GOOD OLD HEADLINES! Tracey Spicer argues for use of medical marijuana By Tracey Spicer POLITICIANS their
chests
enjoy about
beating "zero
tolerance". On drugs. Binge drinking. Bullying. Sexual harassment. But what about zero tolerance for suffering? As a society we allow our weakest - those with cancer, AIDS, chronic arthritis, fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis - to writhe in pain because they can't get the right drugs. Many are helpless, innocent children. An AMA study out today reveals 84 per cent of cancer kids suffer "a lot" or "a great deal" of pain in the last month of their life. Just stop for a minute to imagine what that's like. You know your beloved son or daughter is dying. You sit by their bedside and watch as the life ebbs from their body: the circles darken under their eyes; their bones protrude from their limbs; the colour saps from their skin. The nurse injects morphine but it doesn't cap the breakthrough pain. Morphine is a terrible drug with nasty side effects. Many people are allergic to it. For some, it doesn't work at all. When my mum was dying of pancreatic cancer, she begged me to buy marijuana. The shooting pain that frayed every nerve ending was too much to bear. Ultimately, I was too much of a coward. It's a decision I regret to this day. There's a growing body of research proving cannabis - either smoked or in a liquid - eases the excruciating pain of cancer patients, the spasms of MS sufferers and the crippling effects of arthritis. The active ingredient, THC, slows the progress of Alzheimer's, reduces tumour growth in lung cancers and inhibits the spread of breast cancer. While proof of its efficacy is new, the use of medical marijuana is not. Since the 3rd Century AD, the Chinese have considered cannabis one of the 50 fundamental herbs in traditional medicine. It took 16 centuries for western medicine to catch on, using it as a pain reliever until aspirin came along. Now, in 14 states in the US, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands, you can get a doctor's certificate to grow your own or buy a liquid version from a pharmacist. So where does that leave us? Back in the dark ages.