I am interested in this subject because my sister and I both have chronice migraines. My sister also suffers from fibromyalgia and we both suffer from arthritis. The chronic pain makes it hard to go through the day without some form of help. My sister has used medical marijuana as a pain reliever since high school. I can not stand the smell of marijuana and therfore I normally just deal with the pain until it is bad enough that it requires a narcotic. I would like to learn whether or not it is worth it to get a prescription for medical marijuana and the long term effects it could have on life.
The second reason I would like to explore this subject is because of the economical effects. I want to learn if it is better financially and enviromentally in the short run and long run. As the years go by more and more states will start to allow marijuana as a legal form of medical pain reliever so I want to be able to make a knowledgable decision when voting for this.
To be honest, I am one of those people that currently does not have an opinion one way or another on this subject. Actually, I am hoping that this blog will take me in one direction or another. Most of my friends smoke or use the edible version of marijuana for both medical and recreational reasons.
I believe the best place to find good sources for this subject would be doctors, government, economist, enviromentalist, and personal experiences.
Can you explain/define what you mean by chemical medication? Is this just a general term for normal prescription drugs? And if so, what kinds of drugs? I.e., what are the "chemical" drugs that are used instead of marijuana? One of your questions IS, "what is the definition of both marijuana and chemical medication?", and so I recommend researching and answering this first. If you do this, you've have some of the basics out of the way and you can turn your attention to the debatable, open-ended, complex elements of this issue. In other words, your project should ultimately explore questions debatable questions rather than questions with specific or "correct" answers.
ReplyDeleteYou will probably want to do some of your research through the library databases to get credible medical information. The government may have "biased" information on this issue, since the federal government is against the use of marijuana. Also, be wary of pro-marijuana websites that are advocating a particular stance. Instead, seek out those more "neutral" medical sources.
The two forms of "Chemical medication" I am looking at are preventative and pain relievers. Preventative meaning they will stop the issue before it occurs. Pain relievers meaning Narcotics to dull/ reduce the pain.
DeleteThe preventative I will focus on is Diamox and the pain reliever I will focus on is Vicodin. Both of these are the main prescriptions given out for migraines which is my main focus for this. Vicodin is also given out for almost every form of pain so most people can relater to using it.
DeleteI think that this post is very interesting, in a good way. I personally have not met many people who do not have a stance on this issue. I am interested to see where this blog is going and I agree with you that the best place to find sources would be doctors, government, and so on. I believe that you will find the most scientific and worth while information from these sources. Good luck in finding your stance on this issue.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic, especially since marijunana is becoming more publicized in the western states, being written about in newspapers and interviews on TV. I personally do not indulge in pot smoking, THC drops, edibles, wax, or hash, yet I know plenty of people who do use for real reasons. However, many people also abuse their right to medicate and use it in an addicting way, and the pot shops do very little to regulate how much their buyers are getting. Not to mention the doctors who hand out red cards, clearly do it for money ( I believe it was Denver that posted a newspaper article on it) Unlike prescription medication which is regulated to keep from feeding the addicted patient, pot shops are nothing more then rich drug dealers, since there is no cap on the use. It is funny that I saw this post because I was actually looking up the pros and cons myself, the other night, more specifically, Hash, which is growing in popularity. Web MD had a decent and informative article which may help you with this blog. Ask yourself "where's the proof?" (that helps me anyway) -Nicole ENG 121 (face to face class)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that your took on this subject and going into not knowing which way to go with it. I appreciate you sharing your personal story about yourself and your sister. I am in the same boat as both of you with the migraines, fibromyalgia and arthritis so I truely can relate to the pain level you go through. A couple years ago they had me on 12 different medications to help with the pain and I just could feel my true self going away and being medicated so much of not functioning. So I am down to 3 sleeping pills to help me relax at night so I get a least now 6 hours of sleep. I have a friend who grows it and years ago I did smoke with her and it did ease the pain but I wasn't sure at what results I would have down the road. So I will be paying CLOSE attention to the research you come up with and taking it to heart.
ReplyDeleteLook so forward to your posts!!
Thank you for your comment. I am sorry you have to go through the pain of migraines, fibro, and arthritis also. I hope you get something out of this blog too.
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