My Latest Email From NORML Will Interest Some Of Us

[TheDoDahMan]

norml.org/news/2020/01/02/c...

[Hidden]

Thanks for this, very interesting.

Hopefully this will lead to some more rigorous research into exactly which compounds found within cannabis are effective.

It reinforces my view that CBD oil, especially the forms legally available in the UK aren't any use for RLS.

What the effective compounds are, isn't at all clear at the moment

The trick with developing a "medicinal cannabinoid" will be to demonstrate, (like many other drugs), that the "undesirable" effects are not harmful or far outweigh the therapeutic benefits.

Unfortunately in the case of cannabis, and this may always be the case, it seems likely that the essential therapeutic compounds also cause the undesirable effects.

This is further complicated in the case of cannabis because of commonly held and differing perceptions of what "undesirable" actually is.

I am, you may have guessed, thinking of the psychtropic effects of cannabis and some attempts to get different formulations of cannabinoids accepted as therapeutic seemed to have rested on there being no psychotropic effect.

The cannabinoids that are most therapeutic however may be the same that produce the psychotropic effects.

I can see more conservative readers picking up on the references in the NORML reported case studies to "subjective experience".

Personally, I'm amused to think.of someone with RLS symptoms smoking marijuana and then saying their RLS feels better. You could imagine they're so stoned they're no longer sensible of their RLS symptoms.

Or, they might actually enjoy the symptoms - psychotropics can do some strange things .

You've also have to accept that cannabis use does have some harmful consequences. This as a direct result discounting any consequences relating to drug dealers, other drugs etc.

My theory is, and it is only a tentative one, is that there are 2 main issues around the legal acceptance of cannabis and therapeutic derivations.

One is that cannabis use is in some respects an act of rebellion, can be seen as anti social, cannabis users don't conform. A certain degree of conformity is necessary for civilised societies to function!

The other is more complicated!

I believe people differ inherently in character and temperament in such ways that it affects our very perceptions of what we call reality and how we react to it

Some characteristic perceptions and reactions tend to always go along with others i.e. a "syndrome". Thus certain views on race, equality, the environment, morality, individual rights, criminality, national boundaries. social control, spirituality and many other facets of life, all go together.

If this is in any way correct and the most therapeutic cannabinoids are the pyschotropic ones then in the current trend of the predominant views in western societies, I can't see cannabis ever being fully accepted.

[Madlegs1]

I find it utterly useless when so called research does not adhere to very basic parameters. What kind of cannabis was involved, how much THC? ,Was there a blind or placebo group involved?

Thanks to TDDM for passing on the link, but it doesn't progress our knowledge very much.😧🤔

Cheers.

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

Only in jest, but what kind of blindness were you thinking of?

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hidden]

None so blind as those-- etc. As Raffs has already pointed out.

Goodun!👍

( I'm in New Zealand at the mo, so everything is a bit upside down!!)🙃

[Hidden in reply to Madlegs1]

Do NZ christmas cards have snow scenes on them?

[Madlegs1 in reply to Hidden]

Nah! Just a barbied kiwi!😅

[Hidden]

I've read where RLS sufferers benefit best from inhaled cannabis - ask a politician and they'll deny its possible.

As Madlegs1 says, getting the basics down is vital for it to be taken as serious study.

For the moment Big Pharma and those benefiting from keeping cannabis illegal will focus hard on the benefits of CBD and push that it is given to all and their dog (after initially fighting to make sure very few got it) proving that cannabis isn't as useful as it is meant to be so best kept illegal. If you can't patent it you can't own it outright and make an obscene amount of money out of it.

In fact there are so many factors that will be used to deny the use of cannabis (in the UK & Ireland anyway) it would take me too long tonight to list it all down and too long for most to read.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I didn't want to mention politics but hope you got my implication.

Thanks for the reminder about the economic issue, that would be my third factor (in no particular order). Interesting to see in Canada, the cannabis black market is still flourishing!

[Joolsg]

Thanks- interesting. I’ve never found my illegal cannabis oil helps my RLS BUT it does put me into deep sleep & so the RLS is less likely to wake me. I hasten to add that I get it from a friend of my daughter who’s a chemistry graduate, grows the plant organically & distills it using the Rick Simpson oil recipe.

It also helps my MS enormously. Cannabis was legalised for MS in the UK 2 years ago but there isn’t a single person who has obtained a prescription! (Sativex spray is only available for MS spasm not pain. )Campaigning by the MS society may change this but I’m not holding my breath.

[byrnzy4]

I think this is great for those 11 people who found relief. I had a cannibis expert try to help me with many different types and methods - he is brilliant and applied everything he could think of. None of it worked, and I was in tears over and over from hoping this or that would be the trick. After a year of my physician experimenting with legal drugs and amounts (after a year of not sleeping and crying a lot) finally I have time release 30 mg Morphine (ms contin) and 1200 mg of gabapentin. This works almost 100%, and I am able to sleep normally. I have to remember to take the morphine at 7 PM and the gabapentin at bedtime. If I forget or get distracted, I am up all night walking. I work normally in the evening after taking the med, so it is not enough to alter my abilities in any way. Refractory RLS is hell on earth, and it needs controlled studies and reliable meds.