Marijuana Vs. Migraines: Modern Medical Miracle

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Toxicologist and Pharmacologist. He is an expert in medical marijuana treatment.

"Perfect marijuana leaves" Photo courtesy: seedsplaza.com

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Migraine headaches are possibly one of the most misunderstood maladies of man. The Merck Manual states “The cause is unknown and the pathophysiology (mechanism) is not fully understood.” Except that it has something to do with brain blood vessel dilation/constriction; nobody seems to know what is going on here. If I’m wrong about this I’m sure I will hear plenty.

To save myself professional embarrassment, I checked the Merck Manual. One would think some mad scientist produced the highly diverse pot pourri of drugs which have been used to alleviate these severe and paralyzing headaches, with nausea and vomiting, which affect some 10 million people in the U.S.

To start with, migraines are headaches but not all headaches are migraines. Many headaches can be successfully treated with aspirin or Tylenol but, if my patients are correct, they don’t touch migraines. Because of the extremely wide variety of non-effective medicines, which have been used, I take a dim view of any new medicine being heavily advertised on TV.

In my own regular medical practice I discovered that an injection of Demerol with Benadryl was effective but the patient was out of action for at least 24 hours.

When I stared seeing patients for Medical Marijuana permits, I was surprised when the first migraine patient showed up. I knew that marijuana worked for severe pain, nausea and vomiting and I knew that it also causes vasodilatation but I couldn’t quite put the two together, pharmacologically, for migraines.

The light bulb over my head lit up and I said to myself “if the patient says marijuana works for this, and they were willing to pay the $300 clinic and State fee, it must work”.

I ended up with about 30 migraine patients out of 4,000. I have since heard that the California Marijuana doctors, with some 300,000 patients, have the same experience.

I hope readers of this series will write in their own experiences about this.

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Got a question or comment for Dr. Leveque?
Email him: Newsroom@Salem-News.com

More information on the history of Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of Phil Leveque about his experiences in WWII.
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier.
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.

Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com: Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

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Too much money for the DEA? No sir... No way. However, if the FDA were to legalize and regulate marijuana, and heavily tax it, they would make an incredible amount of money, while deterring "criminal activity" like people growing/selling marijuana. When was the last time you saw someone growing their own tobacco? Once the FDA regulates the growing of marijuana, the quality goes up for the consumer, and the need to compete or grow your own disappears. Of course the sell would have to be resricted, like alcohol, and possessing as a minor or aiding minors would be crimes, like alcohol. However, it's really not that complicated. It doesn't even mean you have to give up the drug war. Just focus on the drugs. This would provide a larger budget. You sheep need to do a little background on what you think you know because, surprise, the body has receptors SPECIFIC for cannabinoids (check wikipedia) which is either a strange fate of coincidence (or evolution), either way it stands to reason (in the same way opiod receptors respond to opiates) that these receptors could be used to alter the body. Especially since both opioid and cannabinoid receptors have endongenous ligands that are obviously there for a reason. Umm... I should give up already I know it's hopeless. One last thing--Marinol. One of the active cannabinoids of marijuana has been synthesized and FDA approved for sale in the US. Surprised? Strange they so vehemently charge marijuana as a horrible drug, while at the same time asserting it's medicinal use.

Being bipolar marijuana a mood altering drug works well in lessing the viscious cycles this debilatating illness causes.100% more effective than pharmacuticals.with less side effects (liver damage,diabeties,ect:).its a shame medical marijuana only said to be unsafe because you smoke it .although THC and other cannibanoids are legal medications.sold in the us.marijuana is not a drug it is a plant.its easier to mass produce dangerous drugs and more profitable .IF MARIJUANA WERE LEGAL 500$ BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR DRUG INDUSTRY WOULD GO BELLY UP.

i agree with thomas, altho, I might add, it makes money for other companies also, such as pharmaceutical industries (who own congress). It was outlawed decades ago because it was a cheap but strong material, and the garment manufacturers did not want the competition. Too many people have been braiwashed by the government propaganda. It leads to harder drugs, and it will kill you etc. All lies and propaganda, and so many people buy into it without thinking on their own. Want to make something illegal? Put the government in jail when they lie, and put people on probation who buy into the lies. :-)

Marijuana needs to be legal. The people want it, and the laws are outdated. It makes to much money for the DEA. That is the only reason for laws against freedom.

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