Got Crohn's? Smoke a J?

[Sir_Winston54]

Smoking Marijuana Causes ‘Complete Remission’ of Crohn’s Disease, No Side Effects, New Study Shows

Marijuana – scientific name “cannabis” – performed like a champ in the first-ever placebo-controlled trial of the drug to treat Crohn’s Disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

The disease of the digestive tract afflicts 400,000 – 600,000 people in North America alone causing abdominal pain, diarrhea (which can be bloody), severe vomiting, weight loss, as well as secondary skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration.

Smoking pot caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s disease compared to placebo in half the patients who lit up for eight weeks, according to clinical trial data to be published the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at Israel’s Meir Medical Center took 21 people with intractable, severe Crohn’s disease and gave 11 of them two joints a day for eight weeks. “The standardized cannabis cigarettes” contained 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD (cannabidiol). (Such marijuana is available on dispensary shelves in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities that have regulated access to the drug.) The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.

Investigators reported that smoking weed caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s Disease in five of the 11 subjects. Another five of the eleven test subjects saw their Crohn’s Disease symptoms cut in half. Furthermore, “subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.”

The study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the consumption of cannabis for the treatment of Crohn’s, notes NORML. All of the patients had intractable forms of the disease and did not respond to conventional treatments. Still, the United States government claims that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and has no medical use. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is waging a war on safe access to medical cannabis in the Bay Area.​

I don't think I need to comment.

 

[Sweetdaisymae]

Smoking Marijuana Causes ‘Complete Remission’ of Crohn’s Disease, No Side Effects, New Study Shows

Marijuana – scientific name “cannabis” – performed like a champ in the first-ever placebo-controlled trial of the drug to treat Crohn’s Disease, also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

The disease of the digestive tract afflicts 400,000 – 600,000 people in North America alone causing abdominal pain, diarrhea (which can be bloody), severe vomiting, weight loss, as well as secondary skin rashes, arthritis, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration.

Smoking pot caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s disease compared to placebo in half the patients who lit up for eight weeks, according to clinical trial data to be published the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at Israel’s Meir Medical Center took 21 people with intractable, severe Crohn’s disease and gave 11 of them two joints a day for eight weeks. “The standardized cannabis cigarettes” contained 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD (cannabidiol). (Such marijuana is available on dispensary shelves in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities that have regulated access to the drug.) The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.

Investigators reported that smoking weed caused a “complete remission” of Crohn’s Disease in five of the 11 subjects. Another five of the eleven test subjects saw their Crohn’s Disease symptoms cut in half. Furthermore, “subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects.”

The study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the consumption of cannabis for the treatment of Crohn’s, notes NORML. All of the patients had intractable forms of the disease and did not respond to conventional treatments. Still, the United States government claims that marijuana is as dangerous as heroin and has no medical use. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag is waging a war on safe access to medical cannabis in the Bay Area.​

I don't think I need to comment.

I rather liked the "improved appetite." heck, they all got the munchies!

 

[midwestyankee]

As attractive as this sounds, a study with only 21 participants is tiny. The studies that really matter are the ones that successfully replicate seemingly new findings. Only then do the scientists involved begin to understand how the key variable operate under the experimental conditions.

Still, if it turns out that weed does have truly useful therapeutic applications, that will make for a different landscape in the legalization fight.

 

[desertslave]

I think it comes under the "might not help, but can't hurt" standard.

There is a horrible lack of good science on MJ, simply because it's illegal in so many places. I stumbled on this graphic a while back on Facebook, and started to look into some of the claims. It's not easy to verify much, but I also couldn't find much in the way of contradictions. Considering how many other 'miracle drugs' we've discovered from plants, I think it's downright stupid to ignore so much possibility in one plant.

 

[Netzach]

I know peeps who smoke and it does help with nausea and appetite and pain issues in a generalized way, but I've never heard of one single "woo remission" story from it, this is interesting but small and suspect to me, and I'm definitely all in favor of weed.

Symptoms are a panoply of clusterfucks beyond what that article really states. Currently I've got vasculitis and joint pain (as in, if this is the new normal, I am looking at cane/wheelchair days) making my life bad while my intestines are fine, whee evolution. "Skin rashes" doesn't really touch what dermatologic expressions this fuckery can have, and frankly I'm not sure that anything which gets you to shovel food while you're actively bleeding can have a miracle effect.

I just know one thing - if there were an easy fix to this, everyone would have been doing it by now. Trust me.

But - do I wish they were testing this in FRONT of biologics like Remicade? Fuck yeah.

 

[DVS]

Maybe the reason there isn't a lot of people finding out the good things about this plant because our government considers it an evil thing, as well as a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs.

When I was a smoker, I never felt the urge to try something else, just because I smoked pot. The only reason this might be seen as true by some people is because the same guy you purchase pot from is the guy who sells other drugs. And just like any other salesman, he will entice you to try his other products. I think I can safely say, if you purchased pot from someone that only sold pot, you'd be far less likely to ever try another drug.

But, because we are all individuals, there will always be exceptions. Some people just want to keep experimenting with new things. But, I think pot always had a bad rap in that respect. Just because you smoke pot, you are not going to some day be driven to crack or heroin.

To answer the question of why haven't we noticed the other useful aspects of the plant or THC before? That's probably because it's considered an illegal drug. And through the years, the government has done its very best to make sure this was always known and enforced. If it weren't seen as such a bad thing by the government and law enforcement, maybe more studies would be done. But, if someone found a good thing about the pot plant or about THC, they'd still have that government hurdle to get over.

And I will say one thing, but I'll keep it as vague as possible, for my own reasons. I do know there is government testing of pot and opium poppies. For good or bad, there is testing going on.

 

[Netzach]

I'll also say that any gov't which forces people to open the pandora's boxes of the side effects that we with autoimmune currently have to open, because weed bad - yeah that gov't is going to have a LOT to answer for in history.

 

[graceanne]

Ok. Got crohns, won't smoke pot. I could, I live in a state where medical marijuana is legal, and having crohns puts me on a list of being eligible to get the medical marijuana card without any problems - I got to the front of the line. That said, while pot doesn't have any side effects for crohns disease, it still has side effects. For instance, I refuse to inhale smoke. I'm an asthmatic ...not a good idea. Also, and this is a little known fact, but for some people marijuana is a hallucinogen (like my mom and step mom). I tend towards hallucinations, anyway, (as in if there is ANY chance of hallucinations, I'll hallucinate) so I won't take anything that might cause hallucinations. ALSO, it causes sleepiness. I'm already exhausted all the time, lets add to that.

And, just importantly, the one time I got a contact high it gave me SUCH a migraine.

Side Effects

 

[BiBunny]

I trust nothing that is supposed to be a magic bullet, particularly when that magic bullet is weed.

All the hippies try to act like it's nature's miracle drug or some shit, but it's no different from any other drug. It has its side effects, and they can be nasty.

I'm not saying that there's no possibility that some sort of useful medications can't be made out of it. But I also think that "Big Pharma" is not as bad as it's often made out to be, and weed is not Mother Nature's magic cure-all. Sure, it's "natural," but so's poison ivy. You don't wanna roll that shit up and smoke it, do you?

Is it possible that something good can come of it? Yes. Is n=22 a large enough sample size to make any kinds of generalizations across a population? No. Is that going to stop the annoying-ass pro-weed advocates? Of course not.

 

[graceanne]

I trust nothing that is supposed to be a magic bullet, particularly when that magic bullet is weed.

All the hippies try to act like it's nature's miracle drug or some shit, but it's no different from any other drug. It has its side effects, and they can be nasty.

I'm not saying that there's no possibility that some sort of useful medications can't be made out of it. But I also think that "Big Pharma" is not as bad as it's often made out to be, and weed is not Mother Nature's magic cure-all. Sure, it's "natural," but so's poison ivy. You don't wanna roll that shit up and smoke it, do you?

Is it possible that something good can come of it? Yes. Is n=22 a large enough sample size to make any kinds of generalizations across a population? No. Is that going to stop the annoying-ass pro-weed advocates? Of course not.

You rock. If you were a man, and I wasn't married, I'd so want to marry you.

 

[BiBunny]

You rock. If you were a man, and I wasn't married, I'd so want to marry you.

I take that as a huge compliment and would totally do the same for you, too.

 

[graceanne]

I take that as a huge compliment and would totally do the same for you, too.

*huggles*

 

[arnoldpalmer47]

i like what bi bunny said

i smoke a lot of pot. but pot smokers need to realize that lying about pots benefits, and trying to use reverse propaganda to make marijuana seem better than it is only makes the pot heads look like tards. However, I will say that there have been many university tests for pot showing that a. it doesn't really harm the lungs at all and b. shrinks tumor sizes. Obviously, science is only proven inductively, but do research and learn theres a hell of a lot of studies done on pot, most show it to be neutral to positive. But really, if you think about it logically, neutral to positive is enough for it to be legalized. it shouldnt need to be a miracle drug. So, in conclusion, all you pot heads trying to call pot a 'miracle drug' are only keeping people in the dark, and making people think that you are simply lying about any benefit pot has. You also look like a tard.

PS i would trust an article that uses the phrase 'performs like a champ'

 

[BiBunny]

i smoke a lot of pot. but pot smokers need to realize that lying about pots benefits, and trying to use reverse propaganda to make marijuana seem better than it is only makes the pot heads look like tards. However, I will say that there have been many university tests for pot showing that a. it doesn't really harm the lungs at all and b. shrinks tumor sizes. Obviously, science is only proven inductively, but do research and learn theres a hell of a lot of studies done on pot, most show it to be neutral to positive. But really, if you think about it logically, neutral to positive is enough for it to be legalized. it shouldnt need to be a miracle drug. So, in conclusion, all you pot heads trying to call pot a 'miracle drug' are only keeping people in the dark, and making people think that you are simply lying about any benefit pot has. You also look like a tard.

PS i would trust an article that uses the phrase 'performs like a champ'

Haha, bless you for saying that.

The article is definitely from a pro-pot propaganda site, but link to the study is on PubMed, so I'm assuming the study itself is at least somewhat legit.

Edit: The article's full of shit because I just read the abstract on the study. This is what the conclusion says:

"CONCLUSION:

Although the primary endpoint of the study (induction of remission) was not achieved, a short course (8 week) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 11 patients with active CD, compared to placebo, without side effects. Further studies, with larger patient groups and a non-smoking mode of intake, are warranted."

So, no, "total remission" was not achieved. They've already started spinning the results before the damned study has even been published. *Sigh*

 

[graceanne]

i smoke a lot of pot. but pot smokers need to realize that lying about pots benefits, and trying to use reverse propaganda to make marijuana seem better than it is only makes the pot heads look like tards. However, I will say that there have been many university tests for pot showing that a. it doesn't really harm the lungs at all and b. shrinks tumor sizes. Obviously, science is only proven inductively, but do research and learn theres a hell of a lot of studies done on pot, most show it to be neutral to positive. But really, if you think about it logically, neutral to positive is enough for it to be legalized. it shouldnt need to be a miracle drug. So, in conclusion, all you pot heads trying to call pot a 'miracle drug' are only keeping people in the dark, and making people think that you are simply lying about any benefit pot has. You also look like a tard.

PS i would trust an article that uses the phrase 'performs like a champ'

I've seen those studies that show that pot smoke isn't bad for the lungs, and my feeling on that is there used to be studies showing that tobacco wasn't bad for the lungs. If your instinctual reaction to breathing something in is to cough, then it probably isn't good for your lungs.

 

[desertslave]

I think it's worth noting that smoke isn't the only way to get the beneficial effects. I was amazed, when visiting Colorado two years ago, to learn that you can get candy, cookies, fudge, and even ice cream that's dosed up.

I passed this shop in Ft. Collins:
http://www.santecolorado.com/products/vendors/mile-high-ice-cream/

FC is a fun town. Down the street from Mile High is a waxing salon called The Screaming Peach.

 

[Netzach]

I trust nothing that is supposed to be a magic bullet, particularly when that magic bullet is weed.

All the hippies try to act like it's nature's miracle drug or some shit, but it's no different from any other drug. It has its side effects, and they can be nasty.

I'm not saying that there's no possibility that some sort of useful medications can't be made out of it. But I also think that "Big Pharma" is not as bad as it's often made out to be, and weed is not Mother Nature's magic cure-all. Sure, it's "natural," but so's poison ivy. You don't wanna roll that shit up and smoke it, do you?

Is it possible that something good can come of it? Yes. Is n=22 a large enough sample size to make any kinds of generalizations across a population? No. Is that going to stop the annoying-ass pro-weed advocates? Of course not.

CD being exacerbated by smoking, I would probably go for tea or vaporization if I were in a state with medical. I'm not. I sure as fuck would give it a go if I didn't have to add worrying about the legal implications, and I will say that if I did hit remission from it, there'd be a lot of resentment of all the other things I've had to do. I hallucinated on prednisone, lightly, so for me, there's really not much possible downside. I've just never made it part of my recreation, never really cared one way or the other about it.

NORML and all that is a fine agenda with a really annoying entourage.

What bothers me is that we can't test variants of it, we can't remove the gets you high parts and isolate it and play with it, we can't deal with it objectively because, well, reefer madness and....you can't charge medicare 5000 per patient per 8 weeks for it. The studies are glacially paced, international, ignored, and too small.

I'm reading tiny bits of sceience like this and my governor is about to throw everyone looking for MM under the bus even with the house and senate both in favor and majority support. I can marry a woman but I can't make decisions about my own side effects, go MN.

The nature of autoimmune is that one person might go into remission, most might feel better, one might feel worse and some might have no benefit from ANY medication, pot included.

 

[desertslave]

Utterly dumb luck, this just appeared on my Facebook feed:
http://now.msn.com/marijuana-fed-pi...er-william-von-schneidau-at-pike-place-market

 

[LWulf]

Ok. won't smoke pot. ...For instance, I refuse to inhale smoke. I'm an asthmatic ...not a good idea. ...Also, and this is a little known fact, but for some people marijuana is a hallucinogen (like my mom and step mom). ALSO, it causes sleepiness. I'm already exhausted all the time, lets add to that.

My understanding is that marijuana is available in pill form (newspaper link) for medicinal purposes.

However the pill form I believe still may cause auditory and visual "alterations" (aka hallucinations? (wiki link)) also sleepiness and appetite stimulation.

However, and I can't find the information I had once stumbled onto, my understanding is that there are, essentially, two forms of marijuana; one causes a bad case of the munchies and the other actually decreases all hunger. You didn't mention appetite control as a factor, but, I was thinking, perhaps this alternate form of marijuana may have less hallucinatory properties as well?
As for sleepiness, is it required to have the medical marijuana all day long or can't it be taken at night?

I'm not trying to be a "pusher" here, heh, but just pointing out that maybe there is an alternative?

 

[graceanne]

My understanding is that marijuana is available in pill form (newspaper link) for medicinal purposes.

However the pill form I believe still may cause auditory and visual "alterations" (aka hallucinations? (wiki link)) also sleepiness and appetite stimulation.

However, and I can't find the information I had once stumbled onto, my understanding is that there are, essentially, two forms of marijuana; one causes a bad case of the munchies and the other actually decreases all hunger. You didn't mention appetite control as a factor, but, I was thinking, perhaps this alternate form of marijuana may have less hallucinatory properties as well?
As for sleepiness, is it required to have the medical marijuana all day long or can't it be taken at night?

I'm not trying to be a "pusher" here, heh, but just pointing out that maybe there is an alternative?

Oh, I know you can get it in other forms than via smoke; my roommate uses medical marijuana for her arthritis and her anxiety disorder. She prefers it in brownies. I was just addressing the whole 'it's safe to smoke' argument.

I don't particularly need the appetite stimulation part because, unless I'm DEEP in a relapse, I don't have food aversions. Don't get me wrong, I'm rarely hungry, but my hubby rides my tail about eating so I eat regularly.

As for the hallucination issue, it's a possibility. I won't risk it - any anti nausea medicine I've ever taken does one of two things for me, knocks me out or makes me see green lizards and big black rats climbing my walls. *shudders*

But honestly, even if they got rid of the hallucination issue, unless they get rid of the sleepiness issue I probably still wouldn't take it, because of the sleepiness issue which I doubt they can get rid of. I've got four kids and I do day care for up to four others, I can't afford to be sleepy on top of exhausted.

 

[DVS]

I'm not a tard. In fact, I take issue with that word for other reasons, but I'll save that for another time. I also don't consider myself as an annoying-ass pro-weed advocate, but maybe others do see me that way. At least I try not to annoy. OK, I do think I whine some.

Why is it that some topics bring out the worst in people? I don't think anybody has said pot is a wonder drug. If I missed it where somebody said it was, that somebody is an idiot. Pot is far from a wonder drug. In fact, any drug on the market has its own side effects, and in some people there are extreme side effects. I can't take some prescription drugs because I have adverse side effects. My sister is the same way. I think my doctor has a file on me and my adverse reactions to drugs.

Personally, I rarely coughed when smoking. The only time I would cough was when the pot was of inferior quality. I never wasted my time with inferior grade pot. Also, it has been my experience that pot makes you sleepy only when you over indulge. Sure, some people over indulge, because it is considered a recreational drug. But, there were some people who use it conscientiously.

The image of the pot smoker is someone like Cheech and Chong, constantly stoned with half of their mind in a fog. We all laugh at that person, but just like the drunk who can't walk a straight line doesn't represent everyone who drinks, the hippie stoner is far from the norm for pot smokers.

Believe what you want, I don't care. But don't be jumping to conclusions or make blanket statements because of some test or study. Frankly, be it pro or con, I think all studies are tainted towards the expected result, because of the grant that paid for the study.

Again, I enjoyed pot when I smoked and I experienced both good and bad. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad, or I wouldn't have continued to smoke. But that is just my opinion. I don't speak for anybody else, so please don't speak for me.

 

[graceanne]

I'm not a tard. In fact, I take issue with that word for other reasons, but I'll save that for another time. I also don't consider myself as an annoying-ass pro-weed advocate, but maybe others do see me that way. At least I try not to annoy. OK, I do think I whine some.

Why is it that some topics bring out the worst in people? I don't think anybody has said pot is a wonder drug. If I missed it where somebody said it was, that somebody is an idiot. Pot is far from a wonder drug. In fact, any drug on the market has its own side effects, and in some people there are extreme side effects. I can't take some prescription drugs because I have adverse side effects. My sister is the same way. I think my doctor has a file on me and my adverse reactions to drugs.

Personally, I rarely coughed when smoking. The only time I would cough was when the pot was of inferior quality. I never wasted my time with inferior grade pot. Also, it has been my experience that pot makes you sleepy only when you over indulge. Sure, some people over indulge, because it is considered a recreational drug. But, there were some people who use it conscientiously.

The image of the pot smoker is someone like Cheech and Chong, constantly stoned with half of their mind in a fog. We all laugh at that person, but just like the drunk who can't walk a straight line doesn't represent everyone who drinks, the hippie stoner is far from the norm for pot smokers.

Believe what you want, I don't care. But don't be jumping to conclusions or make blanket statements because of some test or study. Frankly, be it pro or con, I think all studies are tainted towards the expected result, because of the grant that paid for the study.

Again, I enjoyed pot when I smoked and I experienced both good and bad. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad, or I wouldn't have continued to smoke. But that is just my opinion. I don't speak for anybody else, so please don't speak for me.

I didn't speak for you, in fact I was stating everything from my point of view and I didn't make any blanket statements about pot smokers or pot. I also stated that my roommate smokes pot for medicinal reasons - I have no issues with that. I won't, for the reasons I outlined.

 

[Netzach]

I'm not a tard. In fact, I take issue with that word for other reasons, but I'll save that for another time. I also don't consider myself as an annoying-ass pro-weed advocate, but maybe others do see me that way. At least I try not to annoy. OK, I do think I whine some.

Why is it that some topics bring out the worst in people? I don't think anybody has said pot is a wonder drug. If I missed it where somebody said it was, that somebody is an idiot. Pot is far from a wonder drug. In fact, any drug on the market has its own side effects, and in some people there are extreme side effects. I can't take some prescription drugs because I have adverse side effects. My sister is the same way. I think my doctor has a file on me and my adverse reactions to drugs.

Personally, I rarely coughed when smoking. The only time I would cough was when the pot was of inferior quality. I never wasted my time with inferior grade pot. Also, it has been my experience that pot makes you sleepy only when you over indulge. Sure, some people over indulge, because it is considered a recreational drug. But, there were some people who use it conscientiously.

The image of the pot smoker is someone like Cheech and Chong, constantly stoned with half of their mind in a fog. We all laugh at that person, but just like the drunk who can't walk a straight line doesn't represent everyone who drinks, the hippie stoner is far from the norm for pot smokers.

Believe what you want, I don't care. But don't be jumping to conclusions or make blanket statements because of some test or study. Frankly, be it pro or con, I think all studies are tainted towards the expected result, because of the grant that paid for the study.

Again, I enjoyed pot when I smoked and I experienced both good and bad. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad, or I wouldn't have continued to smoke. But that is just my opinion. I don't speak for anybody else, so please don't speak for me.

Nah, none of those issues here, it's just that most people don't really understand the complexity of this condition or its seriousness, so "look weed cures it" is kind of detrimental, it makes the lingeringly sick no matter what look crazy or something. It's kind of cloaked in toilet humor and shame and vagueness and assumptions. Shit, my own MD's are always asking about my diarrhea, and I probably have less diarrhea than many people without CD - does smoking weed un-obstruct a small bowel obstruction? No? Then "remission" is not really something to bandy about.

 

[Sweetdaisymae]

Pot seems to be one of those drugs that, although it has obvious effects and is widely used, the pharmacutical industry has done very little research on its possible uses. Considering the negative image of opoids, they are in far wider prescribed use (certainly here) morphine and diamorphine are regularly used in palliative care.

Pot need a lot of research plowed into it, on the surface it looks that it could have potential for clincal use in lots or areas, but in far more refined forms than we see now.

Note: I find the use of the word tard or retard extremely offensive. My son has a learning disability (Downs) it would be said in clinical speak that he is retarded, meaning slow to learn, it does not mean stupid, nor does it mean he is incapable of learning.
I will ask you respectfully to stop using the word, you have no clue of the hurt it causes.

 

[LallyH]

Note: I find the use of the word tard or retard extremely offensive. My son has a learning disability (Downs) it would be said in clinical speak that he is retarded, meaning slow to learn, it does not mean stupid, nor does it mean he is incapable of learning.
I will ask you respectfully to stop using the word, you have no clue of the hurt it causes.

Exactly. Well said.