MJ-Gimpy | Arthritis Information

Gimpy,

How often do you smoke MJ? Do you find that it helps with just the pain, or other sx too? Is it legal where you are? How long have you been smoking it?

Does anyone else on the board smoke MJ?

PhatsI used to smoke it a lot more than I do now. Its not legal here but not hard to get either. Now that I am older I find it just makes me have the munchies and want to go to sleep. Since the sarcoidosis is so bad in my chest, I haven't had any in probably 6 months or so.

I find it helps when I am nauseous and it does help the pain a bit. Also helps with insomnia!
I smoke every day about 3 puffs a day. I usually have them in the evening. I haven't had real pain for quite a while, but it did dull it when I had it. Mostly it's good for problems like nausea, headaches, tense muscles (it really helps an mtx hangover), and it's a good sleep aide. Apparently it also has anti-inflammatory properties.

It's not legal where I live but it's not exactly illegal either. Quite a while ago the police and justice system publically announced they wouldn't be prosecuting anyone for personal use. In Vancouver there are even a couple of cafes where you can smoke it in the smoking room. The vast majority of people here are not at all concerned about MJ use (I have even grown plants openly on my porch and I live in the city core). People recognise the mild nature of the drug, and many recognise the amazing ability of the plant to improve quality of life for many people. I could probably easily get a prescription and buy my goods at the Compassion Club but I don't bother. I have a source of soil grown, organic MJ, and I use so little of it a small bag lasts me a really long time.

I really like eating MJ because it has a nicer effect than smoking it, but it's stonger and it lasts longer. I know many people with chronic conditions such as RA, Crohn's, Fibromyalgia, MS, etc who use MJ as a frontline defence for their condition.

My banking institution has an annual award for creative businesses which better the community, and two years ago they awarded it to the Compassion Club. A couple of years ago the federal government was on the brink of "decriminalising" it but they lost the election and the new government squashed the initiative.I should clarify that if you get a prescription it is 100% legal to have and use it.When I was going in to the OR for a port placement an older nurse told me I should try it. She said her daughter had breast cancer and she got it for her and it helped her pain a lot. She was an older nurse too, she kinda took me by surprise

LauraDid you guys see where MaryAnne from Gilligans Island got arrested for having pot in her car?

I think that was who she played.

Justin smokes for his Chrons. I don't mind saying, because it works so well. No pill he's ever taken has kept him so level. The Chron's can really dent his appetite, which is BAD. He's always told to eat 6 small meals a day, but who has that kind of appetite? Anyway, it also works better than any pain pill he's been on. Plus, it kills the nausea. Sooooo it's like taking 3 or 4 different pills. Which for one, would be killer on our budget, and two, would be so many extra chemicals in his body.

His GI knows that he smokes, and not only doesn't mind, but reccomends it. He just recenly had a colonoscopy done, and they said it was the clearest one he's had. The GI even used the word "normal" It was amazing. :) I'm convinced it's probably helping the inflammation too.

He has a little "one hitter" that he uses, and a "baby bong" they're just the tiniest little things. So in a day I'd say he MIGHT smoke what you could hold between your fingers. If that makes any sense. It's not much at all. What we buy lasts and lasts and lasts. He doesn't get "high" so he's not really smoking that much. I'm glad it works so well for him. :) It did take us FOREVER to find it though. I'm rambling. LoL

I live in a state that prohibits it, but I grew a plant in my sunroom and it got so big that I put Xmas lights on it! My nephew gave it to me and at the time, I did not know what it was (rolling eyes) so I loved it as I love plants anyway. He finally took it away and said that it was the best pot that he ever had. LOL

It doesn't seem the members that use MJ are going out of control with it. It's not like the kids on Dazed and Confused. hehe I think in moderation, if it works for you - go for it! (Haven't doctors already verified the medicinal qualities?) I personally don't see a problem with it at all especially if it's making people comfortable. I just know it wouldn't be the route I would take myself at this point in the game. Who knows, maybe several years into the future I'll have my own garden. I have always wondered about the use. I had heard it's good for pain and especially the "after" effects of chemo. But well like a dummy I thought getting high how can you function.

But now I know you are talking very very small amounts. This is information I never knew. Thanks for sharing. It's nice to learn something even if just about everyone already knows.

Is it leagal in any states? Or is every state legal with a script??

It is in a few, but I can't remember which ones. You can get it pre-grown from certain pharmacies, or grow your own. Of course they limit how much you can grow , but at least you can do it yourself. Oh, and as far as I can tell from the studies I've read, they've never successfully related pot smoking to lung cancer. The only people they found who smoked pot and got lung cancer, were also cig. smokers. [QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]Doesn't it cause lung cancer?[/QUOTE]

Not if you eat itAlso... most people who smoke marijuana do not smoke 20 or more joints a day. Another thing to consider is that commercial tobacco products have lots of additives in them which contribute to the ill effects

What I had heard was that 1 joint equals 5 cigarettes in the risk of getting lung cancer. I could be wrong. Also I realize our other RA drugs have cancer side effects too so I guess a lot of people feel blaise about it. That doesn't bother me in the least. I have lung cancer in my family however- so personally if it's true- I wouldn't risk it.

I've heard that too, but at the same time they have *no* studies proving that MJ has ever caused lung cancer. The only patients they have who did get lung cancer, were ALSO cigarette smokers.

Odd, don'tcha think?

I think maybe that could be because if you don't smoke cigarettes it's probably because you don't enjoy or dislike inhaling smoke- so you wouldn't smoke pot either. I guess there are former cigarette smokers who still smoke pot- but they would still be classified as smokers.

No, I'm saying they had pot smokers on the "panel" or whatever, some were ONLY pot smokers, and some were pot/cig smokers. And only the pot/cig ones had the lung cancer.

And yet they came out with this 1 joint equals 5 cigs thing. It's just dumb, it doesn't even make sense.
Maybe it's left over from the "Reefer Madness" days....Its legal for personal use in the UK. My friend who has MS uses it every now and then when his pain is bad and has done for years. He's one of the most intelligent, highly qualified people I know.

Funny and OT in so far as if it works take it. It cant possibly be worse on the system than long term morphine. We've always asked our son not to 'do' drugs and when he was 18 we'd take him to Amsterdam to try the 'cake' within the safety of family. They went at the end of Jan. My boy is a big lad and one muffin didnt have the desired affect so he had a slice of space cake too! 2 hours later after a sleep and time to ingest it husband woke to find my son sitting on the edge of his bed, white as a sheet, frantically tapping his feet, holding himself tightly looking frantically around the room because he thought the walls and ceiling were moving in. Husband said that his muffin made him feel the floor was moving away from him when he tried to walk and really amused the rest of the group as he tried to walk 'normally' down the corridor to the restaurant
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