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| Marijuana is Safer Than Most Painkillers |
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Posted by CN Staff on December 28, 2004 at 10:51:07 PT By Barbara McKee Source: Albuquerque Tribune 
Before 1899, pain relief was treated with herbs. Then "the wonder drug of the century" - a synthesis of the compound acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin - was introduced by Bayer in Germany. Originally a trade name, aspirin passed into the popular vocabulary. The use of salicylic acid and its derivatives dates back to 400 B.C. when Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) prescribed the bark and leaves of the willow tree (rich in salicin) to reduce pain and fever. In A.D. 100, Dioscorides mentioned willow leaves. The pain-relieving effects of Salix (willow) and Spiraea (meadow sweet) species were forgotten by doctors in the Middle Ages but lived on in folk medicine. In 1763 the Rev. Edward Stone, who tested it on 50 feverish patients, presented the first scientific study of willow bark extract to the Royal Society in London. In 1828 a German chemist, J.A. Buchner (professor of pharmacy in Munich), experimented with salicin. Other people also worked on salicin, like Hermann Kolb, who first identified its structure as ortho-oxybenzoic acid and managed to synthesize it. Artificial production of salicylic acid couldn't compete with the natural product until 1873. In 1876 its anti-rheumatic effects were clinically proven, and its pain-killing and fever-relieving effects were rediscovered. Another wonder drug was introduced around the same time as aspirin: heroin. Bayer claimed the drug as a cough remedy, which was important at the turn of the century with the high number of deaths due to tuberculosis and pneumonia. Heroin suppressed the respiratory system and was a powerful sedative. Studies endorsed heroin, stating its effectiveness in treating asthma and bronchitis. By 1899, Bayer was producing about a ton of heroin a year, exporting the drug to 23 countries. Manufacturers of cough syrup were soon lacing their products with Bayer heroin. Bayer never advertised heroin to the public, but the publicity material it sent to physicians described the product thus: "Heroin: the Sedative for Coughs." In 1913, Bayer decided to stop making heroin. There was an explosion of heroin-related admissions at New York and Philadelphia hospitals, and in East Coast cities a substantial population of recreational users (some supported their habits by collecting and selling scrap metal, hence the name "junkie"). Heroin was outlawed in the United States in 1919. Fast forward to the 21st century. New drugs to treat pain, Vioxx, Celebrex and Naproxen, have been pulled from the shelves or warnings on dosages have been issued. Many doctors are now recommending aspirin to treat moderate chronic pain. There's another drug that has been around for centuries that has little to no life-threatening side effects: marijuana. It relieves pain and nausea and is inexpensive to produce, but its use is in the same category as heroin. Most of the studies I've read show it's a medication that is much safer than most of the painkillers on the market today. This old herb has been around for centuries for a reason: to help humanity. What better reason do we need? Complete Title: Healing Herb: Marijuana is Safer Than Most Painkillers On The Market Today Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM) CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by afterburner on December 29, 2004 at 10:49:55 PT |
| It all depends on how government medical regulators react to Sativex. If they, for example Health Canada, use it as an excuse to ban all personal cultivation of herbal cannabis, then many people will not be able to afford the remedy, or the cost of pharmaceutical cannabis will become another drain on an already over-burdened public health care system. Similarly, in the US a large percentage of the public has no health care coverage. Sativex is a blessing for those unable to use smoked or vaporized cannabis or who need an exact dosage. However, private and public health care systems should be moving toward integrative medicine, combining affordable herbs for those who can benefit from them with expensive pharmaceutical preparations for those who need them. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo MD on December 29, 2004 at 08:52:50 PT |
| Bayer does not make Sativex. There is an agreement for Bayer to market Sativex for GW Pharmaceuticals for spasticity in multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom, and for central neuropathic pain in MS in Canada. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by afterburner on December 29, 2004 at 08:22:35 PT |
| "The pharmaceutical giants, whether they know it or not, are engaged in the systematic corruption of the medical profession, country by country." - John le Carre, author Good article, though. I never expected to see such detail in print. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on December 29, 2004 at 05:09:39 PT:
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| Aside from the glaringly obvious declaration of safety, one of the main thrusts of our argument is to point out that the 'crude drug' objection of the antis has been nothing but a tissue-paper-thin excuse to hand the potentially HUGE profits from cannabis derivatives to their fat-cat Big Pharma friends...when anyone could grow their own meds if were legal to do so again. While loudly pontificating that the 'crude drug' has no value and is (how can they *possibly* say this with a straight face?) 'dangerous' because selective breeding (caused by the economic pressures created by prohibition, itself) have resulted in superior strains of increased THC bearing plants being created. The extraction and isomerization process involved in creating modern pharmas have always resulted in greater potential for overdoses due to concentrating the target compounds. This is a given. But in the case of cannabis, there has never been a human LD-50 determined (the dose in which half the people who are given any drug die from it). The lies used to support cannabis prohibition on a scientific basis are becoming increasingly transparent. Soon the real reasons for cannabis's continued proscription will become so obvious the most benighted Joe Sixpack will tumble to them...and get as pee-oh'd about it as we are. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by b4daylight on December 28, 2004 at 16:32:14 PT |
| Despite the side effects, the drug was approved because there are no other options for these patients and the benefits outweighed the risks, said Dr. Robert Meyer, director of the FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation II. So I guess it is ok here but pot is out. a new pain killer [ Post Comment ] |
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