Cannabis won't treat Hepatitis C
On Friday, panelists from the Department of Health’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee approved four new conditions for DOH Secretary Alfredo Vigil to consider adding to the program.
Jose Pacheco, a medical cannabis card holder, attended the meeting to petition for cluster-type headaches and migraines to be eligible for treatment with medical cannabis.
Medical marijuana patient Jose Pacheco, left, and his friend Len Coleman stand in the Harold Runnels Building in Santa Fe after a Department of Health Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee meeting Friday. Pacheco attended the meeting to petition for cluster-type migraines to be added as a condition that qualifies for the Medical Cannabis Program.
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“Seven moths ago I underwent brain surgery,” Pacheco said at the meeting. “I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk, and I had migraines every day. I spent the latter part of one year in the hospital. Getting back on your feet is hard to do, especially when you’re taking 50 or 60 pills to stay alive. That’s what I would be doing if I wasn’t in the program and if I wasn’t getting supplies.”
Pacheco said after he got his card he dropped down to taking about 14 pills per day.
“Medication for me runs anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000 a month,” he said. “I’m on Medicare and Medicaid, and they still don’t pay for some of my meds. And they still don’t pay for medical marijuana. Even though we have our licenses out here, we still can’t get it when you need it. You have to place an order; you have to wait. Many times your order won’t even be filled.”
The committee heard petitions for five conditions including cluster-type migraine headaches, Blepharospasm (eyelid twitch), Bipolar II Disorder, Hepatitis C and Ankylosing Spondylitis (an inflammatory disease of the spine and neck).
Hepatitis C was not accepted for consideration by the Department of Health secretary.
Petitioners did face some opposition from the panel and a doctor in the audience about how strict the diagnosing should be for Hepatitis C.
Steve Jenison, medical director for the Bureau of Infectious Diseases, is a member of the committee and said that Hepatitis C is already approved under the program, but only if the patient has undergone treatment with Alpha Interferon and Ribavirin. Alpha Interferon and Ribavirin is a treatment used in Hepatitis C patients to sustain the immune system.
“This (petition) is for the inclusion of any individual with Hepatitis C infection with a qualifying condition, whether that person is currently on treatment with Alpha Interferon and Ribavirin or not,” Jenison said.
Lawrence Leyba is a semi-retired anesthesiologist and family practice doctor who has worked with about 10,000 Hepatitis C patients. Leyba said medical cannabis should not be a treatment for the majority of cases.
“The idea that cannabis helps is a novel presentation here because I feel that, frankly, cannabis should be legalized for anyone to use at any time if he so wishes because it is a primarily recreational drug,” Leyba said in the meeting. “That being said, I see that there is a committee of professionals that are trying to do a good job as per the New Mexico citizens.”
Leyba said most Hepatitis C patients don’t exhibit symptoms, and few patients are incapacitated by the disease.
“I just feel that to approve cannabis use for Hepatitis C is so incredibly generic and without a solid foundation for the well-being of patients who are asymptomatic with hepatitis C,” he said.
Patrick Sullivan, the petitioner for Hepatitis C, said medical cannabis would help to alleviate a large variety of his symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, depression, fatigue and weight loss.
“If I do Ribavirin I have approximately a 35 percent chance of remission,” he said. “I don’t think that I should be required to take this treatment and compromise my immune system, especially when there are other anti-viral treatments available.”
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by Paolo
good morning .
In the past i Have gave two trattment of terapy Interferon and Ribavirin ,and in this time the drug Cannabis not help bicouse the princippal problem in this trattament ie flue and development of immune sistem for this particular carateristic of interferon and regulator Ribavirina.
For depression in normal condiction of this Hepparitis C ,the cannabis may be more dangerous who utility .The best utility is food regular ,sleep, sport out door ,(running ,Swimming, Yoga ).
Paolo from Italy hepatitis c 1997 -2009
Flag for moderationby slowhike
The lion’s share of Hep C patients are IV drug abusers. There is depression in many patients taking the interferon ribavarin combo, and marijuana may alleviate this side effect. On the other hand, taking a large population who have already proven that they are drug abusers and making an nintoxicating drug available to them may not be what’s best for them.
Flag for moderationby CannabisPatient
Slowhike,
to generalize a segment of a population, label them as drug abusers and then suggesting what is in there best interest.. is to say you are THE ultimate authority of all beings who suffer on this planet.
Where do you get such an appointment?
Get educated. Make a difference.
Flag for moderationDon’t just shoot from the hip (or mouth as may be the case)
Give the rest of us a break.
by JD
Well, CannibisPatient, if you were familiar with these pages you’d know that SLOWHIKE is a freakin’ expert on EVERY SUBJECT IMAGINABLE – even if he has no idea what the hell he’s talking about most of the time.
He doesn’t need no stinkin’ facts or figures to back up his moronic claims. He’s got Glenn Beck and Ayn Rand for all the answers he needs. He sure never tires of being proven wrong over and over again…you gotta hand it to him, sort of…
BLOWHARD…er…SLOWHIKE is clearly on a mission from his elitist cult (‘The Family’) to post a smart-assed, vitriolic reply to everything he’s personally fearful of (which is essentially any concept not WHITE-TRASH / GLENN BECK / HILLBILLY approved) so he can make himself feel really good about being so utterly clueless.
BLOWHARD is all about generalizing. None of his ‘arguments’ would make any damn sense if he didn’t generalize or label others in some way. That’s the only way he can deal with reality…nice, simple, easy to grasp black & white concepts for simpletons.
Nothing nuanced, multi-faceted or complex in his world, no siree! Keep it nice and simple…and BTW, Neo-cretins LOVE labels…unless you stick a label THEM (that REALLY pisses them off), because they are also the biggest hypocrites on the planet.
BLOWHARD never seems to realize how much laughter and entertainment he provides us human beings upon reading his posts…LOL!
Flag for moderationby Damian
In a free society an adult has the right to think and decide for himself in the pursuit of his own happiness. A necessary consequence is that he may choose self-destructive actions—whether to drink harmful amounts of alcohol or use toxic drugs. A legal prohibition on drugs, as on alcohol, is a violation of the right of the individual to determine the course of his life.
Besides, reefer is hardly a threat to anyone. Like a drink, it can be relaxing and rather enjoyable. Nothing beats a little jizzle on the beach at sunset!
Flag for moderationby slowhike
JD and Cannibispatient,
I am merely stating a fact when I mention that the lions share of Hep C patient obtained the disease due to being IV Drug abusers. There is not a judgement intended here, just the fact girls.
Additionally it is a Fact that making an intoxicant available to some one who may be experiencing no little difficulty resisting the continued use of intoxicating substances (a requiremenet for Hep C treatment you Einsteins) is not in their best interest. In simpler terms for the both of you…. giving alcohol to someone who is alcohol dependent, as an example, is not doing them a favor. Now that I’ve educated you again, go smoke your weed and shut up.
Flag for moderationby slowhike
JD you should stick to posting on subjects you know something about. Leave the medical issues to those who have some knowledge in the field.
Flag for moderationby CannabisPatient
JD,
Thanks for the info.
I did not realize.
Slowhike (aka BLOWHARD),
Flag for moderation….my condolences to your family.
by slowhike
JD and CannabisPatient obviously don’t like the facts. I would assume that your cannibis habit helps you deny all sorts of facts. Happy high times fellows.
CannabisPatient, only in a stupor of marijuana smoke would anyone consider JDs posts to be providing information. That’s absurd.
Flag for moderationby JD
Tee hee hee!
Thanks, SLOWHIKE (aka BLOWHARD).
This is one subject I happen to know A LOT about, however…
I would recommend you light one up, but I’m sure you’re one of those people who give drugs a bad name. Your mind is clearly incapable of expansion.
I sure as hell don’t ever want to party with YOU. You’d be one of those people who’d get high and think you can fly or something and jump off a building…
Best to stick with your brain-killing alcohol, I guess.
In any case, have a great Holiday – seriously!
To you and all the posters on this site who I’ve debated with: you are my brothers and my sisters, and I love you all. We may have disagreements, but we are all in this together.
PEACE ON EARTH – GOODWILL TOWARD MEN. NO EXCEPTIONS!
And I leave you with this quote from the late, great Bill Hicks:
“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: “Is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, “Hey, don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride…And we kill those people. But it doesn’t matter because it’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings, and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourselves off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what you can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defense each year, and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, for ever, in peace.”
Flag for moderationby tinkerbell
I cannot believe Blowhike, a complete numbskull! I hope most people w/hep-c know that if they have genotype 1 the int.rib. treatment does not work, and that treatment is like chemo. and could probably kill you anyway.Most hep-c people are genotype 1 it’s the one that was, is prevelant in the US.Enjoyed your friendly bannter, a Merry one to all,signing off from beautiful Wine Country, Ca.
Flag for moderationby Slowhike
Tinkerbell is sniffing that fairy dust I betcha! The rivabarin and interferon cocktail has been successful treating genotypes 1-4, so not sure where this little fairy is getting her info. The treatment has not been described as similar to chemo treatment, it does have a couple of serious side effects though.
Flag for moderationby slowhike
It’s just too damn funny to see these two guys wearing their cowboy costumes supporting medical marijuana. Why the costumes guys? What is the image you want to portray? We’re tough, we’re rough, we’re Americans by god, and proud to smoke marijuana. Are these guys from Muskogee?
Flag for moderationby CannabisPatient
Slowhike (aka:BLOWHARD, AKA Crazy420),
Eat more cheese you wonderful piece of human flesh.
Sink into the words that comfort you and bind you to the ideas you need to keep because it’s all you have. Hate and a backlog of cheese that is clogging your mind like a giant turd stuck in the toilet bow that is your life.
The rest of us thank you ahead of time for the colorful posts you will no doubt fling with great attention to detail and intent.
Flag for moderationMommy must be very proud.
by Slowhike
CannabisPatient,
Well lets see, you are fixated on your maternal relationship, and resent your mother due to the fact that you never experienced a clean break from her, not that she did anything wrong, you just didn’t have an older man who was doing his job. Role confusion.
Your fascination and/or proclivity with the idea that those who disagree with you are some how flawed, and must have some mental barrier indicates the inability to debate, argue, and place the appropriate value on different perspectives. Mild-moderate narcissism.
The use of adolescent terminology indicates being stuck, again, emotionally as well as intellectually. Possibly due to cannabis dependence.
Treatment, discontinue cannabis use, see a psychiatrist for medication management of depression and anxiety. Begin group sessions on Men’s Issues and Substance Abuse. Once the cloud clears check into some one on one psychological therapy.
Flag for moderationby cannabispatient
…. that was the best you could muster?
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in your response. I had expected so much more from you.
Hope you recover soon.
Best wishes and have a very merry Christmas
Flag for moderationby StewBone
The Daily LOBO is not the forum for some of the back and forth I read here. Why don’t some of you get together and GO FUCK YOURSELVES!
Flag for moderationby NM CANNABISM
If any patient can show verifiable justification for their use of Medical Cannabis, then that said patient should be afforded the opportunity to ingest medical grade cannabis at their leisure.
We are now at about 889 registered patients and we have just over 240 registered to produce their own medicine.
Cannabis is a safe and effective medicine and, as such, should be available for the remedy of any and all medical conditions.
Flag for moderationby Firegazer
In the medical pharmaceutical field and health insurance industry nothing is supported or gained by the patient alone demonstrating the use of anything. In other words, the placebo effect, along with unscientific data are never “verifiable justification” for the use of anything.
Marijuana has been shown to be effective for certain conditions by the National Institute for Health. All benefits are calculated however, using the Benefit/Risk method, meaning that there may be benefit, but there always risk associated with it’s use. Marijuana is indicated in control of spasticity such as that found in multiple sclerosis, glaucaoma and nausea. There is scientific documentation supporting it’s use for these illnesses.
It would be fallacious to suggest that marijuana has only beneficial effects, or that its use is indicated for multiple illnesses with no scientific backing. There is scientific data that marijuana is also associated with multiple lung problems and exacerbation of any existing pulmonary disease such as asthma or bronchitis. Additionally marijuana acts as an immunosupressant and makes users more susceptible to infection and or worsening of the disease they may already have, i.e. MS. Furthermore, marijuana use has been shown to impair thinking, perception, memory, coordination, and judgement. Habitual use has lead to depression and anxiety diagnosis as well.
Patient use of marijuana should be regulated particularly in the case of its’ medical use. The growers should also purchase liability insurance because it wont be long until one of your customers comes back and sues you for either a direct or indirect incident that they claim is due to their use of a substance you sold them.
Flag for moderationby fjdlsaf
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