Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Cannabis Alleviates Depression
From Salem News:
Written by Dr. Phil Leveque
The Merck Manual indicates 20 percent of women and 12 percent of men will suffer clinical depression. This is a rather depressing world we’re living in.
Antidepressant drugs are among the most prescribed medications but their adverse side effects can often be paradoxically lethal with suicide being prominent.
Todays [sic] TV news presents a new electromagnetic machine for depression which stimulates the brain which probably causes cannabinoid secretions which makes patient subjects feel better. It had better, a treatment series costs 6 thousand dollars.
Well, I have a surprise for some people. The U.S. Govt says cannabis as an alleged drug causes euphoria which (surprise surprise) causes euphoria which is addicting. Imagine, a very safe replacement for amphetamine, once the most prescribed and addicting mood stimulants being replaced with cannabis.
The U.S. Govt estimates about 70 million cannabis users. I have medically interviewed at least 4000 of them. Almost all were long time users. None complained of adverse euphoria.
If such a high percentage of the population have clinical depression certainly many of my 4000 patients had depression which unfortunately is not an acceptable condition for an Oregon medical marijuana permit. The Oregon “egg heads” in charge of the program will not accept ANY psychological problem – it must be physical!
This is really strange. One of my largest patient groups are PTSD Veterans (about 400 of them). Most found out in Vietnam that cannabis gives best relief for battle stress. Whether battle stress produces/causes depression may be arguable. For a Combat Infantryman his only real relief is a “million dollar wound” which will get him away from certain death. If that doesn’t cause depression nothing will. Anxiety and blood curdling fear are certainly part of this PTSD syndrome. The worst factor is that once a person has PTSD, there is usually no escape…most people know that severe battle Veterans cannot talk about their experiences it hurts too much.
When these PTSD Veterans get/got home with nightmares etc., the VA doctors and non-doctors prescribed every kind of drug available. The Vets usually found out most of their drugs made them worse. They rediscovered cannabis but the VA non-doctors said you can’t use illegal drugs (even if they work best) and have VA treatment. How absurd. Believe it or not the VA system is supposed to HELP Vets.
In the meantime, with 70 million cannabis users many vets are using. Alternately many are alcoholics or tobacco addicts. Both of these cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Cannabis has never killed anybody.
YES CANNABIS WILL ALLEVIATE DEPRESSION.
We've been hearing for years that pot has medicinal value, despite what the Federal Government says. What do you expect the Feds to say after so many years of spending BILLIONS AND BILLIONS in a failed drug war...admit that pot has medicinal properties?
Labels: Cannabis
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