Is marijuana good for diabetes?

[LittleWolf]

Martwolves, I've repeated some of this before, but reiterating and consolidating for you and others.

I am a daily smoker and have an IQ of 147. I am on the Gifted and Talented program and currently attend university. I also work part time in a film studio on top of working several freelance jobs.

Before I started smoking weed I was apathetic, suicidal, withdrawn and had no motivation or self-preservation instinct whatsoever. I was a dangerously thin anorexic, insomniac, regularly hallucinating (hypoglycaemia and sleep deprivation-induced), put myself in dangerous situations or having panic attacks/meltdowns on an almost daily basis. The joint pain and endometriosis pain I have caused me to not be able to leave the house and my grades were falling through the floor.

After I started smoking weed I took up ballet, gymnastics and several other activities, started playing 5 instruments, became more relaxed in social settings, saw the irrationality in my depressive thoughts, picked up my grades from the floor and finished with a Distinction, won awards for merit and progress plus a few UKMT maths challenge certificates, applied to university, started working with horses and stopped self harming.

I also gave up cigarettes.

If that isn't a positive case study I don't know what is.

My only problem now is hyperglycaemia and random hypos not yet diagnosed as diabetes, but I think that's more to do with my very poor eating habits when I was younger and other factors.

Without it I couldnt eat, sleep, walk or function socially like a normal person.


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[Thundercat]

There is a definite bias against marijuana because of the "pot head" " slacker" stereotype. I know people who smoke it and as they say, if you didn't know you wouldn't know. Fully functioning, intelligent and productive people. I also know 2 people who have a troubled and troubling relationship with marijuana. One went on to develop a cocaine problem which made his life grind almost to a halt. He has since cleaned up his life and is off all drugs and acknowledges that he can never have a balanced life with drugs. Both people who have problems with the drug have emotional/psychological issues and used drugs as an escape. In this sense it is no different to alcohol where some can have an occasional few drinks and take it or leave it others will feel the influence more negatively. This has never caused a movement to make alcohol illegal. If alcohol, tea and coffee were discovered today they would never be made legally available to the general public. I don't use marijuana but would consider it in the same light as other non medical aids to assisting with my health care such as alpha lipoic acid, L Arginine etc. I watched a programme a few years ago about a group of seniors who used marijuana for various ailments and were perfectly prepared to be arrested rathet than give up the respite it gave them from pain. (one very unsettling segment on hash- it is composed of a variety of nasties including used car oil, linoleum and dog poo!!! Stick to grass was the consensus!) From my perepective the advantage to medically approved products is that you could get the benefits without the high.

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[LittleWolf]

Medically approved products can either 1) make you well and not get you high
2) make you worse and not get you high
3) make you worse and higher you high

The last one is worrying because people will continue to abuse codeine even if they are literally falling apart inside...

If someone has an addictive personality, certain emotion problems etc they will abuse anything and once the high of one substance no longer does it for them, they will move in to the next.

Coffee is the real gateway drug for a lot of people...

My real problem is not just people being preoccupied with stoner stereotypes and adverse effects, but also being completely blind to the tens of thousands dying or being admitted to hospital every year from using approved prescription drugs even as directed, let alone the recreational users. Any drug, if abused, is 'dirty'. Be it hospital morphine or back-alley heroin.

Informed decisions, knowing your own personality/body and moderation.. All essential when ingesting anything... Even food.


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[mo1905]

Those who enjoy marijuana will argue strongly in it's favour. Those who are against marijuana will argue otherwise. The internet is full of conflicting information. For every positive website, there will be a negative one. Humans have a habit of filtering certain information and looking for things that will back up their own case/argument.
If you enjoy marijuana and get relief from whatever then that's cool. Likewise, there will always be those that have had bad experience with it and feel it's wrong.
What I do know is that nobody will every come up with a winning case of defining argument for or against ! Live and let live !


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[martwolves]

Erm... It IS illegal, it IS addictive. FACT. I am talking from an educated capacity, where I work in a zero tolerance industry where peoples lives are at risk if mistakes are made. That means no alcohol, well less than you can legally have in your system and drive and NO banned substances. If you have any trace of these in your system you are sacked. I'm sorry that Jo Blow on the street on benefits couldn't give an airborne fart about this, because his benefits give him a home and all the drugs he needs on people like me and others on here paying a lot of tax. I'm sorry, but I know people screwing the benefits system who have 3 holidays a year. I've not had ONE in 2 and half years because I work and commute and can't afford it. Sorry you think I'$ naïve, I'm not, just sick to death of the drudgery of it all to be honest, where fat cats and social sloths are well off and your ordinary hard-working person is screwed over. Sorry, for busting my chops, that is all.
To those on benefits on genuine terms, I do not include you.

 

[martwolves]

Littlewolf - thanks, all I'm saying is if I had ONE J my job, hence my home, my family and my life would be at risk. The railway do random testing, so if there was even a trace of a banned substance in me, I would be automatically dismissed. Good that you're young and talented and are able to use illegal drugs and all, but I have 4 mouths to feed as sole bread-winner. Hopefully you now understand my viewpoint as a responsible husband and father.

 

[martwolves]

In hindsight, I have a bias in that I DO have a singular, one-sided viewpoint that is enforced upon me. I don't wish to offend anyone or chide anyones social choices. I will refrain from commenting further on this thread as my view is one dimensional and personal, so as Month says, "live and let live", each to their own and I'm not perfect either, far from it.

 

[foreverdelayed]

My problem being that the websites who "promote" the negatives rely heavily on scaremongering and less so on science. Marty summed it up "its the start of a downwards spiral" to where? From where? And in what context? A mince pie could "be the start of a downwards spiral". If these people had hard evidence to support their case then I would consider it as carefully as any other evidence. Its a bit like the god delusion in that abstinence is some sort of holy idea that cannot be brought into question, defended with tales of despair and pariahs if a being fails to believe. I defend cannabis from a scientific and social impact standpoint. I would not defend crack or heroin because the evidence is there. I also despair at people who defend alcohol as this has more negative social implications than any other drug due to its affect on aggressive people.

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[martwolves]

Bum! My point was it is an illegal substance and you could be arrested for having it and lose your job and have more time on your hands to get frustrated, not anything negative about the pharmaceutical impact of cannabis. From my own point of view 16 years ago, aged 20 I had a couple of joints from a friend, no alcohol and nearly crashed into a wall in a cul-de-sac. That's not to say their are no positives. Not everyone agrees with each other, that's why forums provide the facility to debate, so that people can weigh up the pros and cons. I personally have not and will never take that **** ever again, it doesn't mean there's no market or that no one chronically ill can benefit from it, it is my view only and I did not profess to speak for everyone on this topic and said that my viewpoint was flawed as I had nothing but negative feelings on this matter. I was the first to admit this and don't want to offend anyone as I think I said. Foreverdelayed, I know you disagree right now, you have a completely different viewpoint from me and that's cool. Life would be total bobbins if everyone thought alike. I would take your position on board if I had a question because life is full of decisions. As Einstein said (I'm not a big fan either) for every action, there must be a positive and negative reaction. I put across negative only information that someone may consider alongside the positives. I'm not a bible bashing evangelical soul, just someone who should maybe have avoided confrontation by steering clear of this subject. I said what would happen to ME if I took it. I wish you every success in filming and the future and hope you graduate with flying colours and have the best toke ever this evening, honestly, I just felt like having a say, like I am entitled to. I'm not always right, but he who makes no mistakes learns nothing.

Best wishes

Mart.

 

[lrw60]

Hi All,

Sorry! I didn't think before I typed, no pun of any sort intended. I was wondering where to post this snippet I found in the Guardian suppliment recently. This seems to be the ideal place. This is as written.

16%
The reported reduction in insulin levels of 4,600 marijuana smokers, compared to non-smokers. The study, by the University of Nebraska, May explain why marijuana users often have a lower incidence of diabetes.
(The Atlantic/Public Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)

As for myself, I have known others who have experienced the good and the bad sides of marijuana. From musician friends who use it to help them compose amazing music, to a musician known to me who started on marijuana, went on to stronger drugs and then killed himself. A relative who suffered from a debilitating medical condition that improved greatly when he started to smoke the stuff. I personaly don't use it. But I do drink a small glass of wine each day. When it comes to drugs, what is a drug? I take drugs for my blood pressure, and I took them for my diabetes. Virtually all drugs can be addictive to the person who needs what the drug supplies. I wouldn't get in a car with someone who had drunk a lot, or smoked a lot of marijuana. A friend once told me that he used to drive the library bus around these parts. They used to stop at a local pub to pick up a well know artist who was barely capable of walking, lay him on the floor of the bus and drive him home where they would sit him at his easel where the man would then start to paint. He painted his best works when drunk. To each his own, so long as it doesn't cause me or anyone else any harm.
Lee

 

[foreverdelayed]

That's a brilliant explanation on your view mart. If you have reasoned and came to a conclusion through, on this occasion, trying it then I have no issue with you at all. You tried it, not for you, move on. You used reason to reach your conclusion. Another valid point is what you say regarding drug testing in the workplace. Did you know that if i smoked a rock of crack, not that I would, it would be untraceable after a couple of days on average but cannabis would be traceable for weeks, months even. So this system of substance testing catches soft drug users in higher numbers than hard drug users. In your experience, is this right? Like almost every policy on drugs, its fundamentally flawed. I'm in favour of reform to translate the severity of substances. I got drunk once and forgot to take my basal, I went into dka and was put on a drip for 3 days and nearly died. A friend of mines mum and dad both died in their 40's, one from liver failure and one through malnutrition! I tried that **** once and never again. Who can say that about cannabis.

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[Mr Happy]

In that case, can you not state that murder is wrong until you've had a go? If trying it os needed for scientific purposes then I bagsy Jeremy Kyle.

Littlewolf, thanks for the explanation of your undoubted intelligence. One issue, wouldn't a criminal record limit your chances in life?

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[foreverdelayed]

Murder would result in pain and suffering to fellow man. Smoking a joint doesn't. Science will prove that. Legal status does not determine absolute right or wrong, only an opinion. This is a question of scaremongering affecting medical advances and treatments. Read up on Dupont and the decline of the hemp industry. The reasons for prohibition are unethical.

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[martwolves]

Forever,everdelayed , I may be wrong, but random drug-screening is instant, right here right now. I think cannabis residue shows in your system for approx 2 months. Safety critical roles on the railway are drivers, signallers, maintenance staff, controllers, route planners amongst others. If ANY of these were drunk or high I would never get on board a train again and I do so daily from wolves to brum, london, manchester and liverpool. I agree that certain professions have less or little civic responsibility. I feel bad about posting a negative response, but it is my own view and many will disagree which is their human right. I answered an open question with my own insular experience, which in hindsight, I perhaps would have been wiser not to. I have no enmity towards you or others and if you are a manics fan, I am too. Seen them a few times and they are still conveying their own powerful, often contrary views to the masses. I don't just go along with everyone else, I give honest, transparent feedback that people can give or take as they choose. Opinions are like bumholes sometimes, everu has one, but it's not always wise to air in public. thanks for your reply - I appreciate it.

Mart

 

[foreverdelayed]

No problem. Its people like yourself I like debating with as you have conviction. Its the fence sitters or those who worry about what society might think of them if they say the wrong thing that bothers me. By the way, drug detox kits are widely available and working in the oil industry, people abuse drugs in every walk of life. Trust me! Statistically, you have probably been at the mercy of drug addicts more than you would think.

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[martwolves]

Foreverdelayed, regarding your question of drug and alcohol screening, I know signallers who got dismissed for being intoxicated AND high crashed out asleep on the floor with the signalbox locked and the door had to be kicked in. This is unforgivable as thousands use trains. It is completely irresponsible and I hated them for putting the public at risk. I don't personally know of any hard drug users who have been dismissed.

 

[foreverdelayed]

And I'm sure just as many have been caught drunk but no one debates alcohol!

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[martwolves]

I am perfectly aware that's why I used to term drunk first. I have no beef with people who enjoy cannabis or like a drink. But I am less than forgiving who take things in excess and could result in risking peoples lives. I smoke and I drink, not very clever with diabetes, etc, but I wouldn't go mad on either. I don't smoke during work and never carry fags with me to work and smoke when I get home from 7 o'clock onwards and have a couple of drinks to unwind. I may be shot down for this, but the reality is that it's no better or worse than the odd spliff, it's just socially acceptable and I can't be arrested for it. Luckily I don't live in Durham.
The real fact is whatever anyone else does who live elsewhere is none of my business in reality and were this question never raised I'd not have said anything. Mo, I must apologise, as my predictice text puts "month" EVERY single time and I have to go back and delete n,t and h.
I like a good debate and that's what this is in essence and I hope the OP has managed to glean something from it.
It's certainly made me think, though I won't ever take marijuana
When all is said and done we are human and have our own imperfections, foibles and tics and as long as we're aware of our limits, no harm, no foul.

Best wishes all.

Mart.

 

[foreverdelayed]

Those who take things to the excess would exist whether cannabis existed or nor. These people would always find a vehicle. Its like saying we should ban alcohol because some people beat their wives after drinking. Or ban cars because some people speed. Its the person that is the issue.

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[mo1905]

You can just call me month if it's easier lol ! Wise words though Mart !


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