Mary Jane and Pain
This is my fifth and final blog of RDBlog week which runs from September 24, 2018, to September 28, 2018. Today the prompt is:
411 on Pain – Marijuana is being touted as a drug that can cure everything from skin rashes to heart disease. Have you tried Marijuana for your Rheumatic Disease? Perhaps you have a friend who has tried it, and you can share their experience. If Marijuana was legal where you live would you use it for pain?
I often joke that Indiana will be the 184th state in the United States to legalize the sale and use of medical marijuana. Since there are only 50 states currently you get the idea of how far it must come before medical marijuana is legalized in Indiana.
Evil CBD Oil
Just last year, the Indiana Attorney General decided that possession and sale of CBD oil broke state law. He advised the State Police to confiscate all retail CBD oil and to commence prosecution. It took an intervention from the Governor to calm the waters, and on the first day of the 2017 legislature, they were asked to pass a law legalizing the sale of CBD oil. Not to be confused, CBD oils is not a recreational product, it does not produce a high, and yet this Attorney General wanted to lock people up for using, selling or being in possession of the product. I mean come on, it is CBD oil. Good grief.
Anyway, while the sale and possession of CBD oil was being legalized, almost nothing was said about, marijuana. Indiana does not have a mechanism for citizen-led referendums, so there is the only way forward,
and that is through the legislature.
I believe that if there were a way for citizens to sponsor propositions or legislation, that medical marijuana would be legalized. Surrounding states, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio authorized the sale and use of medical marijuana. Kentucky is our only border state that does not have a medical marijuana law. Soon Indiana will be one of the few that still has a 100% restriction on the sale and use of the product.
Pipe Dreams
We do have a legislator from the minority party who is conducting a one-person public review of marijuana laws in our state, with an eye to legalizing the medical use of the product. I predict that will never happen. First, no bill has a chance in this current legislature if it is proposed by a member of the minority party and
there is no indication that the majority party feels the need even to study the matter.
If legalized would I use it? Yes, I would. I have no desire to smoke the product, but I would use edibles. I have discussed the matter briefly with my doctor. He advises that if I did start using it, he would likely reduce the number of pain medications prescribed, which would be a fair trade in my mind. My doctor is nearing retirement so someday I will have to seek a new Rheumatologist and they may have different ideas about how to progress with treatment if I were to start using the product, but that is some time in the future. Even with the current doctor, it is a matter of speculation. I have no intention of using so long as the product is not legal for use in the state where I live. If pain started outstripping my pain medication, then I would be tempted to obtain and use it as an illegal substance, but where to even start? I mean for goodness sakes I am 61 years old and I do not see me being successful going to the street corner to buy weed.
How would that conversation even happen?
Yeah, I do not see me doing any of this.
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You’d be surprised who among your friends (or your children’s friends) would be able to get you what you need might need. I’ve used it in the past for pain and it worked brilliantly. At the time, it was illegal here in Canada, but I didn’t have any trouble finding some. And yes, I am coming out as having done something illegal. I’m hoping the fact that marijuana is being legalized on October 17 will save me from going to jail. 🙂
PS just landed in an article about CBD oil. It is actually classified by the DEA as a Schedule 1 drug, along with LSD and heroin (stunning, I know). They tend not to arrest/prosecute people who use it for medical purposes, though.
Lene, I did see where Canada is ready to legalize the use of marijuana. Will Canada be the next winter destination hot spot?
LOL! You’re welcome anytime.
Pot tourism does look tempting some days. But I agree it would be hard to know where to start or what to do.
If Utah passes the referendum I will visit, I promise.
A shame the citizens of your state suffers because of closed-mindedness. The debate’s been a long one in the UK, but medical cannabis is scheduled for approval for medical use within months.
Well, not everywhere. I believe I counted that 31 states, and the District of Columbia, plus most of the 5 territories have approved at least medical Marijuana sales and about 5 have approved OTC marijuana sales. But oh where the ones that miss, they miss a lot. Of the four states that surround Indiana, three have approved medical sales. Indiana is so conservative however, that we used to ban the word sex in school dictionaries. Yeah I know. Oh and the fourth state Kentucky, its number one crop used to be tobacco, now it is illegal Marijuana sales. Good lord, I need to come to your country.
I’m on a roll making Paleo Baked goods. Maybe one day when you try those edibles, you can post about Paleo friendly edibles. 😊
Oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
Don’t shun CBD oil. I do find it fairly effective on painful joints. Obviously if the pain is acute, it doesn’t work but for my daily aches it definitely helps. I think that some of the medical marijuana can become an effective part of pain relief for chronic pain patients.
Oh I would never say something does not work. Do you have a particular type? Many forms are still banned in Indiana.
My oil is made by a friend’s herbalist locally. Doesn’t have a name. The gummies are regular medical marijuana ones from the RI compassion center. All local. We are lucky in RI to have access to mm
I have a friend considering using CDB oil for arthritis and neuropathy, I know she is trying to consider which of any are effective.
I was diagnosed with RA April of 2016. I am in IL where medical pot is legal. That summer I saw a doctor to advise me and spent $300. I got zero advice and found the application process to get a card very difficult. Now my husband buys edibles and creams when he travels to Seattle or CA. He has had no trouble bringing these on the plane. The edibles do help the pain and help me sleep. The cream works better than the otc CBD oils and creams. We have our home for sale and plan to move to AZ where it’s easier to get a card. I have found a wonderful Naturopathic doctor there. We have visited many times and find that my pain and swelling greatly improve with the dry weather and swimming pool. I wish you all great health!
Oh I wish you much success. I have often thought that someday I may need to do the same, but I am hopeful that we will admit 94 states so I can buy it legally here in Indiana if that time comes.
Hi Rick!
I’m in IL and they really don’t make it easy or cheap for medical marijuana. I found that the dispensaries are awesome in helping you figure out what product might work for what ails you. Like you I tried going with the edibles. Mostly cbd only, but they didn’t seem to help my RA or fibromyalgia. I moved into the small amount of THC and discovered that the edibles take so long to digest I would be eating too much and be stoned. I was just looking to remain functional and cut the pain not sit and watch tv for the night! When I say too much, I mean one whole gummy bear…really not that much. No matter what I tried it would hit me one or two hours after ingesting. I moved to the vape. It looks like an e-cigarette but it’s comparably cheap, doesn’t smell and I can control how much I get real time. It cuts the pain almost immediately and I can still cook dinner. I’m hoping IN might feel the pressure and change their ways for the good of those in need.
Heidi. I noticed Indiana held a hearing on a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. About 100 people showed up at least 90% pro. But the interim committee adjoined with taking a vote. The excuse? Pharma may not have had enough time (4 months)to schedule attendance. So the committee took no action. I now believe Indiana will be the 200th to adopt such a law
Cannabis oil products are now legal in Scotland. There are only a few doctors on the specialist register who can prescribe the products though. I know of some people who are already using these products to successfully manage Rh Arthritis and Crohn’s disease.
I am sorry I missed your comment. It is important to know which countries have at least the option of using cannabis in some form. In the US CBD oil is now widely available but not from pharmacies or as a prescription. We had a revolution and now one can buy some form it at your local news stand, hairdresser, convenience store or off the back of a jeep (some guy in my neighborliness is setting up at the local golf course and opened his store in his jeep). Of course one gets some amount of the essential ingredient, (I mean who knows). I think of it as a mess, but I am not a user so it all may be wonderful for all I know. I think we in the US really do need a version that is uniform, sold at pharmacies and titrated in known concentrations. Somehow the jeep thing seems, less than a good place to purchase medicines.