Re: Can marijuana help paraplegics recover?

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:47:02 GMT, Mark Thorson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

>bhanwara wrote:
>
>> I happened to meet a person who became a paraplegic 13 years
>> ago in a diving accident.  But he had recovered enough to be
>> able to walk by himself now, though he still needs crutches
>> most of the time.
>>
>> He had used marijuana to keep himself happy despite his
>> accident.  But I wondered if there was a causal
>> connection.
>
>How do you know that he might not have needed any crutches
>by now, had he not smoked anything at all?
>
>

        As much as I'd love to think the cannabis had a beneficial
impact on his condition, it's just as likely that it didn't. Because
of the totalitarian attitude of the US government in restricting
cannabis to schedule 1 (high abuse potential and no redeeming medical
value), very few meaningful studies have been done on just what
conditions are beneficially effected by cannabis.
        We in the medpot community are aware of many cases in which
cannabis has helped produce a positive outcome for patients with
certain neurological problems. However, the documentation is only
slowly emerging and most of it is from countries other than the US who
have softened their stance toward cannabis and allow research with
this drug. 
        Until research is allowed to progress and professional medical
facillities conduct studies of the drug's anecdotal effects on
different medical conditions we'll have no real progress at all. It
needs to be done, done soon, and in carefully crafted clinical trials
with public disclosure of the results.
        BudBurner