Gordon Barlow

The main problem with MM is that it has to battle against the prejudice generated by a hundred years of equating cannabis with heavy drugs such as heroin. I myself (also a non-medical person!) don't believe that cannabis is nearly as dangerous to our communities as alcohol has proven to be. As you say, it's way safer than opioids. It may or may not cure cancer, but it certainly keeps the pain at bay.

Gordon Barlow

Last night we met up with a friend with arthritis of the hip, who told us that he had recently, accidentally, tripped out on cannabis oil - in exactly the same way that my wife did a while back. What happened to them both was this... reaching the end of the bottle, there was a little bit left at the bottom, so they thought, "Well that's not much; I might as well finish it off". And that "little bit" put them over the edge. No damage done, but it was a wee bit scary for them - and I report it here for the benefit of anybody else who might do the same! I don't know if the little bit was dregs, or what.

BuckinghamshireBoy

That'll be the 'hybrid' version then?

I've been taking CBD oil in capsule form (no THC content) for about ten days now for my back pain, and am very happy to say that it's working well - better than I'd hoped for. The day to day pain is almost completely away now, so am feeling much more inclined to up the exercise and get the back and leg muscles in better shape. Win-win.






'

Gordon Barlow

Yes, it was the 10:10 mixture, Bucks! THC doesn't add anything to the pain-relief, but it just might help control the cancer. My wife refuses all chemo and radiation. I tried to persuade our insurer that MM is chemo, when prescribed by a doctor, but they say it doesn't qualify. Sigh...

BuckinghamshireBoy

Not directly relevant to Cayman, but this is getting a fair bit of air time on the BBC at the moment.

'Hundreds' seek private clinics for medical cannabis

uk_grenada

BuckinghamshireBoy

I don't want to drag this away from Gordon's original post, but there's a couple of things that I haven't quite figured out, and would therefore like to throw into the mix.

For starters, I am outside of UK law. I cannot buy CBD here in BE per se, but I can buy via Internet perfectly legally from NL. I have been using CBD capsules for chronic back pain for five months now, and the results are fantastic. THC may be present, but if at all in miniscule dose, as per EU regulations.

I am not on prescription - obviously - but will pose the question next time I'm due in for a 'service'. The cost to me to achieve a mostly pain-free life is just over €100 per month, which is nowhere near some of the figures being quoted in that BBC piece and elsewhere.

A few weeks back a friend in the UK mentioned that they may not be able come over to visit us as planned as his wife had experienced a back episode similar to mine, constant pain, travel unthinkable etc., so I mentioned my CBD capsules. A day later he reported that his wife had found 'similar' on a website of a High Street name outlet, the price was approximately 80% of that which I pay. I had a look, and then found the sting - the capsules had only 20% of the CBD concentration of mine, rendering them effectively useless for purpose unless ramping up the dose hugely.

I haven't yet spent time to drill down of the BBC piece, it could be just more media "let's try and do a piece without mentioning the 'B' word" kind of thing...

I know that they work for me, if I can get them cheaper by obtaining an approved prescription then so much the better, but if I can't, then I'll happily stick with what I have.

Mine are produced by an Austrian company, not a Dutch one.

Gordon Barlow

"Hundreds" will soon become hundreds of thousands, if my little community is anything to go by. A few months ago, there were (reportedly) 500 individuals on prescriptions out of a population of 66,000. (And, to be fair, probably 5000 buying "on the street"!) Not all doctors do prescribe, because they have reservations. But my wife just today went into hospital again for her cancer, and nurses and doctor nodded disinterestedly when she took her measured morning dose.

Gordon Barlow

I should have made it clear that the 10:10 mixture is 10 milligrams of THC + 10 millilitres of CDB. I've no idea of what that means in terms of effect. We had hoped that the THC content would at least retard the spread of the cancer. We've just learned that if it has done, it hasn't done much. A year after my wife's second draining of fluid off her lungs, her hospital pulmonologist has told her that her current breathlessness is not attributable to fluid but to the straightforward progression of the cancer. That, after a CT scan, X-rays, and all the trimmings. Nevertheless, she will continue with the cannabis - upping the dosage to three times a day, because it gives her a good night's sleep every time. We're thankful for small mercies.

As for the cost... here in our small Caribbean island it's about one hundred pounds a month (US$120), from our local pharmacies who import it from Canada (mostly).

Gordon Barlow

https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/0...-on-the-shelf/
This is not an advertisement of any kind - simply an update on the availability of medical cannabis in Cayman. I myself have not tried "vaporizable" cannabis oil, but would certainly be glad to have the choice if I needed it for pain. What's the situation in other islands in this region?

uk_grenada

As i guess you might expect, completely illegal here. The police would allow you to smoke it out of their view but recently someone was prosecuted for having 6 plants on their land.

If it was prescribed by a doctor, i suspect nobody would notice, but if they did there would be trouble from the god squad and government.

uk_grenada

I will check however - as a friend is a pharmacist, he should know if there are actually ways and means.

uk_grenada

Just had confirmation, the authorities are attempting to completely remove it in all forms from chemists, prescription or otherwise, but heroin is perfectly legal to prescribe for the right uses.

uk_grenada

While i have no issue with the use of this as a painkiller, people need to be careful, i have no clue whether its estrogenic but anything that is, eg chicken is a potential problem.. Dont know if i ever mentioned it Gordon, my wife also had it. Cured? some years ago. The main issue apart from surgery seems to be that these cancers are often linked to hormone production and are 'fed' by estrogen. Apart from the surgery and other nasty ways of killing the cells, it is therfore necessary to stop the body producing it. Drugs like tamoxifen are used that are effectively female chemical castration, causing an instant and irreversable menopause and lack of interest in sex etc shortly thereafter, with other issues around female ageing.

Gordon Barlow

My wife died at the end of August in 2019.She was under heavy sedation the last couple of days, but up till then she had been leading a normal-ish life - easily tired and short of breath, and more time in bed than before, but none of the usual cancer pains. She had not been on any chemotherapy at all, since a couple of weeks on femera back in 2008 when she first got the breast cancer. (Which took nine years to spread to her lungs.)

I have to give full credit to the cannabis oil for her absence of pain; that was the only medication she was taking for it, until the morphine at the end. I'd never heard of weed-butter; I'll look it up. But that's probably illegal, if you have to use the actual weed.

Maybe she was just lucky - who knows?