Marijuana and Stressed-Out Women

Oregon Medical Board Facilitates Pot Use

Marijuana has been a successful medicinal choice for women for centuries. Medical cannabis garden, Portland, Ore. Photo by Bonnie King

(PORTLAND, OR) - Things are getting crazier and crazier and it is apparent that Reefer Madness is effecting the anti-marijuana folks the most. Most users are pretty much placid.

I took my title from recent newspaper and TV news that “Drug Overdose Deaths Spike Among Middle-aged Women”, another article was “Alcohol and Women: Complex Mix Gets a Closer Look”.

In my observations, women have been stressed out since we humans climbed out of the trees, some 50,000 years ago, but things have progressed in recent years.

Men used to hunt and fish, now they call it “sport”. Women cooked, birthed babies and kept house, they still don’t call it sport. The rigors put upon women by all mankind has changed little, unless perhaps, by increasing. However, now they can overdose themselves with alcohol, Valium-like drugs, morphine-like drugs, or anti-depressants, all of which can cause addiction and death as written above.

Ladies, don’t take offense! I am just quoting the news media. One of the strangest aspects of all this regarding prescription drugs, especially the pain killers, is that the women, like everybody else, want a good, fast-acting painkiller like the heavily advertised OxyContin. It is easy to get addicted to this.

Then, the doctors get into trouble with the medical boards who tell the doctor to quit prescribing for an obviously addicted patient. Withdrawal can be catastrophic. One recent article, “Chronic Pain Patients Face Medical Marijuana Trouble” gives the following typical scenario.

A patient was being treated for Fibromyalgia, a dreadful disease and her doctor prescribed oral OxyContin which worked well for the pain but caused serious nausea to the patient, but she was allergic to every standard anti-nausea drug. She obtained a Medical Marijuana Permit and used marijuana which solved her nausea problem. Can you imagine that? She was told by her doctor she could not use marijuana because it was an illicit drug, or he would no longer prescribe OxyContin. Her marijuana doctor would not write monthly OxyContin prescriptions required by law. Every 30 days she has to get a new prescription, as do all OxyContin patients. She asked 150 doctors if they would treat her if she used medical marijuana for nausea, and they said no. All 150.

Marijuana is good for most pain, but not for all pain, such as severe Fibromyalgia. In her case, cannabis wasn’t an option for the pain, but perfect for the nausea.

This takes us to the subtitle, Oregon Medical Board Facilitates Pot Use. The board has been totally cantankerous about medical marijuana. Some patients feel they are being punished by the board for not using doctor-prescribed drugs which really don’t work as well as marijuana. Marijuana is much better and safer than them, and many patients have switched to it. This truth is well known, and more patients are choosing marijuana by the day.

The OMMP publishes statistics about marijuana patients and their marijuana use. In the past, about 70% of marijuana patients used it for pain, in the most recent report, almost 95% of patients are using marijuana for pain. Besides that, the Oregon Legislature has just legalized the use of marijuana and will allow medical marijuana stores, or dispensaries, to openly SELL marijuana to OMMP card holders. Six months ago, all financial transactions concerning marijuana were illegal. And users, and sellers, were subject to heavy fines and incarceration. This is about to change in a very big way.

COLORADO AND WASHINGTON HAVE LEGAL MARIJUANA. NOW IT’S OREGON’S TIME, WE’LL HAVE LOTS OF NEW PATIENTS.

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geoffrey goodwin August 4, 2013 8:42 pm (Pacific time)

I am a 73 year old who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and a year ago I was given 11 months to live. Chemotherapy was tried but abandoned after 4 sessions, without having any effect on the tumor I started taking marijuana (orally) to increase appetite,to help improve my mood, to help with sleeplessness and help with nausea. While it has helped with all of those conditions, I strongly suspect that it is also retarding the development of the mesothelioma tumor. I have not apparently got any worse in the last 6 months and have actually gained weight. It is time that oncologists started taking marijuana seriously.

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Justin M July 29, 2013 2:23 am (Pacific time)

If a patient wants it, and can afford it, they should be able to get it. Supposedly our troops are fighting around the world, occupying many countries that the citizenry don't even know about, fighting for freedom. But it seems like every chance someone with a little power gets they are using it to tell other Americans what they can and can't do. Our bodies should be sacred, we own them, we should be able to decide what we want going in it. A doctor, if used at all, should be there to advise, not dictate. If a patient wants to cut back on the opiates by using a little marijuana they should damn well be able too in a free country! My aunt wanted to do just that, but had to give up her opiates. It was a good easy choice for her though she said.

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