Over the past fifty years, pharmaceutical companies have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to develop a “non-addictive” pain medication that could also provide relief from acute and chronic pain, but without the risk of serious side effects. The failure to develop such a drug is one reason why so many people have considered alternative remedies to treat their pain, including the use of medical marijuana.
The medical community has recognized the benefits of medical marijuana for many years. In fact, major pharmaceutical companies actually sold THC (acting ingredient in marijuana) in their drug products for decades until the federal government enacted legislation prohibiting the sale of marijuana back in 1937.
Pain is the primary single reason people reach out for medical attention. Pain warns us when our body is in danger. Pain comes in different intensities and is experienced in different ways and for varying durations.
A serious neck strain produces a very specific type of pain sensation. The pain sensation that results from a bad stomachache feels quite different as well. This is because we have different types of pain sensors and neural pathways throughout our body.
Truth be told, there is not a single pain relief medications on the market today that does not also pose some significant health risk or side effect. This is one reason why marijuana has been such an attractive alternative for so many people. For many, medical marijuana is the only alternative to having to take heavy narcotics such as morphine to obtain relief of any measurable significance.
Medical marijuana has been used to reduce the acute and chronic pain associated with terminally ill cancer patients. Marijuana also has its disadvantages. One disadvantage is that medical marijuana, especially when smoked, has a fairly short lifespan. The estimated duration of active THC effectiveness is only about three hours. This means people with chronic and acute pain might have to smoke ten or more times a day remain pain free. Medical marijuana however does not work on all types of pain.
There are three major types of pain that our body senses. The first is somatic. Somatic pain comes from physical trauma such as cuts, scrapes and burns. Somatic pain originates from the billions of tiny receptors that exist throughout our bodies for the sole purpose of warning us of impending danger.
Pain medication like morphine can provide fast and intense temporary relief from acute pain, but it can also pose serious health risks, be highly addictive and come with it’s own set of dangerous side effects.
Unfortunately, marijuana has little if any beneficial effect in reducing somatic pain. This however is not the case for visceral and neuropathic pain, where medical marijuana use has been considered reasonably safe, highly effective and widely used.
Visceral pain is the pain we feel when our internal organs are damaged or compromised by disease. Common forms of visceral pain can range from mild indigestion to the sudden and acute pain associated with a serious heart attack.
Neuropathic pain comes from an injury or dysfunction to the nervous system, such as the pain associated with carpal tunnel syndrome or from the shooting pain that can come from a bulging or herniated disk.
The use of medical marijuana to treat both neuropathic and visceral pain has shown significant promise with very few side effects.
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