Robert Celt
New Member
Over the last several months I've read, with great interest, the medical cannabis views of State Journal-Register readers. As someone who has spent their life caring for people through traditional medical channels, and now working in the medical cannabis field, I want to help educate people on the facts we currently know about this alternative medicine.
The fact is, that marijuana has incredible upsides, but a terrible reputation.
I meet with patients and physicians each and every week, and the first thing I tell them is that the use of medical cannabis benefits has been researched and proved beneficial in over 19,000 studies. Every living vertebrate has a natural endocannabinoid system that produces natural cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are a class of diverse chemical compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors in each of us.
I want to be crystal clear that I have enormous respect for doctors and nurses. I've worked with some of the most amazing medical minds that help their patients each and every day. The fact is, however, that a majority of physicians have not been educated on the endocannabinoid system, especially those that attended medical school before 1992, thus making the research and development of medical cannabis relatively new and cutting edge.
The fact is medical cannabis is being viewed less and less as a gateway drug, and more and more as an exit strategy to help people addicted to narcotics.
Why should I have to take one medication that helps with one ailment but creates three others? That's the downside to many of today's most commonly used prescription drugs. Today one in five adults, or 50 million Americans, take mind-altering drugs that are prescribed by doctors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revealed, "approximately 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States." That's one death every 19 minutes. In fact, the CDC reports "prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States." There is not one reported overdose with the use of medical cannabis.
The fact is that times are changing.
Cannabis is one of the fastest growing forms of medicine in the world, because its benefits cannot be ignored. Medical cannabis is not a fad, and it's not a fraud. It's proven to control nausea and insomnia and increase appetite for cancer patients. It's proven to reduce tremors in Parkinson's patients and dramatically reduce seizures for people with epilepsy.
The fact is patients need their doctor's permission but not a prescription.
Under Illinois' Compassionate Care laws, a physician does not prescribe cannabis to a patient. Physicians are simply stating for the record that a patient has one of the 39 qualified conditions allowable under the Medical Cannabis Program.
Cannabis is a curative, palliative, and natural substance already produced in our bodies. Most of us are lucky to have normal cannabinoid levels but many of us do not. Patients that do not have normal cannabinoid levels should be allowed to use cannabis to ease their suffering.
The fact is, medical cannabis is not for everyone, but it should be an option.
I consider it the responsibility of dispensaries like HCI and the medical cannabis industry as a whole to be an educational resource for society, not to provide "in your face" commentary. I encourage physicians, health care providers or other decision makers to spend some time with me talking to some of the people truly afflicted with one or more of the 39 conditions recognized by the State of Illinois for medical cannabis use. Learn about their stories and how medical cannabis has helped them. Ask them questions and get a better understanding of the science behind cannabis and how it works naturally with everyone's body.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Jay Cook: Public Needs More Education On Medical Marijuana
Author: Jay Cook
Contact: The State Journal-Register
Photo Credit: Michel Porro
Website: The State Journal-Register
The fact is, that marijuana has incredible upsides, but a terrible reputation.
I meet with patients and physicians each and every week, and the first thing I tell them is that the use of medical cannabis benefits has been researched and proved beneficial in over 19,000 studies. Every living vertebrate has a natural endocannabinoid system that produces natural cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are a class of diverse chemical compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors in each of us.
I want to be crystal clear that I have enormous respect for doctors and nurses. I've worked with some of the most amazing medical minds that help their patients each and every day. The fact is, however, that a majority of physicians have not been educated on the endocannabinoid system, especially those that attended medical school before 1992, thus making the research and development of medical cannabis relatively new and cutting edge.
The fact is medical cannabis is being viewed less and less as a gateway drug, and more and more as an exit strategy to help people addicted to narcotics.
Why should I have to take one medication that helps with one ailment but creates three others? That's the downside to many of today's most commonly used prescription drugs. Today one in five adults, or 50 million Americans, take mind-altering drugs that are prescribed by doctors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revealed, "approximately 27,000 unintentional drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States." That's one death every 19 minutes. In fact, the CDC reports "prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the United States." There is not one reported overdose with the use of medical cannabis.
The fact is that times are changing.
Cannabis is one of the fastest growing forms of medicine in the world, because its benefits cannot be ignored. Medical cannabis is not a fad, and it's not a fraud. It's proven to control nausea and insomnia and increase appetite for cancer patients. It's proven to reduce tremors in Parkinson's patients and dramatically reduce seizures for people with epilepsy.
The fact is patients need their doctor's permission but not a prescription.
Under Illinois' Compassionate Care laws, a physician does not prescribe cannabis to a patient. Physicians are simply stating for the record that a patient has one of the 39 qualified conditions allowable under the Medical Cannabis Program.
Cannabis is a curative, palliative, and natural substance already produced in our bodies. Most of us are lucky to have normal cannabinoid levels but many of us do not. Patients that do not have normal cannabinoid levels should be allowed to use cannabis to ease their suffering.
The fact is, medical cannabis is not for everyone, but it should be an option.
I consider it the responsibility of dispensaries like HCI and the medical cannabis industry as a whole to be an educational resource for society, not to provide "in your face" commentary. I encourage physicians, health care providers or other decision makers to spend some time with me talking to some of the people truly afflicted with one or more of the 39 conditions recognized by the State of Illinois for medical cannabis use. Learn about their stories and how medical cannabis has helped them. Ask them questions and get a better understanding of the science behind cannabis and how it works naturally with everyone's body.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Jay Cook: Public Needs More Education On Medical Marijuana
Author: Jay Cook
Contact: The State Journal-Register
Photo Credit: Michel Porro
Website: The State Journal-Register