Marijuana Vs. Morphine Drugs: Comparative Pharmacology

Phillip Leveque spent his life as a WWII Combat Infantryman, Professor of Pharmacology, Forensic Toxicologist and Osteopathic Physician.

Courtesy: passingmydrugtest.com

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Morphine has long been the standard strong pain killer for almost any purpose. Certain similar drugs are considered more potent on the basis of dose.

For example Dilaudids dose is 1.5 mg compared to morphine at 10 mg for the same effect. Heroin is about 3 mg, Oxycodone (Percodan) is about 10 mg but Oxycontin is a special long acting form which has caused thousands of deaths when patients pulverize the pills which causes immediate release of the drug.

While relief of pain is the main action of these drugs, they are called narcotics because they cause narcosis, the Greek word for sleep and/or stupor.

Morphine-like drugs work mostly on the brain and higher doses depress all functions with depression of respiration being the major cause of death.

They also cause severe constipation which can become much more than a nuisance.

Marijuana/cannabis also works on the brain but in a different manner causing euphoria which is about the opposite of depression.

Strangely cannabis was used widely for medicine thousands of years before opium but they were both discovered about the same time, 4000 B.C.

Opium was used usually for dysentery. Opium & opiates did not become widely used until about the 19th century with the invention of the hypodermic syringe.

Marijuana/cannabis is far more versatile and effective for perhaps 200 different diseases while opiates are used almost solely for strong analgesia.

The worst adverse effect of all opiates is tolerance and powerful addiction. One of my patients was being given 460 mg of morphine a day by the VA Hospital. The usual dose is about 10 mg maybe 4 times a day.

The VA wanted him to sign and agree to a contract that he would NOT use the “illegal, dangerous drug” marijuana. He told them to shove it. He was able with marijuana to drop morphine to 60 mg/day.

There are few painful diseases that marijuana doesn’t control. Even with the most severe pain marijuana will allow the extreme reduction of any of the opiates. After all they each work via totally different mechanisms. The extreme difference in addiction liability should be the key to therapy. Marijuana is less addicting than a Starbucks Espresso.

Viva Marijuana

Abas Opiates