Cannabis / Marijuana and Bad Drug Interactions

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I have interviewed about 6,000 medical marijuana patients and I was totally bamboozled by the extreme variety of drugs that the patients had been given by their previous doctors for their various medical problems.

The wide variety of medical conditions for which cannabis/marijuana is helpful has been posted by Dr. Todd Mikuriya^[1] and and Storm Crow^[2] so I won't repeat, except to say, the main causes are: severe pain of any kind, muscle spasms of all kinds, nausea and vomiting from all causes and central nervous system disorders of a wide variety. All of these and others represent around 200 disparate medical conditions.

It should be obvious that no other single medicine such as cannabis/medical marijuana is as useful and effective for such a wide variety of medical conditions.

I wanted to check my computer to see if cannabis/marijuana had ANY bad interaction with any other drugs. I will use c/mj as an abbreviation. I was surprised to find a wide variety of drugs with bad interactions and I tried to figure out WHY:

The first on the list were amphetamines which are strong CNS (central nervous system) stimulants. C/MJ is a mild CNS stimulant and it would be unwise to use them together.

The anti-depressants are another such as Prozac, but there are many. My patients tell me these drugs turn them into zombies and wouldn't consider taking them together.

The next group are the anti-seizure, like Neurontin and Lamictal. C/MJ works well for seizures and I am told these other medications are severe CNS depressants and C/MJ works much better without the severe depression.

The next group are the opiates such as Oxycontin and Vicodin. C/MJ works very well for pain and it is not addicting as is this group. I doubt any patients would take these together.

The anti-psychotics are next, such as Seroquel and there are others. These must be really heavy duty drugs. California medical marijuana doctors do use C/MJ for some psychiatric patients. This has just recently been posted. For severe psychosis, I don't think C/MJ would be very effective.

The next class are Benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax. These are relatively mild tranquilizers but are addicting, C/MJ is much better.

Tricylic anti-depressants such as Elavil and Nortripyline are another class. These also zombify patients, C/MJ is much better. I doubt anyone uses them together.

There are other classes of drugs which patients might use with C/MJ such as alcohol, anti-histamines, muscle relaxants, sedatives, hypnotics, etc. C/MJ works better for its medical reasons than these or any of the above.

As I have said before and many times, that cannabis/marijuana should be the first choice rather than the last choice for any of the medical conditions posted by Dr. Mikuryia and Storm Crow.

CANNABIS VOBISCUM

Before any of that, Phil Leveque was a Combat Infantryman in the U.S. Army in WWII. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 60 years after the war, and specialized in treating Veterans with PTSD during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon. Do you have a question, comment or story to share with Dr. Leveque?
Email him: ASK DR. LEVEQUE
More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole". Order the book by mail by following this link: DOGFACE SOLDIER OF WWII If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

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John Mace June 9, 2018 2:22 pm (Pacific time)

The incredible amount of misinformation and blatant falsehoods regarding medical marijuana and most drugs is both astounding and shameful! Why??? Schedule 1 my rear, it removes any and all credibility to rationally pass judgement!

Lisabet July 12, 2010 3:41 pm (Pacific time)

Interesting and informative vis-a-vis interactions/replacements for drugs for pain, etc., But not what I was looking for. I was looking for info about possible bad interactions with drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as other heart medications..such as Zocor, Bisoprolol, HCTZ, and others of that ilk. I need to know whether the C/MJ would be bad to take with any of those, or is heart patients, period, should not use C/MJ.

Jeff Kaye~ March 8, 2010 4:17 am (Pacific time)

Wonderful story, but... Cannabis is indeed consumed in conjunction with many of the drugs you list, Dr. Leveque. And not only does this (in most cases) not produce "bad" side-effects, it has the beneficial effect of allowing the patient to cut down on (and/or eliminate altogether) the more dangerous opiates, sedatives etc. The easiest way to get off pain pills and/or valium, xanax or other anti-anxiety medications is to replace them with nontoxic high quality "medical grade" cannabis, or one of its many derivations; hash, hash oil, cannabutter, etc. One need not smoke it to derive benefit... Vaporization is just as effective without the noxious smoke. Edibles are preferred by many who have chronic pain. Preparations made from leaf instead of flowers can eliminate most of the "high" or euphoric feeling, or paranoia which some find troublesome. This is because CBD, which helps with pain, is found throughout the plant, whereas THC (the psychoactive ingredient) is mainly concentrated in the flowers, or "buds". Now if our President and his ONDCP will honor their pledge to let "science" dictate policy, we can begin the necessary human clinical trials to get this much needed medicine past the FDA's hurdles and into the welcoming hands of patients who've suffered needlessly for far too long.

Dave K March 7, 2010 11:42 pm (Pacific time)

Any other plant with another name would be considered a wonder drug at least as important as penicillin.

johnny1 March 7, 2010 4:17 pm (Pacific time)

every article I read about the positive effects of cannabis, I cant believe the amount of people fight to keep it illegal hemp can save our economy hemp and hemp seed are produced outside of the usa manafactured in china, shipped to America bought by US Free the Hemp

Common Sense Police March 7, 2010 3:48 pm (Pacific time)

legalization will never come quick enough for the damage to be undone. The propaganda, straight out lies really, told about marijuana have brainwashed more than one generation of fine people. I and my father know the wonders this plant possess, but my grandparents who could greatly benefit from its use now will never try it due to the lies they have heard. They could have another ten years of manageable happiness, but will likely be gone before the year is out because their lives are so hard right now. The government is solely to blame for this and they can never make it right. I think about this and though I'm a veteran like my father, I can scarcely feel anything but shame for our country.

alex March 7, 2010 2:07 pm (Pacific time)

marijuana will be legal soon. it's just a matter of time until law makers start pulling their heads out of their asses. the problem is our lawmakers grew up during the reefer madness days, so of course, it's going to take longer to pound into their head that pot isn't as bad as they think.

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