cannabisnews.com: Addiction or Self Medication? Addiction or Self Medication? Posted by CN Staff on November 13, 2002 at 10:55:43 PT By M. Simon Source: Sierra Times.com "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize an undercover dictatorship. To restrict the art of healing to one class of men, and deny equal privilege to others, will be to constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic, and have no place in a Republic. The Constitution of this Republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom." Abridged quote ----Benjamin Rush, M.D., a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Let me start this little essay on the uses of marijuana with an idea. A very simple idea. An idea that strikes at the very heart of the drug war and it's moralistic foundation. The very idea that those who use unapproved drugs are the lawful subjects of religiously motivated government persecution.What we call addiction is in fact self treatment of undiagnosed pain.This is a truly revolutionary idea. If it is in fact true then the whole notion of a drug war to save the children is a lie from beginning to end. Those of you who have read my article on heroin have a window into this new idea. What I tried to show in that article was that medical research shows that victims of sexual abuse and severe physical abuse (PTSD) are many times more likely to get addicted to heroin than the general public.Let us next look at the case for marijuana.Natural molecules similar to an active ingredient in marijuana play a part in helping the brain clear fearful memories and keep them from being permanently debilitating. The British journal Nature has reported this discovery by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany. The scientists of the Institute say that this has implications for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder and other fear based conditions.It turns out that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in the United States. They are worth $46 billion a year to the pharmaceutical industry. You don't suppose this fact has any thing to do with the pharmaceutical industries being in the forefront of the Drug Free America campaign do you? Of course not. They are just trying to keep you from being addicted to natural products at the cost of 1/10th of a cent per dose when they are more than willing to sell you an FDA and doctor approved, pharmacy sold product that will do the job for a dollar a dose. They have only your best interests at heart. Just ask their accountants.All humans show fear reactions to dangerous situations. However, in the case of one out of ten people (surprisingly the same percentage of people who are susceptible to substance addiction) the fear does not die down in the absence of the dangerous situation. The fear stays at debilitating levels even in the absence of danger. These people have a definite, if ordinarily invisible problem. You cannot find this problem with x-rays. It is possible that this problem could be found with a many thousand dollar PET scan. Or you could take a few puffs of a joint and see if that helps. If the joint was legal. Which it is not.Pankaj Sah of Australian National University believes that chronic marijuana users are self medicating for anxiety problems. He goes on further to say that we self medicate for head aches with aspirin and this causes no social problems. He speculates that people experiencing emotional problems are taking cannabis for relief. Of course since this medicine is not doctor approved it is against the law. Especially it is against Federal Law, as a number of states have made medical use of marijuana legal. The Feds in California know how to stop this though. They put the sick, the dying and the pain wracked in jail to show their compassion. You don't suppose it has anything to do with maintaining at all costs the State and Federal $50 billion dollar drug war do you? Not a chance. They are the government and they have only your best interests at heart. Trust them.You can read a good review of the report here.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13596.shtmlLet me leave you with a final quote from a Supreme Court Judge:"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." Justice BrandeisThat quote and an impassioned speech for the right of self medication can be found here.http://gos.sbc.edu/l/lord.htmlSource: SierraTimes.com (NV)Author: M. Simon Published: November 11, 2002Copyright: 2002 SierraTimes.com Website: http://www.sierratimes.com/Contact: http://www.sierratimes.com/contacts.htm CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #13 posted by John Tyler on November 14, 2002 at 10:25:30 PT Drug Free what? "Pharmaceutical industries being in the forefront of the Drug Free America", is a strange quote. How can the drug industry be for a Drug Free America unless it is all a lie? That is like the Automobile industry being for an Automobile Free America. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by knox42897 on November 13, 2002 at 22:20:47 PT: THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING What we call addiction is in FACT self treatment of undiagnosed pain.I've been making this point for years! I don't think people understand how powerfull this statement is. Everyone who smokes marijuana is a medical user taking preventive medication. This would mean no more recreational smokers, ONLY medical patients!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 13, 2002 at 19:43:48 PT afterburner I got the one article posted but you must have missed it. I just read the one about Mrs. Bush. I don't think I'll post it but I'll comment on it. She doesn't get it. She is blaming drugs and not herself and the situation that helped create Noelle's addiction. When looking at the source of a child's drug addiction self analysis must be true and honest or nothing will be gained but creating more harmful laws and one more lost child. Noelle isn't a child but she is their child and always will be. Thanks for the articles! Legalize Medical Marijuana: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14722.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by afterburner on November 13, 2002 at 19:27:07 PT: FoM- You might find these stories post-worthy US LA: Editorial: Legalize Medical Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2090/a06.htmlLouisiana, home of Jazz and one of the homes of the Blues, rejoins the fight to legalize medical marijuana (cannabis). US FL: Florida First Lady Talks About Anti-Drug Fight http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v02/n2092/a09.html?397Does it sound like she learned anything from Noelle's tragedy? There's a name for people who keep doing the same thing, eventhough it doesn't work.ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.420toker: Potatoes, Not Prozac is a good place to start to test your addiction theory. I think you are onto something. I wonder what Dr. Russo thinks. Check with DdC too; he has a wealth of medical/psychopharmacological links.God created cannabis for a reason, and it wasn't to cage humans.Love and Peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on November 13, 2002 at 18:33:23 PT Are We Free? The right to use marijuana, be it medicinal or recreational, all boils down to just one very basic question...Are we free?Nuevo Mexican, you are so right! These Osama tapes always surface just when Bush & Blair need them!Is this the source of the latest bin laden audio tape? http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2001aug/gee20010801007089.htmU.S. Bombing Watch: When was the last time the U.S. Bombed Iraq? http://www.ccmep.org/us_bombing_watch.htmlWas Wellstone murdered? It's a legitimate question journalists must feel free to ask: http://onlinejournal.com/Media/Ramares110702/ramares110702.htmlPaul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline: http://cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/The People's Investigation of 9/11: http://www.911pi.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 13, 2002 at 14:39:17 PT Nuevo Mexican Glad you like my sense of humor. I don't know if bin Laden is alive or dead. I'm glad that the attention on the news will have to back off from Iraq and maybe we can learn something about issues that will and do effect us who live here in the USA. I don't believe in chasing oil. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Nuevo Mexican on November 13, 2002 at 14:26:53 PT FOM, I love your sense of humor! 'I heard that Iraq will allow inspectors. Maybe they can find bin Laden now.' HAAAAAAAA!!! Great reminder of what this is supposedly all about, as we had almost forgotten about Osama! But HE'S BACK! Just in time! Still under the employment of the CIA no doubt, or he would of been killed by now!!!! Wellstone wouldn't just sign the paperz, would he? Anyone think the new bin laden tape is real? Didn't think so! Peace! NM [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on November 13, 2002 at 13:55:57 PT 420toker I was asked by a family member who lost their son to a Heroin overdose why do people do drugs.I thought and I answered to try to be happy. She said she understood and that made sense. He was a Navy Seal during Vietnam and started doing Heroin why he was a Seal. He never was able to get it together and died from an overdose in his 40s. Hard drugs can help a person postpone painful situations but they always will catch up with the person sooner or later in one way or another. I'm not sure about chemical imbalances but that could play a part for sure. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by 420toker on November 13, 2002 at 13:45:41 PT All addictions In my personal unsubstanciated opinion I feel ALL addictions is a chemical imbalance that the human body is trying to remediate. I wish someone would do a study to find out if heroin addicts have a naturally low level of endorphins. Or if Meth users have altered seratonin or too much dopamine in their body. It is absurd to think that through our development as a specie we did not co-evolve with plants. Therefore it is absurd to think that the human mind with millions of years of evolution has not learned to use this, esp. with the plats that we have lived longest with. Coca, Poppy, Cannabis, coffee, cacao, tobacco the list goes on and on. As each one of our cultures mixes with the others in our global economy we could feel the genetic need for any and all of these substances, or close replacements. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 13, 2002 at 13:36:49 PT p4me Were you in Vietnam? My husband was from 69 thru 71. He did two tours. He came home and went back after only 6 months state side. I heard that Iraq will allow inspectors. Maybe they can find bin Laden now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by p4me on November 13, 2002 at 13:03:16 PT Still a good article & hard to argue One thing about it, if you can ever get past think of the children BS and discuss an article like this, it melts the prohibitionists position.If this article would have linked the war on people that use cannabis to the war in Vietnam, I think I might have written it in my sleep. But even in Vietnam, we quit when we saw what we were doing was wasteful and fruitless. Didn't America already learn not to waste money and lives throwing them down a bottomless pit?The inventor of the Segway HT will be on 60 Minutes 2 tonight with a new inverntion. I guess everyone heard Iraq agreed to let the inspectors in by now.1 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 13, 2002 at 12:35:02 PT p4me It is a good article but I checked the link in the article to see if we had it here and we did so I put in our link because I know that our links are archived. The UPI article might well not be for long. That way I can avoid broken links in the future sometimes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on November 13, 2002 at 12:26:54 PT Hell yea!!! That is exactly what I think. As David Letterman says, "It's like we are twins." He even put a link to Cnews in it.Goddamn the fascist.1 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment