The Daily Blog Open Mic – Friday 6th April 2018

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Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.

Moderation rules are more lenient for this section, but try and play nicely.

EDITORS NOTE: – By the way, here’s a list of shit that will get your comment dumped. Sexist language, homophobic language, racist language, anti-muslim hate, transphobic language, Chemtrails, 9/11 truthers, climate deniers, anti-fluoride fanatics, anti-vaxxer lunatics and ANYONE that links to fucking infowar.  

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  1. ‘Medical Marijuana Lowers Rates Of Opioid Use, Study Finds’

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-03/medical-marijuana-lowers-rates-opioid-use-study-finds

    “More than 60,000 Americans are expected to die this year from drug overdoses as powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl-laced heroin cause drug-related deaths to skyrocket. So far, the Trump administration’s boldest proposal to combat the epidemic has been revising DOJ rules to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in some drug cases.

    With that in mind, the results of a recent study published this week might be of interest: The study, published by an independent team of researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine, is the latest to suggest that expanding medical marijuana could help lower rates of opioid abuse, NPR reported.

    Medical marijuana appears to have put a dent in the opioid abuse epidemic, according to two studies published Monday.

    The research suggests that some people turn to marijuana as a way to treat their pain, and by so doing, avoid more dangerous addictive drugs. The findings are the latest to lend support to the idea that some people are willing to substitute marijuana for opioids and other prescription drugs.

    Many people end up abusing opioid drugs such as oxycodone and heroin after starting off with a legitimate prescription for pain. The authors argue that people who avoid that first prescription are less likely to end up as part of the opioid epidemic.

    “We do know that cannabis is much less risky than opiates, as far as likelihood of dependency,” says W. David Bradford, a professor of public policy at the University of Georgia. “And certainly there’s no mortality risk” from the drug itself.

    As the study reports, many opioid abusers first encounter the drug as a prescribed treatment for pain, after a surgery or due to a chronic condition or some other circumstance. According to the scientists, by presribing medical marijuana for pain, instead of opioids, the rate of opioid dependence will fall. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine believes there’s some evidence that cannabis can effectively treat pain – at least in some conditions…

    …but in New Zealand we are killing off our elderly with fentanyl

    ‘Prince’s death drug prescribed to New Zealand’s elderly’

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/83570824/princes-death-drug-prescribed-to-new-zealands-elderly

    “The drug that killed popstar Prince is being prescribed to New Zealand’s elderly in record numbers, prompting a warning from the Government health watchdog.

    The spike in prescriptions of fentanyl – a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin – is being described as “opioid rain” by alarmed medical professionals.

    An investigation has found rates of prescribing have doubled in rest homes in four years, while doctors are dishing out strong opioids to already frail over-80s around 10 times more often than to those under 65. Prescription rates varied wildly between regions….

    …( and this is ok with the NZ medical profession?!!!!)

    https://www.nzma.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/77958/Medicinal-cannabis-position-Statement_November-2017.pdf

    NZMA position and recommendations

    1. The medical profession should be actively engaged in the debate about the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

    2. The framework for the approach to medicinal cannabis should be consistent with that for medicines,
    and kept separate from debate about the legal status of cannabis for recreational use.

    3. Doctors should not be enablers for the recreational use of cannabis.

    4. The NZMA supports measures that facilitate research of medicinal cannabis, to widen and deepen
    the evidence base from which to make informed decisions.

    5. Given the possible harms associated with smoking cannabis and the availability of other modes of
    administration, it is difficult to justify a place for smoked cannabis as a medicine.

    6. Given the known harms of cannabis and weak evidence of efficacy as a medicine, caution is required
    before recommending cannabis for loosely identified medical reasons.

    7. It is important to acknowledge the wide range of risks associated with cannabis, but these need to
    be considered in a similar light to the risks and side-effect profile of existing medications.

    8. Doctors are well placed to educate people regarding the use of cannabis and to assist those with
    problems associated with cannabis. It is important that doctors engage in continuing education as
    the evidence regarding cannabis continues to evolve.

    *Approval is not needed to prescribe Sativex® for spasticity related to MS or cannabidiol-based products where the level of other naturally occurring cannabinoids is less than 2% of thecannabinoid content

    (imo this is disgraceful!)

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