Medical Marijuana For ADHD

By Katherine Ellison

At the Peace in Medicine Healing Center in Sebastopol, the wares on display include dried marijuana - featuring brands like Kryptonite, Voodoo Daddy and Train Wreck - and medicinal cookies arrayed below a sign saying, "Keep Out of Reach of Your Mother."
Several Bay Area doctors who recommend medical marijuana for their patients said in recent interviews that their client base had expanded to include teenagers with psychiatric conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"It's not everybody's medicine, but for some, it can make a profound difference," said Valerie Corral, a founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, a patients' collective in Santa Cruz that has two dozen minors as registered clients.
Because California does not require doctors to report cases involving medical marijuana, no reliable data exist for how many minors have been authorized to receive it. But Dr. Jean Talleyrand, who founded MediCann, a network in Oakland of 20 clinics who authorize patients to use the drug, said his staff members had treated as many as 50 patients ages 14 to 18 who had A.D.H.D. Bay Area doctors have been at the forefront of the fierce debate about medical marijuana, winning tolerance for people with grave illnesses like terminal cancer and AIDS. Yet as these doctors use their discretion more liberally, such support - even here - may be harder to muster, especially when it comes to using marijuana to treat adolescents with A.D.H.D.
"How many ways can one say 'one of the worst ideas of all time?' " asked Stephen Hinshaw, the chairman of the psychology department at the University of California, Berkeley. He cited studies showing that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, disrupts attention, memory and concentration - functions already compromised in people with the attention-deficit disorder.
Advocates are just as adamant, though they are in a distinct minority. "It's safer than aspirin," Dr. Talleyrand said. He and other marijuana advocates maintain that it is also safer than methylphenidate (Ritalin), the stimulant prescription drug most often used to treat A.D.H.D. That drug has documented potential side effects including insomnia, depression, facial tics and stunted growth.
In 1996, voters approved a ballot proposition making California the first state to legalize medical marijuana. Twelve other states have followed suit - allowing cannabis for several specified, serious conditions including cancer and AIDS - but only California adds the grab-bag phrase "for any other illness for which marijuana provides relief."
This has left those doctors willing to "recommend" cannabis - in the Alice-in-Wonderland world of medical marijuana, they cannot legally prescribe it - with leeway that some use to a daring degree. "You can get it for a backache," said Keith Stroup, the founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Nonetheless, expanding its use among young people is controversial even among doctors who authorize medical marijuana.
Gene Schoenfeld, a doctor in Sausalito, said, "I wouldn't do it for anyone under 21, unless they have a life-threatening problem such as cancer or AIDS."
Dr. Schoenfeld added, "It's detrimental to adolescents who chronically use it, and if it's being used medically, that implies chronic use."
Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said she was particularly worried about the risk of dependency - a risk she said was already high among adolescents and people with attention-deficit disorder.
Counterintuitive as it may seem, however, patients and doctors have been reporting that marijuana helps alleviate some of the symptoms, particularly the anxiety and anger that so often accompany A.D.H.D. The disorder has been diagnosed in more than 4.5 million children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers have linked the use of marijuana by adolescents to increased risk of psychosis and schizophrenia for people genetically predisposed to those illnesses. However, one 2008 report in the journal Schizophrenia Research suggested that the incidence of mental health problems among adolescents with the disorder who used marijuana was lower than that of nonusers.
Marijuana is "a godsend" for some people with A.D.H.D., said Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist who has written several books on the disorder. However, Dr. Hallowell said he discourages his patients from using it, both because it is - mostly - illegal, and because his observations show that "it can lead to a syndrome in which all the person wants to do all day is get stoned, and they do nothing else."
Until the age of 18, patients requesting medical marijuana must be accompanied to the doctor's appointment and to the dispensaries by a parent or authorized caregiver. Some doctors interviewed said they suspected that in at least some cases, parents were accompanying their children primarily with the hope that medical authorization would allow the adolescents to avoid buying drugs on the street.
A recent University of Michigan study found that more than 40 percent of high school students had tried marijuana.
"I don't have a problem with that, as long as we can have our medical conversation," Dr. Talleyrand said, adding that patients must have medical records to be seen by his doctors.
The Medical Board of California began investigating Dr. Talleyrand in the spring, said a board spokeswoman, Candis Cohen, after a KGO-TV report detailed questionable practices at MediCann clinics, which, the report said, had grossed at least $10 million in five years.
Dr. Talleyrand and his staff members are not alone in being willing to recommend marijuana for minors. In Berkeley, Dr. Frank Lucido said he was questioned by the medical board but ultimately not disciplined after he authorized marijuana for a 16-year-old boy with A.D.H.D. who had tried Ritalin unsuccessfully and was racking up a record of minor arrests.
Within a year of the new treatment, he said, the boy was getting better grades and was even elected president of his special-education class. "He was telling his mother: 'My brain works. I can think,' " Dr. Lucido said.
"With any medication, you weigh the benefits against the risks," he added.
Even so, MediCann patients who receive the authorization must sign a form listing possible downsides of marijuana use, including "mental slowness," memory problems, nervousness, confusion, "increased talkativeness," rapid heartbeat, difficulty in completing complex tasks and hunger. "Some patients can become dependent on marijuana," the form also warns.
The White House's recent signals of more federal tolerance for state medical marijuana laws - which pointedly excluded sales to minors - reignited the debate over medical marijuana.
Some advocates, like Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard University, suggest that medical marijuana's stigma has less to do with questions of clinical efficacy and more to do with its association, in popular culture, with illicit pleasure and addiction.
Others, like Alberto Torrico of Fremont, the majority leader of the California Assembly, argue for more oversight in general. "The marijuana is a lot more powerful these days than when we were growing up, and too much is being dispensed for nonmedical reasons," he said in an interview last week, bluntly adding, "Any children being given medical marijuana is unacceptable."
As advocates of increased acceptance try to win support, they may find their serious arguments compromised by the dispensaries' playful atmosphere.
OrganiCann, a dispensary in Santa Rosa, has a Web site advertisement listing the "medible of the week" - butterscotch rock candy - invitingly photographed in a gift box with a ribbon. OrganiCann also offers a 10 percent discount, every Friday, for customers with a valid student ID.

Katherine Ellison is a Pulitzer-prize winning reporter and author, most recently, of "Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention," to be published by Hyperion this fall. http://www.katherineellison.com

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Marijuana and Cancer - Governmental Arrogance Buries Viable Cancer Therapies

It seems that nearly everyone in government fancies himself superior to the rest of us in knowledge and judgment. There is no telling how much beneficial, not to mention vital, research and knowledge have been lost as a result of the arrogant whims of the few who consider themselves the elite among us, simply on the basis of having engineered themselves into a position of power. A depressing example of this arrogance is reflected in the fiasco surrounding research into the medical benefits of marijuana.
Way back in 1974, the National Institute of Health funded research at Medical College of Virginia. Their mission was to prove the contention that marijuana damages the immune system. In funding this research, the NIH was destined to be roundly disappointed - they effectively shot themselves in the foot. Rather than receiving confirmation and supporting evidence of their contention, the NIH people were annoyed to learn that the MCV researchers found instead, that THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, undeniably slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice.
Since this failed miserably in bolstering the government's case against marijuana, in their view the most noxious of all weeds, and in fact proved just the opposite, the DEA came charging into the fray, banners flying, trumpets blaring. They shut down the Virginia study along with all other cannabis tumor research.
Not to be outdone in the public assault on a useful albeit often misused plant and substance, President Gerald Ford got on the bandwagon in 1976, and put an end to all cannabis research while simultaneously granting that right exclusively to the maniacally delighted pharmaceutical industry.
Then again, in 1983, in accommodation to intense lobbying and reception of massive campaign contributions, the Reagan/Bush administration tried hard to persuade American Universities and researchers to destroy all of the 1966-76 cannabis research work, including compendiums in libraries. They were partially successful. Large amounts of information have disappeared.
But all this negative effort is like trying to hold back the dawn. The facts keep cropping up in spite of the best efforts of vested interests to bury them. In February of 2000, another confirmation of marijuana's cancer fighting abilities came out of Madrid. Researchers there had destroyed incurable brain cancer tumors in rats by injecting them with THC. This confirmed the earlier Virginia study.
The news of this discovery has been virtually non-existent in the United States. The New York Times ignored the story. So did the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. These papers receive major advertising revenues from the pharmaceutical industry, which by the way, employs two lobbyists for each and every member of congress.
As public pressure to allow the use of medicinal marijuana continues to build, more and more politicians are being induced to taking a closer look at the facts. Its strong support by patients and medical professionals is beginning to be felt. More and more states are adopting compassionate laws toward medicinal marijuana as many patients clamor for the substance to relieve the symptoms and side effects of chemo.
The nausea, vomiting, pain, and insomnia that are typically a consequence of conventional cancer therapy, cripple a patient's quality of life. Marijuana, smoked, vaporized, infused in teas, or baked in foods, can dramatically restore a patient's place in the world. Noting this has induced the entire oncology community to endorse its use.
The pharmaceutical companies, hard pressed to compete against this tidal wave of sentiment, have isolated the active compound in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrolcanabinol, THC, and made a synthetic version of it available by prescription. But it doesn't work nearly as well as plain old marijuana, it doesn't work at all on some people, it takes from 45 minutes to 2 hours to take effect when it does work, and it will set a patient back about $ 800.00 a month. Not really a good alternative.
Medicinal marijuana is not without its own side effects. Anxiety, drowsiness, dry mouth, slow reaction times, and loss of short term memory are among them. Patients using this substance for medicinal purposes will experience varying side effects. Everyone reacts differently to its use and it is very important to buy marijuana from an authorized source. Other drugs or harmful substances are often added by unscrupulous criminal dealers.
Doctors treating cancer patients are in critical need to be kept informed of all drugs taken by their patients, including marijuana, over-the-counter, prescription, or homeopathic remedies. It's very important to keep in mind that marijuana, at this point, is not a form of treatment and is not curative. It is used only to treat cancer symptoms like pain, and to relieve the side effects of treatment.
Fourteen states have legalized the use of medicinal marijuana. They are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Each state has its own rules and regulations regarding its use and these need to be complied with. Most states require registration with supporting documentation and certification by a physician. This should by no means be construed as an endorsement for the indiscriminate use of marijuana. The substance has some very serious negative side effects and needs to be treated like any other drug. If you don't need it, stay away from it.



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Proven Facts on the Benefits of Marijuana For Arthritis Patients

Proven Facts on the Benefits of Marijuana for Arthritis Patients
Any number of marijuana users, whether medicinal or recreational, will tell you that "Mary J" is great for relaxation. In fact, you would probably receive a list of problems the drug has helped relieve or alleviate all together.
As an arthritis patient looking for alternatives to synthesized medicines, unable to use traditional medications or physically unreceptive to traditional medication, you may be skeptical. You may be disbelieving. You may, in fact, consider marijuana users to be a little lacking in the intelligence quotient, merely trying to make their drug use acceptable.
However, as the title of this article indicates, there is scientifically proven evidence that medicinal marijuana can, indeed, provide relief from arthritic pain.
What is Medicinal Marijuana?
First, it must be noted that there are two major differences between medicinal marijuana and commercial or "street" marijuana.
1. Commercial marijuana can come from any number of cannabis strains. Different strains have varying pain relieving, anti-inflammatory, etc. potencies. The potency of commercial marijuana can't be guaranteed. Medicinal marijuana strains, on the other hand, are chosen for specifically for their potency and effects.
2. Some commercial marijuana has been fertilized with unsafe fertilizers. These fertilizers may contain metal derivatives and other toxic substances or by-products. Medicinal marijuana is fertilized carefully, with the health of the patient in mind, with nontoxic fertilizers.
It is not recommended that one buy commercial marijuana (or marihuana) to replace a prescription for medicinal marijuana.
Proven Benefits of Marijuana for Arthritis Patients
Although the legal aspects in many countries, funding and other issues inhibit the number of studies on the therapeutic aspects of marijuana, there is still a surprising amounts of information available. The facts so far are clear:
- Marijuana has shown to be an anti-inflammatory

- The potential for cannabis use to help inflammation and muscle spasms have been proven for several illnesses

- Marijuana has been used as a pain treatment for hundreds of years, if not thousands (some records date back to B.C.)

- Studies suggest that marijuana may not only help inflammation, but may lower the actual growth of the disease itself
Dr. Tom Mikuriya, a member of Mensa and several well-known organizations studying medicinal marijuana, wrote in 2002:
"Clinical interviews of over 6500 members at cannabis buyers clubs and patients in my office practice lead to this generalization: Many illnesses or conditions present with both inflammation and muscle spasm. Cannabis is both an antispasmodic and anti inflammatory."
Well known and respected as an authority on the therapeutic uses of marijuana, Dr Mikuriya also states "Chronic inflammatory conditions like arthritis and lumbosacral disease responds well to cannabis compared with other analgesics."
In 2005, Rheumatology Advance Access online published a study by Dr. Blake et al of the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath. Noted as "the first controlled trial of a CBM [cannabis based medicine] in the symptomatic treatment of RA in humans", the study was based on several facts:
- Marijuana has historically been used as a pain treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, although its therapeutic potential has never been evaluated in a clinical study.
- THC and CBD, the two main components of marijuana, have been recognized as "key therapeutic constituents that act synergistically together and with other plant constituents."
- THC has shown pain relieving abilities for both nociceptive and neropathic pain.
- CBD has shown the ability to block the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, while both THC and CBD have anti-inflammatory effects.
"In comparison with placebo, the CBM produced statistically significant improvements in pain on movement, pain at rest, quality of sleep, DAS28 and the SF-MPQ pain at present component. There was no effect on morning stiffness but baseline scores were low. The large majority of adverse effects were mild or moderate, and there were no adverse effect-related withdrawals or serious adverse effects in the active treatment group."
Due to the surprising responses, the researchers ended the study with a call for more studies. "We believe this to be the first controlled study of a CBM in rheumatoid arthritis, and the results are encouraging. The beneficial effects occurred in the context of a dosing regime restricted to evening dosing in order to minimize any possible intoxication-type reactions. However, 24-h dosing with this CBM (Sativex) using a self-titration regime in the context of multiple sclerosis resulted in only minimal intoxication scores [9]. Larger, more prolonged studies of CBM in rheumatoid arthritis are indicated."
In 2006, the Center of Drug Discovery in Boston, Massachusetts published a study entitled The Cannabinergic System as a Target for Anti-inflammatory Therapies. With habitual cannabis use proven to affect the immune system, endocannabinoid research has helped to understand the effects through cell-based or in vivo animal testing.
According to the study, these tests "suggest that regulation of the endocannabinoid circuitry can impact almost every major function associated with the immune system.... the results suggest therapeutic opportunities for a variety of inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, allergic asthma, and autoimmune diabetes through modulation of the endocannabinoid system."
Although many a naysayer mentions the potentials for overdose, it must be noted that there has never been one documented case of someone overdosing on marijuana, whether through recreational or medicinal use. As well, many are concerned about cancer-causing agents through inhaling the smoke, but a comprehensive study in 2006 could show no proof of marijuana causing lung cancer.
Finally, remember that medical marijuana should not be smoked. Using it in baking or with a vaporizer will offer the therapeutic benefits needed to alleviate arthritis symptoms.



About The Author: Health Canada grants access to marijuana for medical use to those who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses and those with chronic conditions. Medicinal-Marijuana.ca helps connect qualified patients with designated growers across Canada, providing information, support and resources to all Canadians who would like to access the medical marijuana program of Canada. Visit online today.

What Are The Top Five Mental Conditions Treated When a Patient Gets a Medical Card?

Medicinal marijuana is now available in 16 States plus the District of Columbia. There are now well over a million medical marijuana patients with valid cards in the US, and who knows how many individuals are self-medicating.
The different states have significant variances with regards to the debilitating conditions that qualify for medical marijuana. Arizona, for instance, has 13 debilitating conditions, whereas in California physicians can decide if a patient has a condition that would benefit from marijuana. In most states, mental conditions are not allowed for medical marijuana, but however, the benefit is often concomitant with the other allowed conditions. For instance, chronic pain is a qualifying condition, and those patients often suffer from insomnia.
The most common mental condition for which medical marijuana assists is insomnia. Marijuana can either be smoked or ingested for this. There is a difference with the onset of action. Smoking's onset is within minutes, if ingestion is used it may take an hour or so. Medical marijuana is typically preferable to addictive drugs such as Xanax. It is not physically addictive or habit forming.
Migraines also respond well to medical cannabis. If the marijuana is smoked or ingested, one of the benefits is that retrograde inhibition will assist in slowing the brain's neurotransmitters. This can relieve the pain along with the nausea and sensitivity that accompanies migraines. There can be significant side effects to traditional migraine medications, such as increased blood pressure and sedation. With marijuana, sedation can be a side effect as well, but this can be adjusted.
Cannabis is very helpful for anxiety, which is often experienced by patients dealing with cancer, chronic pain, and other conditions for which marijuana is helpful. Medical marijuana may slow down thought processes, helping break up some of the upsetting thought patterns that anxiety suffers have to deal with.
Marijuana users in general report report fewer episodes of depression than non-smokers. Usage in depression can help break up negative thought cycles that may lead to a debilitating episode. Marijuana does not magically treat depression and will not cure the root problem leading to it. However, it can help considerably with mood while the patient works with a professional to treat the root cause.
Medical marijuana may calm mood swings substantially that are seen with bipolar disorder. Lithium is a traditional medication for bipolar disorder and may cause issues with the thyroid, kidneys, or heart. Cannabis may achieve an equivalent mood stabilizing effect without the emotional deadening of lithium.
Medical marijuana helps with these numerous mental conditions substantially. It provides an excellent alternative to traditional medications which often have considerable side effects and may have substantial costs as well.



David L. Greene, MD, Phoenix, AZ is CEO of Preferred Pain Center which serves the Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ metropolitan and surrounding areas. He can be reached at dgreene@preferredpaincenter.com and (602) 507-6550.
Preferred Pain Center is a Comprehensive Arizona Pain doctors Center including Medical and Interventional Pain Management, Chiropractors Phoenix Treatment, Physical Therapy, Spinal Decompression Therapy, Naturopathic Medicine, and Manipulation Under Anesthesia.

Alternative Medicine As an Effective Migraine Treatment

A migraine is really a chronic headache that is mainly triggered through the spasm and thinning of microscopic bloodstream ships which carries bloodstream towards the brain. The headache is severe and debilitating and may occur from annually or as frequently as four occasions per week. It's indicated by nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, aura but first and foremost with a throbbing discomfort on either sides from the mind. Several factors happen to be recognized as triggers for any migraine attack for example stress, anger, caffeine, nicotine and hormonal discrepancy.

Medicinal marijuana has lengthy been shown to be very effective treatments for migraines. Its primary component, THC, is better noted for its analgesic and neuroprotective effects that may give relief towards the discomfort caused with a migraine attack. Due to marijuana's good reputation for illegality, it is not marketed as a good migraine treatment alternative. People are also apprehensive in making use of medicinal marijuana due to the wrong impression that smoking is the only method of utilizing it. You will find however other delivery techniques you can use for example vaporization, food items that is made by infusing food with cannabis, or through tinctures taken sublingually (underneath the tongue).

Another factor that attempts people by using medicinal marijuana is that they believe that obtaining a medicinal marijuana card is complicated and costly. That's in which the many Colorado medicinal marijuana shops can help you. They are able to provide patients with assistance within the entire medicinal marijuana card application. Colorado marijuana shops have over time sprouted all around the city regardless of the slump in economy. So large the medical cannabis industry is becoming that several measures along with a moratorium happen to be passed to curb and control Colorado medical cannabis shops.

Medical cannabis being made legal ought to be a welcome development to migraine sufferers who avoid taking their prescription medications due to the unwanted effects the drugs have. The most typical of those unwanted effects are fatigue, drowsiness, racing heartbeat, nausea, difficulty in thinking and numbness. Pain relievers which dull the throbbing discomfort of the migraine could cause long-term dependence on it. It's unlucky that patients aren't made conscious of these dangerous results of prescription medications and you will find no alternative remedies given to them.

Not just has migraine patients found relief for that discomfort that's sign of the problem, additionally they learned that advantages of medical cannabis like enhanced sleep and reduced stress can prevent its onset and therefore reduce instances of migraine. The standard of existence of migraine patients that prescription medications can deny them is viewed to possess been enhanced rather by medicinal marijuana.