Doctors warn of ‘reefer madness’ as people react badly to cannabis medicines

[rooster59]

Doctors warn of ‘reefer madness’ as people react badly to cannabis medicines

By THE NATION WEEKEND

 

 

MANY PEOPLE have sought emergency treatment after developing side effects from using marijuana-based medicines, Dr Somsak Akhasilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said on Friday after warning people to beware of the false belief that cannabis can treat any ailment.

 

“Marijuana can only be used for four illnesses, namely epilepsy among children, nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis, and neuralgia after other medications have failed – and this can only be done under a doctor’s watch. The use of marijuana for other illnesses is still being researched. People cannot simply apply it, as it might negatively react to their current medication,” he warned, adding that cannabidiol (CBD oil) must be from credible and legal sources to ensure a good standard of extraction.

 

He cited Bangkok’s Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, which in the past 45 days had seen seven people aged 20 to 60 seeking emergency treatment for symptoms like vomiting, nausea and vertigo after placing a few drops of CBD oil under their tongue or smoking weed to treat their pre-existing conditions. 

 

The patients included a man in his 20s, who used CBD oil to treat his stomach ache and began vomiting, a 35-year-old woman who used CBD oil to treat high-blood pressure and was hit with nausea and vertigo; and a weed smoker who developed stomach ache and nausea. 

 

There was also a 60-year-old monk who applied CBD oil for muscle pain but developed vertigo and partial paralysis; a 45-year-old man with a history of heart disease and high-blood pressure who developed nausea and vertigo the morning after using CBD oil; a bed-ridden cancer patient, 75, who passed out after consuming CBD oil and had to be treated in hospital for two days; and a woman in her late 30s who used CBD oil to treat anxiety and began vomiting. 

 

“There is no system to monitor the side effects of marijuana-based medicines, so I want major hospitals to gather data to see if there has been an increase in such cases,” he said, noting that his own inquiry at some emergency wards showed the cases were rising. Most of the patients had been made to believe by younger relatives or friends that marijuana can treat any ailment. 

 

Dr Teerawat Hemajutha, head of the Information Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, said the marijuana-based medical treatments must be brought into the system by the end of this year. Misuse can cause fatal side effects, as well as result in dangerous interaction with the patients’ current medication.

 

A 28-year-old man recounted his own experience, in which he placed 30 drops of CBD oil instead of following the doctor’s advice to treat insomnia by taking no more than two drops at a time. His overdosing ended in him developing hallucinations, vertigo and seizures.

 

“Everything was spinning, I saw my child as a skeleton and my wife in double vision,” he recalled, adding he was certain it was the CBD oil because he had never used it before. He added that drinking alcohol or smoking weed years ago had not had such effects. 

 

“It was a horrific experience. I won’t use it again like this, I’ve learnt my lesson,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369955

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-25

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[unamazedloso]

I'm confused. Are all these bad experiences from people being prescribed the oil? I thought we weren't at that stage yet?

Are these just self healers?

Anyway 30 drops sounds fun where's the local doc?

[RJRS1301]

One has to question, first off what type oil are they getting, are they using it as prescribed, and where are they sourcing it?

 

What other medications are these supposed clients taking as well that could be interacting with the "oil"

 

Sounds like an ill informed scare tactic to me, even using "Reefer Madness" as a descriptor, smack of CIA 1960 USA 

[KhaoYai]

The problem is, if they are the same as they are in the UK, that these 'medicines' are not the cannabis that was discovered to have genuine medicinal effects.  They are processed, have THC and various other elements removed and other substances added. I know someone in the UK that has been prescribed 'medical' cannabis for their epilepsy and they not only report side effects, they say it is nowhere near as effective as the 'real' cannabis oil they used previously.

 

To be effective, the oil needs to come from plants with as near a 50/50 balance of CBD and THC as possible, extracted with pure alcohol and be 'un-bastardised - as near the natural form as possible.

 

Will governments allow medicinal cannabis that contains THC? Doubtful - can't be risking people getting high can we? The fact that they can get smashed out of their brains on alcohol doesn't seem to matter.

 

However, taking 30 drops like the guy in the article........what they hell did he expect!

Edited May 25, 2019 by KhaoYai

[Orton Rd]

Can definitely  bring on paranoia and psychosis.

[robblok]

The Thai doctors are onto something, I mean we got people going totally crazy in The Netherlands and in the US states that allow canabis to be used you see far more violence and crazy stuff. So they are spot on.... wait... that is not the case. 

 

Reefer Madness... the anti weed propaganda that did so much damage and is totally fake thanks to the US. The countries that liberised weed don't have extra problems so why do Thais think they need to use this scare tactic. 

 

Anywone who for instance would take weed instead of alcohol or meth would be seing a huge improvement in health and mental health. Not to mention a sharp drop in violence.

 

I sometimes wonder when the dinosaurs that are against weed will die out. 

[robblok]

1 minute ago, Orton Rd said:

Can definitely  bring on paranoia and psychosis.

Only in a small part of the population that is susceptible to this and has pre existing problems. In the Netherlands we almost got no problems alcohol on the other hand causes far more problems and diseases. So anyone who would do the switch would benefit a lot.

 

Those people would react badly to alcohol too. So not a reason not to use it.

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Can definitely  bring on paranoia and psychosis.

Won't do any more harm to me then.

[Inepto Cracy]

Self made at home rubbish and all sorts of problems are going to happen. America can't use THC, but South Africa and other countries can use it in their lab produced products.

So much misinformation and lies out there, speak to people who know the truth.

Doctors here don't know much at all in this field of interest.

[geoffbezoz]

21 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

The problem is, if they are the same as they are in the UK, that these 'medicines' are not the cannabis that was discovered to have genuine medicinal effects.  They are processed, have THC and various other elements removed and other substances added. I know someone in the UK that has been prescribed 'medical' cannabis for their epilepsy and they not only report side effects, they say it is nowhere near as effective as the 'real' cannabis oil they used previously.

 

To be effective, the oil needs to come from plants with as near a 50/50 balance of CBD and THC as possible, extracted with pure alcohol and be 'un-bastardised - as near the natural form as possible.

 

Will governments allow medicinal cannabis that contains THC? Doubtful - can't be risking people getting high can we? The fact that they can get smashed out of their brains on alcohol doesn't seem to matter.

 

However, taking 30 drops like the guy in the article........what they hell did he expect!

Exactly , why not allow the real thing, unadulterated, as that is what has helped people down the ages ?

[RJRS1301]

12 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Can definitely  bring on paranoia and psychosis.

Smoking dope can sometimes do that if there is an underlaying mental health problem, but need to smoke a lot and constantly

The "medicinal" CBD does not have the psychotropic ingredient, different type of cannabis  

[impulse]

13 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Can definitely  bring on paranoia and psychosis.

 

So can jay walking.  It's not the drug...  It's the fear of getting caught.

 

[RJRS1301]

The main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which acts on specific receptors in the brain known as cannabinoid or CB1 receptors.³

Research has found that the cannabis plant produces between 80 and 100 cannabinoids and about 300 non-cannabinoid chemicals. The two main cannabinoids that have been found to have therapeutic benefits are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). There have been claims that a number of other cannabinoids have therapeutic properties, but these have not yet been proven.¹

The main difference between the two cannabinoids is that THC has strong psychoactive effects, meaning it makes a person ‘high’, whereas CBD is thought to have an anti-psychoactive effect that controls or moderates the ‘high’ caused by the THC. CBD is also thought to reduce some of the other negative effects that people can experience from THC, such as anxiety.⁴

The psychoactive effects of THC, such as euphoria and feeling relaxed or sleepy, are well known, but THC has also been found to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, as well as being able to prevent and reduce vomiting.¹

Research is being conducted into CBD for its potential to treat epilepsy, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, some tumours, and drug dependency.¹

 

The evidence from studies in Israel and Europe has been around for many years

[RotBenz8888]

Perhaps add a few mg Haloperidol,  it'll relieve from nausea vomiting and hallucinations.

[dotpoom]

I know very little about this subject ..but like many of my age group ((70's) have down through the years been rubbing shoulders with hundreds, if not thousands of folk who have been puffing the weed or dabbling with it in various ways....My question is...How come I never heard of all these side effects from these folk that are being talked about in this article (hospitals getting packed from people using it).

   Just a thought?

[DoctorG]

Perhaps something to do with the manufacturing process as other places report very little side effects.

[RJRS1301]

6 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

I know very little about this subject ..but like many of my age group ((70's) have down through the years been rubbing shoulders with hundreds, if not thousands of folk who have been puffing the weed or dabbling with it in various ways....My question is...How come I never heard of all these side effects from these folk that are being talked about in this article (hospitals getting packed from people using it).

   Just a thought?

Scare tactics

[samuttodd]

The cbd in the states is nothing but cbd.   There is no psychoactive component to it at all.   Perhaps these folks were having a psychosomatic experience.    A misinformed placebo effect.     The mind is a very strong thing,  and if one believes they are "getting high"   or feeling strange, they may indeed be feeling so, not because of any drug or chemical component being ingested,  but because they believe it to be so.

 

[dinsdale]

What a load of rubbish. Rubbing, yes folks, rubbing a bit of dope oil on yourself can cause paralysis. Everything above is completely erroneous unless of course the product is tainted. Paranoia and phychosis can happen but this hapens with people that have pre-existing conditions such as schizophrenia. The best one is that......

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Misuse can cause fatal side effect

I would just love to see the figures supporting this nonsense. Any deaths attributed to dope would be from secondary influences. It is very rare from the drug itself. Overdose? You can overdose from vitually everything if you have too much of it.

Watch the movie Refer Madness 1936. Clearly anti marijuana propoganda at a time Dupont I think it was lobbied for it being listed as a narcotic to take hemp out of the market paving the way for nylon.

Edited May 25, 2019 by dinsdale

[Dumbastheycome]

4 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

I know very little about this subject ..but like many of my age group ((70's) have down through the years been rubbing shoulders with hundreds, if not thousands of folk who have been puffing the weed or dabbling with it in various ways....My question is...How come I never heard of all these side effects from these folk that are being talked about in this article (hospitals getting packed from people using it).

   Just a thought?

It is not so uncommon that smokers using very high potency weed can  suffer very temporary moments such as mentioned especially if in  combination with alcohol. Concentrated oil which has not been stripped of THC and used in excess is  bound to have  such an effect on individuals who are newly introduced to it.

All telling is the  declaration "I won’t use it again like this, I’ve learnt my lesson."

[RJRS1301]

1 minute ago, Dumbastheycome said:

It is not so uncommon that smokers using very high potency weed can  suffer very temporary moments such as mentioned especially if in  combination with alcohol. Concentrated oil which has not been stripped of THC and used in excess is  bound to have  such an effect on individuals who are newly introduced to it.

All telling is the  declaration "I won’t use it again like this, I’ve learnt my lesson."

Please read my previous post on the differences between medicinal and recreational 

 

[Skallywag]

Yes, if medicine gives you side effects that are unexpected or uncomfortable to your health. 

I believe the label will say something like STOP taking the medicine and go see your doctor. 

It is called an "allergic" reaction, can happen with any medicine to a small percentage of people. 

 

[BritManToo]

28 minutes ago, dotpoom said:

I know very little about this subject ..but like many of my age group ((70's) have down through the years been rubbing shoulders with hundreds, if not thousands of folk who have been puffing the weed or dabbling with it in various ways....My question is...How come I never heard of all these side effects from these folk that are being talked about in this article (hospitals getting packed from people using it).

   Just a thought?

I think you need to remember these are people that think if you line up enough boats, it will drive the floodwater away.

[Dumbastheycome]

5 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Please read my previous post on the differences between medicinal and recreational 

 

I have no  cause to defer from your post. But as a previous recreational smoker I have both observed and suffered rare occasions of "over smoke" symptoms.

I was a habitual heavy user for over 30 years.

 

[ezzra]

Just wondering when will the charlatans, imposters and fake cannabis purveyors will show up themselves... Anytime now i guess...

[lemonjelly]

57 minutes ago, robblok said:

Only in a small part of the population that is susceptible to this and has pre existing problems. In the Netherlands we almost got no problems alcohol on the other hand causes far more problems and diseases. So anyone who would do the switch would benefit a lot.

 

Those people would react badly to alcohol too. So not a reason not to use it.

Have to agree, I lived in the Netherlands for quite a while and hard drug addiction there is negligible compared to other countries where marijuana is illegal.

[RJRS1301]

11 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

I have no  cause to defer from your post. But as a previous recreational smoker I have both observed and suffered rare occasions of "over smoke" symptoms.

I was a habitual heavy user for over 30 years.

 

But using a different chemical combination on recreational smoking use

 

[RJRS1301]

14 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

I have no  cause to defer from your post. But as a previous recreational smoker I have both observed and suffered rare occasions of "over smoke" symptoms.

I was a habitual heavy user for over 30 years.

 

Different chemical combination with smoking recreationally

Different genus of plant to medicinal use

It is like comparing apples to oranges, 

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by RJRS1301

[Bill Miller]

"Many people" turns out to be seven, and including one fellow, for instance, who used some for a stomach ache and subsequently developed nausea and vomiting.

Excuse me, but doesn't a stomach ache frequently precede bouts of nausea and vomiting?

Where is the evidence in any of the cases cited that the marijuana had anything at all to do with the problems?

IMO this particular "doctor" needs some additional training.

[Dumbastheycome]

Just now, RJRS1301 said:

Different chemical combination with smoking recreationally

Different genus of plant to medicinal use

 

Has it been clearly established that those  reportedly suffering  mentioned  symptoms  are using  "medicinal oil? As far as I am aware no such is readily  available as yet.

Whether it be   Sativa  or Indica  variants .