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A Taunton doctor has been at the forefront of the debate within the medical community in Massachusetts about marijuana as a medicine, supporting the use of the green, leafy substance to alleviate symptoms associated with a number of debilitating diseases.
In the run-up to the statewide vote last fall, in which citizens voted to legalize medical marijuana, Taunton pediatrician Eric Ruby advocated for the ability of doctors to recommend pot to their patients as a lawful way to alleviate symptoms. Ruby said throughout that time, he received backlash from the leadership within the Massachusetts Medical Society, but his strongly held conviction about the effectiveness of medical marijuana motivated him to keep pushing.
"I was the spokesperson for medicinal marijuana," said Ruby, speaking at his office in downtown Taunton. "I was lambasted by the MMS. People even said, 'Why don't you take up a cause that you can win?' ... It was not pleasant. I said, well, you know what, this is going to happen, it's going to be passed."
Ruby said Massachusetts is now among 18 states with a medical marijuana law, while eight more are now on the cusp of getting their own.
Now that the Massachusetts voters have spoken – passing the law with a 63 percent majority – Ruby is calling for a regulatory system consistent with the intentions of the medical marijuana statute.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is set to issue a draft of its medical marijuana regulations on April 10. The law is scheduled to go into effect under those regulations on May 24. The issue of zoning has been discussed by Taunton City Council, and last week the Raynham Board of Selectmen unanimously passed a motion calling for a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the town (although, that will be up for vote at a Town Meeting in May).
"I hope they don't make it so prohibitive that doctors can't write recommendations for it and patients can't get it, because that's not in the spirit of the 63 percent who want it," said Ruby, who has also taken an upaid position on the board of ECO, a medicinal marijuana dispensary group with hopes to open a location on the North Shore. "How it works locally is going to be dependent on what Public Health promulgates in the regulations. ... (But) there needs to be quality control. Medical marijuana needs to be recommended by a physician who knows the patient, as is outlined in the law that was passed. You shouldn't be able give a doctor $200 and get a recommendation automatically. That shouldn't happen."
During the year leading up to the vote, Ruby told members of the MMA's assembly of delegates and board of trustees that they should be calling for research on medical marijuana, instead of putting forth a circular argument against testing because the substance is illegal.
Ruby cited studies he easily found – conducted by medical experts at the University of California, Hannover Medical School in Germany, Tel Aviv University in Israel, Peninsula Medical School in the United Kingdom, among others – reinforcing his beliefs about the effectiveness of cannabis for patients with psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, spasticity, Tourette syndrome, along with nausea and vomiting in cancer patients and other conditions.
Ruby said he has already advised an 18-year-old patient who told the doctor about marijuana's ability to alleviate social anxiety and panic syndromes.
"You have to listen to your patients," Ruby said. "If you don't listen to your patients, what kind of doctor are you?"
Ruby points to the hypocrisy that the government allows individual choice on matters of alcohol consumption and tobacco use, which carry their own proven health dangers.
Ruby also says he believes many patients who become addicted to opiates after they are prescribed may not become hooked if they were using medical marijuana instead.
"Marijuana is not a gateway drug," said Ruby, before explaining that prescribed opiate use can be dangerously addictive and destructive. "As a matter of fact, people hooked on OxyContin and Percocet, if they had marijuana for what their pains are or whatever it is, they may not have even gotten there."
Ruby said he did not ever consider marijuana as a medicine until he saw how useful it was for his son, Ethan. The younger Ruby was paralyzed after being hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk in New York in 2000, leaving him with no feeling below his chest, with the exception of chronic pain in his legs.
For the first two years after his injury, Ethan Ruby saw dozens of doctors, who prescribed him opiates to help him control the persistent pain. But he has since taken daily small doses of marijuana to help him manage the pain, using a "vaporizer" device, which extracts the active ingredients of marijuana in vapor form so he can inhale the drug without smoking it.
"I've found that taking doses of marijuana in various forms ... helped me manage the pain, and to cut the pain enough so I can focus on the task at hand," said Ethan Ruby, 37, who moved to Denver with his family last summer where he can legally and safely use marijuana. "Before I started using marijuana, the pain would keep me home from work."
Ethan Ruby, who grew up here in southeastern Massachusetts, said using marijuana has also allowed him to vastly cut down on the opiate-based drugs he was prescribed.
"If you want to run a successful business or be a productive member of society, being hopped up on opiates is not a viable solution," said Ethan Ruby, a former independent day trader who now works as an innovator and entrepreneur overseeing several projects, including Poker4Life, which fosters charity poker tournaments.
Ethan Ruby said he was proud of his dad for sticking up for people like him, whose lives have been changed for the better because of medical marijuana.
"I think my father is a champion for the people," Ethan Ruby said. "He is a medical voice for what people need to hear. ... He has used his decades of medical experience and knowledge to further the society of medicine."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: tauntongazette.com
Author: Marc Larocque
Contact: The Taunton Daily Gazette Contact Us
Website: Taunton doctor leads medical marijuana debate - This Just In - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Daily Gazette
In the run-up to the statewide vote last fall, in which citizens voted to legalize medical marijuana, Taunton pediatrician Eric Ruby advocated for the ability of doctors to recommend pot to their patients as a lawful way to alleviate symptoms. Ruby said throughout that time, he received backlash from the leadership within the Massachusetts Medical Society, but his strongly held conviction about the effectiveness of medical marijuana motivated him to keep pushing.
"I was the spokesperson for medicinal marijuana," said Ruby, speaking at his office in downtown Taunton. "I was lambasted by the MMS. People even said, 'Why don't you take up a cause that you can win?' ... It was not pleasant. I said, well, you know what, this is going to happen, it's going to be passed."
Ruby said Massachusetts is now among 18 states with a medical marijuana law, while eight more are now on the cusp of getting their own.
Now that the Massachusetts voters have spoken – passing the law with a 63 percent majority – Ruby is calling for a regulatory system consistent with the intentions of the medical marijuana statute.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is set to issue a draft of its medical marijuana regulations on April 10. The law is scheduled to go into effect under those regulations on May 24. The issue of zoning has been discussed by Taunton City Council, and last week the Raynham Board of Selectmen unanimously passed a motion calling for a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the town (although, that will be up for vote at a Town Meeting in May).
"I hope they don't make it so prohibitive that doctors can't write recommendations for it and patients can't get it, because that's not in the spirit of the 63 percent who want it," said Ruby, who has also taken an upaid position on the board of ECO, a medicinal marijuana dispensary group with hopes to open a location on the North Shore. "How it works locally is going to be dependent on what Public Health promulgates in the regulations. ... (But) there needs to be quality control. Medical marijuana needs to be recommended by a physician who knows the patient, as is outlined in the law that was passed. You shouldn't be able give a doctor $200 and get a recommendation automatically. That shouldn't happen."
During the year leading up to the vote, Ruby told members of the MMA's assembly of delegates and board of trustees that they should be calling for research on medical marijuana, instead of putting forth a circular argument against testing because the substance is illegal.
Ruby cited studies he easily found – conducted by medical experts at the University of California, Hannover Medical School in Germany, Tel Aviv University in Israel, Peninsula Medical School in the United Kingdom, among others – reinforcing his beliefs about the effectiveness of cannabis for patients with psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis, spasticity, Tourette syndrome, along with nausea and vomiting in cancer patients and other conditions.
Ruby said he has already advised an 18-year-old patient who told the doctor about marijuana's ability to alleviate social anxiety and panic syndromes.
"You have to listen to your patients," Ruby said. "If you don't listen to your patients, what kind of doctor are you?"
Ruby points to the hypocrisy that the government allows individual choice on matters of alcohol consumption and tobacco use, which carry their own proven health dangers.
Ruby also says he believes many patients who become addicted to opiates after they are prescribed may not become hooked if they were using medical marijuana instead.
"Marijuana is not a gateway drug," said Ruby, before explaining that prescribed opiate use can be dangerously addictive and destructive. "As a matter of fact, people hooked on OxyContin and Percocet, if they had marijuana for what their pains are or whatever it is, they may not have even gotten there."
Ruby said he did not ever consider marijuana as a medicine until he saw how useful it was for his son, Ethan. The younger Ruby was paralyzed after being hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk in New York in 2000, leaving him with no feeling below his chest, with the exception of chronic pain in his legs.
For the first two years after his injury, Ethan Ruby saw dozens of doctors, who prescribed him opiates to help him control the persistent pain. But he has since taken daily small doses of marijuana to help him manage the pain, using a "vaporizer" device, which extracts the active ingredients of marijuana in vapor form so he can inhale the drug without smoking it.
"I've found that taking doses of marijuana in various forms ... helped me manage the pain, and to cut the pain enough so I can focus on the task at hand," said Ethan Ruby, 37, who moved to Denver with his family last summer where he can legally and safely use marijuana. "Before I started using marijuana, the pain would keep me home from work."
Ethan Ruby, who grew up here in southeastern Massachusetts, said using marijuana has also allowed him to vastly cut down on the opiate-based drugs he was prescribed.
"If you want to run a successful business or be a productive member of society, being hopped up on opiates is not a viable solution," said Ethan Ruby, a former independent day trader who now works as an innovator and entrepreneur overseeing several projects, including Poker4Life, which fosters charity poker tournaments.
Ethan Ruby said he was proud of his dad for sticking up for people like him, whose lives have been changed for the better because of medical marijuana.
"I think my father is a champion for the people," Ethan Ruby said. "He is a medical voice for what people need to hear. ... He has used his decades of medical experience and knowledge to further the society of medicine."
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: tauntongazette.com
Author: Marc Larocque
Contact: The Taunton Daily Gazette Contact Us
Website: Taunton doctor leads medical marijuana debate - This Just In - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Daily Gazette
