cannabisnews.com: Medical Cannabis Update: Smokeless Marijuana





Medical Cannabis Update: Smokeless Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on September 01, 2004 at 22:05:20 PT
By Rick Bayer, MD
Source: Alternatives Magazine 
Oregonians passed the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) in 1998 and will vote this fall to upgrade the OMMA.Most Americans support medical cannabis (marijuana) and agree patients should not be arrested for using marijuana under medical supervision. Nevertheless, the most criticized aspect of medical marijuana is the smoke. The question is, can patients benefit from cannabis without inhaling smoke and the cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) created when plants combust?
There are no studies showing cannabis smoking causes cancer or emphysema, but cannabis smoke contains measurable carcino-gens. We know smoking marijuana can cause irritated airways (bronchitis) with cough and chest pain. The prestigious Institute of Medicine issued a report in 1999 agreeing cannabis is medicine but expressing concern about smoke. The highest risks for long-term cannabis smoking are seen in regular users, including patients.In the past, if one needed immediate benefit from cannabis to control vomiting, one had to smoke it. Eating cannabis or swallowing FDA-approved Marinol (synthetic THC) requires an hour to work. Smoking works almost immediately and so is attractive to those seeking immediate relief from pain, spasm, nausea, etc.Fortunately, there is an alternative to smoking cannabis called vaporizing that avoids nearly all carcinogens but offers the rapid relief previously found only by smoking. Cannabis releases medicinal vapors above 140°C (284°F) but doesn’t release benzene and other carcinogens until it reaches 200°C (392°F) and will not combust (release smoke) until it reaches 230°C (446°F).This means if a device gently cooks cannabis at 140° to 190°C (284° to 374°F), one can inhale the herbal medicine in the smokeless vapor without inhaling the carcinogens found in smoke. Fortunately, smokeless cannabis inhalers are available now. If you know patients who smoke cannabis, make sure they know about vaporizers. At my website -- http://www.omma1998.org/ -- link to the medical cannabis bibliography and look under scientific articles online for a detailed discussion of vaporization and vaporizers.Why don’t all patients use them? The primary obstacle is cost, with the best vaporizer being over $500. Hopefully, as medical cannabis becomes more accepted, relaxation of paraphernalia laws will combine with product demand to make vaporizers affordable.Another obstacle is some persons do not tolerate inhaling any medicine. Even asthma inhalers irritate our airways, taste bad, and take practice to use correctly. The vapors from standard medical cannabis are almost entirely botanical/natural THC, which does not cause cancer or emphysema but can irritate airways.One way to minimize risk of irritation to airways is to ingest cannabis by mouth to control predictable symptoms and inhale vaporized cannabis to control unpredictable symptoms. This would include “breakthrough pain” or pain that occurs in spite of the regular dosing of oral pain medicine. This type of protocol would be consistent with modern pain treatment standards.Like other dried powdered herbal medicines, one can easily make capsules from cannabis after heating 10 or more minutes at about 100° C or 212° F. The mild heating activates raw cannabis by removing a carbon dioxide molecule. But if one uses too much heat, the medicinal components vaporize. Heat activation occurs during the process of vaporizing, smoking, or cooking cannabis, but for capsules, it’s useful to activate the cannabis before ingestion to make it more potent and digestible.Even on an empty stomach, oral cannabis takes an hour to work but lasts 4 to 6 hours. The cost of cannabis capsules for most OMMA patients is pennies compared to synthetic pharmaceutical THC (Marinol) that can cost more than $20/pill and is without biologically active compounds naturally found in botanical cannabis. One can only hope the ability to grow one’s own medicine will increase access to medicine for Oregonians as the Oregon Health Plan shrinks and drug costs continue to skyrocket.Treatment of pain or other symptoms in any patient routinely requires adjustments or titration of dose. Cannabis offers an advantage because no lethal overdose exists, which makes it safer than standard pain treatment medicine offered by the pharmaceutical industry. Cannabis represents a legitimate alternative in many treatment situations. If risks of smoking are removed, the risk of cannabis is the same as THC described at -- http://www.marinol.com/ With harm reduction technology like vaporization, economy of growing one’s own medicine, and no lethal overdose from cannabis; patients and doctors have another tool to ease human suffering.Rick Bayer, MD is board-certified in internal medicine and a fellow in the American College of Physicians. His is co-author of Is Marijuana the Right Medicine For You? A Factual Guide to Medical Uses of Marijuana.Complete Title: Physicians' Perspective: Medical Cannabis Update: Smokeless MarijuanaSource: Alternatives Magazine (Eugene, OR)Author: Rick Bayer, MDPublished: Fall 2004 - Issue 31Copyright: 2004 Get Real Inc.Contact: editor alternativesmagazine.comWebsite: http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Voter Power Foundation http://www.voterpower.org/Yes on Measure 33: MMJ from Patients Perspectivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19427.shtmlPolitical Insanity About Marijuana and Drug Usehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19426.shtmlOregon To Vote on Easing Medical Marijuana Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19124.shtmlOMMA: A Report Card at Five Years Old http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18496.shtml
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on September 02, 2004 at 18:59:16 PT
Thank you, Dongenero and BGreen
Thank you for your comments. I guess I'm just "sweatin the small stuff". It is small stuff, but it can be irritating.BGreen, you are right about this site. The people here mean a lot to me. It's good to be able to talk with like minded folk about what is happening and to keep up with what is going on. Sometimes we have to share devastating news here...but sometimes it's good news and always, hale hearts.FoM has done a brilliant job. 
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Comment #10 posted by dongenero on September 02, 2004 at 12:42:47 PT
Nice comment Rev
Nice comment Rev Bud. 
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Comment #9 posted by BGreen on September 02, 2004 at 12:32:35 PT
Hope, I Don't Think You Were Wrong
Using the word "stoner" to describe the intellectual group of participants here at Cannabisnews.com is akin to calling the NAACP convention a gang of "n***ers."Golden Lung isn't the first newbie to show up with preconceived notions due to governmental brainwashing, so educating them isn't anything new. Responding to illogical arguments can be frustrating. Trying to deprogram the recipients of billions of dollars of lies and other government propaganda can get ugly.There is such a brilliant and diverse group of posters here at Cannabisnews.com, those of us who've been here for years know that without a doubt, and I'm proud of FoM and the rest of my friends here.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #8 posted by dongenero on September 02, 2004 at 11:55:38 PT
another link
Sorry, here's the other link.http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?s=&threadid=364708&highlight=olive+oilThis one has several recipes for cooking w/ cannabis.http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70595&highlight=olive+oil
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Comment #7 posted by dongenero on September 02, 2004 at 11:48:24 PT
cannabis gel caps using olive oil
The THC is soluble in alcohol, oils such as olive, or by heat when cooked into food. It sems the directions I've seen using oil also use heat and then the mixture is used to fill gel caps. Here are two links. If you search the forums there you will certainly find additional info on various methods.
Good luck!http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403209&highlight=olive+oil
http://www.overgrow.com/edge/showthread.php?s=&threadid=403209&highlight=olive+oil
 
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Comment #6 posted by VitaminT on September 02, 2004 at 10:40:47 PT
If that's true . . . . 
you should be able to make all you want in a double boiler on the stove top.That way the tempeture will never rise above 100C/212F unless you somehow pressurize the bottom portion of the double boiler.Off hand I don't know the vaporization temp of cannaboids but I'm sure it's well above 100C/212F so you've got lots of room for error.I'd be interested to know if this works.
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Comment #5 posted by Max Flowers on September 02, 2004 at 10:34:10 PT
yes elfman_420
You could use a food dehydrator. I believe they have heat adjustment and I know they are right in that same range. It would be safer (for the THC) than trying to use an oven set to low, which usually have trouble getting down that low.
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Comment #4 posted by elfman_420 on September 02, 2004 at 10:25:24 PT
Does anybody have a recommendation on how to....
go about this?"Like other dried powdered herbal medicines, one can easily make capsules from cannabis after heating 10 or more minutes at about 100° C or 212° F. The mild heating activates raw cannabis by removing a carbon dioxide molecule. But if one uses too much heat, the medicinal components vaporize."
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Comment #3 posted by dongenero on September 02, 2004 at 08:42:40 PT
labels
I think it's possible for cannabis enthusiasts to use the term "stoner" in an innocuous way.
However, the term "stoner" is used by the opposition, to connote entirely negative impressions of cannabis users.The best analogy I suppose may be the term liberal. If you look at what the consevative machine has done for the term liberal, which can be thrown out , as a quick sound byte label, and now has horrible, negative connotations. 
 Now, go look up the actual definition of liberal. It is quite positive actually.These quick labels can have quite different meanings to different people.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on September 02, 2004 at 06:45:33 PT
Sam? Stoners?
Maybe I owe an apology to GoldenLung. A relative told me that I was being too harsh on the kid. I sort of thought "stoner" was a look...sort of like "skater" or "prep" or something. I think of the term "stoners" differently than I should perhaps. I've been "stoned"...really, really high. I would have thought more that I was the "stonee" instead of a "stoner".It's fairly irrelevant, actually. I guess I'm touchy about the subject. I know that the stuff is more likely beneficial than harmful. I hate what happens to people when they are persecuted for cannabis use.I'm certainly not ashamed that I ever smoked cannabis. I did and I mostly liked it, but I've always resented "labels"...like doper, dopehead, stoner, and pot head. I rather liked the term "cool". As in, "Are you cool?" I know what that means. I guess I'm just too old to "cut the mustard", whatever that meant.Do I owe an apology to GoldenLung for being offended that he called CannabisNews a "stoner" site?
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on September 02, 2004 at 06:17:03 PT
Vapes
I think it's interesting that some of the best vaporizers, like the Aromazap and the Eterra, (about $100), were developed by tinkering stoners over the years. Not massively-educated "experts" or Big Pharm. I guess my point is, an individual man or woman is still a potent and capable force, together we're able to do amazing things without Big Government or huge corporations, or approval by "experts" and the all-knowing corporate media telling us that something is OK.
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