Don't Get High….. Get Well

Archive for April, 2009

If you could travel to the early 1900’s and walk into any pharmacy or Homeopathy Shoppe, you would find dozens of Cannabis tinctures on the shelves. These tinctures(made by Pharma), both Sativa and Indica, had 100 specific AMA approved medical indications. It was easy to medicate and few smoked cannabis.

After prohibition and the Stamp Act in 1937, these tincture bottles became old but beautiful and dry antique bottles. I have photos of these on the wall in my office.

So, as these tinctures went away, everyone smoked more and more, until smoking was felt to be the only way to medicate. Yes, there is vaporization and I always do encourage it as one of many options.

Tinctures are returning and on the shelves, at least in Venice, Ca, of most dispensaries. They work great, are available in both Sativa and Indica formulations, are subtle and particularly great during the daytime.

If you read Dr. Tashkin’s latest review of cannabis and lung cancer or COPD, he believes that cancer from cannabis alone probably does not cause lung disease. However, in large part he relates this to the amount of smoking one does. If a person is smoking 20 joints every day, I would advise them they ARE at increased risk. There is plenty of tar in cannabis. So, what to do? This is what I tell my patients:

1. Use all forms of the medication so that smoking can be more limited.
2. Whether or not smoking cannabis causes lung disease, smoking less and using tinctures gives the cannabis patient more freedom.
3. Try keep smoking to less than 5 joints daily. If more medication is needed, try, as possible to use edibles, tinctures, sub-lingual preps, vaporizing, etc. The reason I choose 5 joints is based upon Dr. Tashkin’s comments. He believes that on average 1 joint = 2 cigs. This is a guess. Anyway, that would be 1/2 pack of tobacco/day, which is below the toxic level for MOST patients.
4. If the patient develops a cough, they should cut back on smoking and try harder to switch to alternate forms.
5. Finally, as we study cannabis strains in the community, let’s add “tar” to the list. Perhaps we can begin to grow strains with less and less tar?

As a physician, my only “agenda” must be my patients health and comfort. This involves preventive issues as well as “disease” issues. None of us would minimize preventive health care.

I do not know how much gay marriage restricts extra-marital affairs, but it does a reasonable job among heterosexuals. I would imagine, that gay marriage must decrease multiple partner exposure therefore leading to decreased exposure to HIV.

How many lives might be saved? How much money would be saved? I don’t know. At this point in time we can’t lose lives and money to politics.

Does anyone know about studies regarding this issue? Perhaps this is another way to help pursuade powers that be?

Read carefully. These are sample bottles of Cannabis Tincture from the 1800′s thru 1940.

Insomnia is an extremely common condition. There is not one of us who has escaped this entirely. When insomnia is mild and intermittent, it is just part of life. However, insomnia can become a very serious problem for many patients.

There are various kinds of insomnia and various ways in which insomnia presents itself. For some patients, the insomnia is just associated with difficulty turning off their brains when falling asleep. Otherwise these patients feel fine – if not tired. For them, the use of cannabis, generally of Indica ilk, works extremely well. They dose themselves in one of many ways: smoking, vaporizing, edibles, tinctures, etc. The success rate for these patients is very high.

The second type of insomnia, is where the patient falls asleep very easily, but keeps waking up. The typical awakening hours are 1 AM or 3 AM and then again around 5 AM. These long nights of clock watching are torture for most patients. Additionally, most find that just taking some cannabis at night is not enough. Even with nightly Indica, they still keep awakening. These patients do feel better than without any cannabis, but far from ideal. These patients almost always have daily and severe anxiety. On their days off, they often will medicate with Sativa strains, but during the week, it is tricky to medicate with Sativa strains. This is where I encourage my patients to use Sativa Tinctures. These are solutions made with alcohol/glycerin. They can easily be sprayed under the tongue, work very well and are very private. A proper tincture, properly used, will help with daily anxiety without causing any sedation or “high”. The patients soon find that the daytime Sativa treatment, solves their frequent awakening. Magic!!