The Marijuana Recommendation Blog

California doctors who recommend cannabis under Proposition 215 (the Californian medical marijuana law) say they have become the next target of opponents of the medical use of cannabis. These doctors were issuing medical marijuana recommendations mostly to HIV afflicted patients.
Police, sheriffs, and prosecutors throughout California have brought complaints against at least nine doctors, who are being investigated by the state Medical Board for issuing medical marijuana recommendations According to the doctors, not one of the investigations has been triggered by a complaint brought by a patient, a patient’s family, or health care professionals. The Medical Board is actively investigating complaints against doctors David Bearman, Frank Lucido, and Marian Fry for issuing medical marijuana recommendations. Their conclusion: it seems that the potential dangers presented by the medical use of marijuana may actually contribute to the dangers of the diseases which it would be used to combat.
Investigations also involving doctors Tod Mikuriya and William Eidelman are pending with the state Attorney General’s Office for issuing also medical marijuana recommendation. Complaints against doctors Stephen Ellis and Mike Alcalay have been dismissed. And two others, Robert Newport and Stephen Banister, are on probation.
A survey of the San Mateo Medical Center in California found that more HIV patients who were issued medical marijuana recommendation to smoked marijuana for mental rather than physical reasons. 252 HIV patients were surveyed, of whom 58 patients admitted to use cannabis in the last four weeks. When asked for the main reasons they used the drug, most cited several reasons. 57 percent say they smoked it to relieve anxiety or depression, 52 percent against nausea and loss of appetite, 28 percent to alleviate pain.
Smoking marijuana has become a popular treatment for weight loss associated with HIV. Claims about its effectiveness are based largely on individual experience rather than data from studies. A synthetic form of the most active ingredient in marijuana, called dronabinol (Marinol), is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is available by prescription for treating HIV-related weight loss (anorexia), as well as treating nausea for people undergoing chemotherapy.
The most potent argument against the use of marijuana to treat medical disorders is that marijuana may cause the acceleration or aggravation of the very disorders it is being used to treat.
Smoking marijuana regularly (a joint a day) can damage the cells in the bronchial passages which protect the body against inhaled microorganisms and decrease the ability of the immune cells in the lungs to fight off fungi, bacteria, and tumor cells. For patients with already weakened immune systems, this means an increase in the possibility of dangerous pulmonary infections, including pneumonia, which often proves fatal in AIDS patients.
Studies further suggest that marijuana is a general “immunosuppressant” whose degenerative influence extends beyond the respiratory system. Regular smoking has been shown to materially affect the overall ability of the smokers body to defend itself against infection by weakening various natural immune mechanisms, including macrophages (a.k.a. “killer cells”) and the all-important T-cells. Obviously, this suggests the conclusion, which is well-supported by scientific studies, that the use of marijuana as a medical therapy can and does have a very serious negative effect on patients with pre-existing immune deficits resulting from AIDS, organ transplantation, or cancer chemotherapy, the very conditions for which marijuana has most often been touted and suggested as a treatment. It has also been shown that marijuana use can accelerate the progression of HIV to full-blown AIDS and increase the occurrence of infections and Kaposis sarcoma. In addition, patients with weak immune systems will be even less able to defend themselves against the various respiratory cancers and conditions to which consistent marijuana use has been linked, and which are discussed briefly under “Respiratory Illnesses.”