gave them Jolt Cola when it came out or super strong coffee before that. 20 minutes later these "overdoses" were sheepish and apologetic if it was unlaced "boo".

Time to legalize the stuff. I'm tired of my tax dollars being spent on enforcing laws against something that is basically harmless.

Great topic, jawirt. Thanks for posting it.

There is a formed group of law enforcement officers called LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). These cops range from Feds all the way to Barney Fife. They realize the futility of any illegality of pot. Check out their web site.

www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

See if what they say doesn't make sense. At least more sense than our current approach to drugs.

Marijuana has never been given a chance to be medically viable because the legislators were too easily swayed by special interest groups who led a smear campaign. When it was outlawed in 1936, it was due largely  to the film REEFER MADNESS and to the prejudices of the government against blacks and hispanics.

Because of the problems over the years, Marijuana has been lumped in with cocaine and heroine. The pharmaceutical companies don't like the idea of it because they cannot control it and make it their own exclusive work.