Is Marijuana or Cannabis a Painkiller – Let Me Tell You
Cannabis / Marijuana
What exactly is Cannabis, also known as Marijuana?
According to -
Dictionaries: Marijuana is a “strong-smelling plant from whose dried leaves a number of euphoriant and hallucinogenic drugs are prepared.” Cannabis is a synonym.
Biologists: Marijuana is any plant of the genus Cannabis; a coarse bushy annual with palmate leaves and clusters of small green flowers; yields tough fibres and narcotic drugs.
Medical science (pharmacology): Marijuana is a medicinal herb containing about 60 cannabinoids (chemical compounds that activate neurotransmitters released in the brain.)
Nutritional analysis (Ref: Wikipedia)
Calories: 1100 g: 567 kcal
Protein: 30.6
Carbohydrate: 10.9
Dietary fiber: 6.0
Fat: 47.2
Saturated fat: 5.2
Palmitic 16:0: 3.4
Stearic 18:0: 1.5
Monounsaturated fat: 5.8
Oleic 18:1 (Omega-9): 5.8
Polyunsaturated fat: 36.2
Linoleic 18:2 (Omega-6): 27.6
Linolenic 18:3 (Omega-3): 8.7
Gamma-Linolenic 18:3 (Omega-6): 0.8
Cholestero: l0 mg
Moisture: 4.7
Ash: 6.6
Vitamin A (B-Carotene): 4.0 IU/100g
Thiamine (Vit B1): 1.4mg
Riboflavin (Vit B2): -0.3 mg
Pyridoxine (Vit B6): 0.1 mg
Vitamin C: 1.0 mg
Vitamin E: 9.0 IU/100g
Sodium: 9.0 mg
Calcium: 74.0 mg
Iron: 4.7 mg
Industrialists: Canabis is ‘hemp’, which contains only 1% THC and turned into a vast variety of products such as pulp, paper, fuel, cloth, rope, resin, hemp oil, wax, cosmetics, jewelry, and even as an insulating material for constructions. - (Ref.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
Dieticians: Marijuana is a nutritious food rich in minerals to be eaten raw in salads, or grounded in milk, tea, cake mix, cereals, etc
The man in the street: Cannabis is marijuana, a hallucinogenic drug able to arouse feelings of great elation. . Various extracts, including hashish and hash oil are also produced from the plant. In order to arouse a sense of euphoria the level of THC should be high. (THC: tetrahydrocannabinols, the psychoactive property that creates a sense of euphoria.)
Taxonomy:
- Life: A living organism
- Domain: Cellular
- Kingdom: Plantae (Plants)
- Subkingdom: Tracheobionta (Vascular plants)
- Superdivision: Spermatophyta (Seed plants)
- Division: Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants)
- Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)
- Subclass: Hamamelididae
- Order: Urticales
- Family: Cannabaceae (Hemp family)
- Genus: Cannabis L. (hemp)
- Species: Cannabis sativa L. (Marijuana)
- Sub species: Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis and a total of 46 varieties of cultivars.
Evidently Cannabis is a plant with vast, versatile qualities, as each part of it can be harvested and utilized for a specific purpose.
But is it a painkiller?
My personal experience of cannabis aka marijuana –
I was in my late thirties when I decided to test the effect of marijuana. After only 4 puffs of a joint I found myself momentarily ‘stoned’ – not able to move. My body was heavy, nailed to the ground, but staggeringly alive as every single nerve was all of a sudden hyperactive.
The next moment Tachycardia became my lot. My heart rate exceeded to 120 highly irregular beats per minute. Seeing with the eye of my mind the headlines of my death in our local newspaper – "Well-Known Beloved Citizen Died from An Overdose Of Marijuana”, and seeing the shock on the faces of my children while my coffin was sinking into a grave, made me giggle as if there was no tomorrow.
In vain I pleaded for help. “Please, call the paramedics, I am going to be the first woman who had died laughing.” Of course, nobody took notice of me. In fact, they assured me that I will be okay, I might as well enjoy being ‘doped’. After about 6 hours I was able to get myself to the nearest emergency care centre. According to the doctor on duty I was ‘too old’ to test the effect of such a strong adrenaline-booster. (Adrenaline booster’s toe in a jam tin, I thought.) After treatment of 6 weeks my heart was finally able to beat its normal rhythm again.
I will never know if Tachycardia was caused by the marijuana, or any other additions to the joint, or my personal reaction on the weird feeling of having one’s head in the clouds while one’s body was nailed to the ground.
A couple of years later
I rented a cottage on a farm. To my surprise I found myself amidst a hippie colony. Oh, I always wanted to be a hippie! To be a hippie in my naughty forties was quite an exiting experience, as I was firmly, too firmly, settled in the artificial World of Pretension, in constant mourning because all my young-girl’s dreams of happiness and success were trampled into the mud while I was marching in the rut of a bucket pump’s ass.
Very carefully I started to use marijuana as a relaxer on Friday evenings. The result was feelings of carelessness and happiness. On Friday evenings colours were brighter, smells were clearer, food tastier than ever, and every nerve in my body was hyper-sensitive and eager to be pleased. The fact that my short-term memory left me time and again on Friday evenings in the lurch only provoked outbursts of highly enjoyable laughter. Fortunately I didn't get hooked and didn't miss it when I moved on to the next stage of my life two years later.
Recently –
– a decade after the hippies - I have tried marijuana again in my desperate search for an effective painkiller. I took a few puffs and even eat half a teaspoon of it, truly desperate. Within less than half an hour I found myself nailed to my bed. Sadly, while my head was spinning and my body felt heavy and stoned, every nerve in my body was hyperactive, turning my pain into a fire more unbearable than ever before. I could feel for the first time the very source of my reflective pain.
At least marijuana can be used to detect the source of reflective pain, I thought, and I was not even able to giggle when the eye of my mind saw ME burning in a Wicker Man’s belly. Fortunately I fell asleep just to woke up an hour later more aware of my pain than before.
For three days my pain was more intense than before, which brought me to the conclusion that the marijuana must have paralyzed the ability of my brain to reduce natural pain-killing chemicals, which may not be 100% effective, but still capable to keep pain from driving a person crazy.
Read about the body’s natural pain fighters here - http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55001
Conclusion -
Marijuana is not a painkiller. To the contrary, it intensifies pain and destroy the brain’s ability to activate pain-reducing endorphins.
So, if authorities try to justify the legalization of marijuana on its ability to kill pain, that will be a pack of lies.
The dangers in Marijuana according to my personal experience are -
- Marijuana has a negative and dangerous effect on the heart and vascular system. It may instigate Tachycardia and Angina.
- It impairs psychomotor performance.
- It increases the ability of nerves to sense pain.
- It decreases the ability of opiate receptors in the brain to reduce perception of pain.
Marijuana - Final Conclusion -
Bad news –
Recently a devoted mother of 31 allegedly became the first woman in Britain to DIE from cannabis poisoning.
Cannabis kills 30,000 people per year!
Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-179264/Cannabis-kills-30-000-year.html
Good news -
A specific non-toxic ingredient of cannabis, Cannabidiol, treats certain Cancers and Epilepsy.
http://drsircus.com/medicine/cancer/cannabis-treats-cancer-and-epilepsy
Interesting comments on this article:
From: DzyMsLizzy
I'm sorry you had a bad experience. It sounds as though you ended up with some other ingredients, even if those were accidental inclusions.
As to the rest, I'm not sure where you're getting your statistical information, but it certainly runs counter to my own research. In point of fact:
1) There have been NO deaths directly attributable to Cannabis alone--deaths where Cannabis is involved also have another contributing factor, such as alcohol.
2) You cannot "overdose" on Cannabis in the same way as you can with legal narcotics
3) Accounts such as the headlines you mentioned are generally sensationalist tabloids, not concerned with fact finding
4) The compound in Cannabis that gets you "high" is THC (not "THS"), and no, that is not a painkiller.
5) The compounds in Cannabis that can be effective medicinally are known as 'CBDs,' and are effective (with individual variations) on some pain, and for conditions such as insomnia. (You need to understand the difference, and buy from a reliable source, getting the exact (pure) strain you need.) Casual sources are quite likely to have contaminants that can be hazardous, and/or simply be the wrong strain. You don't want a high concentration of THCs for pain relief; you want higher CBDs. That is where knowing what you are doing, and understanding the product comes in.
6) Cannabis and hemp are botanical cousins, but are NOT the same plant. Hemp is useful industrially, for everything from paper-making to clothing and ropes, but you couldn't get "high" on hemp if you wanted to--the THCs are far too low to non-existent.
7) Hemp used to be a common plant in the USA; everyone, including President George Washinton grew it. During WWII, farmers were encouraged to grow it for the war effort.
7) It became "demonized" later on, when the paper industry decided they'd rather use trees. William Randolph Hearst rallied his buddies to instigate the ban.
Those are just a few key points. If you feel so inclined, you can read my in-depth article on Medical Marijuana. And don't trust government-funded sources of information, for they have a vested interest in keeping this beneficial herb illegal.
© 2014 Martie Coetser