Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jun 2014
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2014 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: David Downs
Column: Legalization Nation

ASK LEGALIZATION NATION

Readers ask questions about skeptical moms with cancer, no-high
arthritis remedies, and summer travel.

My mom is a doctor who has colon cancer. I know cannabis can help with
nausea caused by chemo, and it can help her regain her appetite,
relieve her pain, and help her sleep. There's also evidence it has
anti-tumor properties. I recommended she look into it, but she's older
and says that "pot is for stupid people." What can I say to her to
make her reconsider?

Worried Son

I ran your question by Dr. Donald Abrams, the head of oncology and
hematology at San Francisco General Hospital, who is also a cancer and
integrative medicine specialist at the UCSF Osher Center for
Integrative Medicine at Mount Zion UC San Francisco. He wrote the 2014
textbook Integrative Oncology, and here's what he told me to tell you
to tell your mom:

"Doctors in the last 72 years have not learned about cannabis as a
medicine, so it's something that is stigmatized and people think that
['pot is for stupid people']. It's reefer madness. If she is a doctor,
then she should be educable.

I would go to the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query -
Complimentary and Alternative Medicine website. And I would go to
[the textbook] Integrative Oncology. And I would go to [the reference
book] Marijuana: Gateway to Health. Or you can have her watch Sanjay
Gupta's specials."

The NCI's listing for cannabinoids states that "the potential benefits
of medicinal cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic
effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep." And
that "cannabinoids may cause anti-tumor effects by various mechanisms,
including induction of cell death, inhibition of cell growth, and
inhibition of tumor angiogenesis invasion and metastasis."

Point her to a THC/CBD tincture like the Alta Tranquil, or an edible
like the Day Dreamers High CBD medicinal chocolate.

My mom is an accountant and she makes her living with her hands, but
she's also developed really bad arthritis. She smoked some pot in her
younger days, and she's open to using it for arthritis, but today's
weed totally throws her for a loop. Is there some form you recommend
for arthritis that won't get you high?

Coder in SF

There are a number of options, especially in the Bay Area: namely,
using topical applications of THC and CBD like Doc Green's
Therapeutic Healing Cream or eating high-CBD cannabis-infused
products like the CBD Cookie from 7 Stars medical cannabis dispensary
in Richmond. Patients report that these products relieve inflammation
and pain without the high associated with modern weed, and there's
plenty of science to back it up.

Your mom has trouble with the effects of the main active ingredient in
cannabis: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. When you smoke pot,
THC transfers into the body through the lungs, travels through the
bloodstream, and crosses the blood-brain barrier, beyond which it can
cause a variety of effects. Most often it's euphoria, or what people
call being "high." But being giggly can make it hard to concentrate at
work. THC also affects the brain's short-term memory capabilities,
which is also troublesome in some situations. Lastly, THC can cause
fatigue. Who wants to work when they're tired?

Conversely, the second-most common active molecule in pot is
cannabidiol, or CBD. CBD is a powerful, non-toxic anti-inflammatory
that blocks or dampens THC's effect - which is why black-market pot
growers nearly drove CBD-rich commercial weed strains to extinction.

Ironically, the end of the drug war is ushering in an era of no-high
weed. CBD is back in a big way. CBD-rich strains like Harlequin can be
found in most high-quality Bay Area dispensaries; check WeedMaps.com.
Cannabis infusion companies are also putting CBD in topical lotions.
Early studies show that the molecule can, in fact, transfer into the
skin and muscle. You rub it on and the topical can relieve pain and
inflammation in minutes.

There are also numerous studies attesting to THC and CBD's role in
treating arthritis. Arthritis Today wrote recently that "in a 2011
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology review examined 18 studies of
smoked, oral and/or synthetic cannabis and concluded cannabis was safe
and modestly effective in neuropathic pain (chronic pain that results
from damaged or dysfunctional nerve fibers), and also had the
potential to help treat [rheumatoid arthritis] and fibromyalgia pain.
Additionally, cannabis has been shown to improve sleep - and a lack of
sleep is known to exacerbate general pain and arthritis symptoms. ..
And cannabis holds promise for osteoarthritis."

CBD also might slow down the progression of arthritis. NORML reported
that "in the August 2000 issue of the Journal of the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, investigators at London's Kennedy
Institute for Rheumatology reported that cannabidiol (CBD)
administration suppressed progression of arthritis in vitro and in
animals. Administration of CBD after the onset of clinical symptoms
protected joints against severe damage and 'effectively blocked [the]
progression of arthritis,' investigators concluded."

I'm flying to the East Coast on vacay and I want to bring some pot
goodies from California to have out there and blow my hometown
friends' minds. What do you recommend?

Stoner Transplant

We recommend you read up on federal drug trafficking laws, as well as
the local pot laws back home. Leaving California with medical
marijuana is not recommended by lawyers and patient advocates.
"Remember, the laws don't travel with you," said California attorney
Omar Figueroa.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt