by Marc Phillippe Babineau

Created on: September 17, 2009   Last Updated: September 23, 2009

Medicinal marijuana is one of the most overlooked and beneficial drugs for people suffering from motor-neuron diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, and any chronic pain ailments. Scientists at UCSF (University of California at San Francisco) have concluded that marijuana's active ingredients, which are provided by cannabinoids, are extremely strong analgesics that give the patient a true pain relief. Combined with opioids, the mixture has been proven to drastically reduce pain and nausea associated with cancer or chronic pain, as well as the side-effects of major pain narcotics, like morphine and dilaudid.

The thing that most people do not understand about pain is that when a person is in extreme pain, eating is a pipe dream. Eating, and therefore the patient's health are at risk when a person is in extreme pain, or suffering from the after-effects of cancer treatment, and there is not a single drug on the market that effectively makes a person want to eat. There are limitless numbers of drugs and homeopathic remedies to make people not want to eat, in order to lose weight, but for pain sufferers and people with motor-neuron diseases, there is nothing to help their bodies need to eat, except for marijuana.

Medicinal marijuana, called so simply because it is approved for consumption by the health board (in Canada, it is covered under Health Canada), can be any strain or sub-strain of the "evil weed". This is not a gateway drug, it is used to combat lethargy, depression and pain, and to enable the sufferers to interact with society and to eat when they need to. Marijuana is a non-opiate, non-addictive pain killer, and it's effects have been attested to by thousands of patients who were under extreme pain, or suffering from motor-nuron diseases, like MS.

Being a chronic pain sufferer, and also a medicinal marijuana license holder in Canada, I also belong to a compassion club. Compassion clubs help through education and resources, helps people get in touch with other people who are currently using the drug to combat illnesses and for moral support. Personally, I am helping three other people to obtain their medical exemption licenses, and they each attest to the life-changing effects that marijuana has on their everyday lives.

Medicinal marijuana users see the pain relief aspect of marijuana, but only if the proper strain is used. There are two major strains of marijuana, Indica and Sativa, and each has their own healing powers. Strains can be combined

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