If Spain can do it, so can America 2008-04-11 13:47:00

Spain has been using cannabis as a way to relieve the pain of chemotherapy for cancer patients. Cannabis is available in a medicine form throughout the Spanish health service for patients being treated with chemotherapy if other drugs fail to be effective. While I'm sure people would prefer all-natural cannabis as a first choice, but at least they are actually trying to help their citizens, not profit off of them at any cost.

The head of the Catalan health service said that a pilot program using cannabis to treat those with multiple sclerosis, cancer, chronic pain and other illnesses had shown that sickness in 67% of the patients in the study had decreased. In the case of patients suffering from anorexia-caquexia associated with Aids up to 53% of these regained their appetites. The number of patients in the study suffering from multiple sclerosis who went from having unbearable pain to suffering tolerable pain went down from 66% to 35% and the number of patients who suffered almost no pain at all increased from 11.40% to 27.70%. And right on the heels of this study comes an endorsement from the American College of Physicians (ACP) for medical marijuana. The ACP shows data backing up the fact that marijuana has medical benefits for people who suffer a wide ranger of illnesses from nausea, vomiting, and chronic pain to cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

I'm no scientist, but based off of these results I would have to say that cannabis, at a minimum, has the ability to ease people's pain naturally. But when people who can't eat begin eating and living again, that goes beyond just finding just a treatment, this is the right (and sometimes, only) treatment for people. Study after study shows the same results, but in some places ignorance and stupidity have more influence over facts.

But the government can't stop people from using the things that help them, unless they lock you up. So it will only be a matter of time until so many people know that it works that they will demand the government stop prosecuting medical marijuana patients. But for that we need to kill the negative stereotypes about cannabis, and educate people. Ignorance and stupidity can't win forever.

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