California’s Proposition 215 allows medical marijuana to be used for ANY serious condition for which marijuana provides relief. Cannabis has a remarkably wide spectrum of medical uses, ranging from chronic pain, muscle spasticity, nausea and appetite loss to psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
Following is a survey of conditions reported by medical cannabis specialist Dr. Tod Mikuriya. Altogether, Dr. Mikuriya has recorded over 250 indications for medical cannabis, as classified by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Following is a compilation of diseases reported by 2,480 of Dr. Mikuriya’s 9,000 patients, according to the primary indication for which the patients were diagnosed. In practice, many patients report more than one indication. One of the most important uses of cannabis is as a substitute for other, more dangerous or costly pharmaceutical drugs. Many patients report substantial reductions in use of narcotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and other drugs. This usage is not reported below, because it does not count as a “primary indication.”
Because of government restrictions on research, very few of marijuana’s medical indications have been clinically studied. For a survey of recent medical marijuana research, see www.cannabis-med.org,(International Assoc. for Cannabis Medicine) “Recent Research on Medical Marijuana,” (NORML, 2006), and “Human Studies on Medical Use of Marijuana” (Cal NORML, 1996).
Summary of 2480 Medical Marijuana Patients Interviewed by Dr. Mikuriya
Source: Dale Gieringer, “Medical Use of Cannabis in California,” in Franjo Grotenhermen, M.D. & Ethan Russo, M.D., ed., Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential, Haworth Press, 2002
Nausea & Appetite Loss
Total: 113
Hepatitis: 42
AIDS/HIV: 25
Cancer*: 29
Nausea, other: 17 * includes chemotherapy patients w/ nausea & others w/ post-operative pain, etc.
Spasms, Convulsions
Total: 228
Head, brain injury: 45
Epilepsy: 25
Spasm: 23
Quad/paraplegia: 21
Lower back pain: 20
MS: 15
Colitis: 19
Pylorospasm: 9
Post-Polio: 7
Others: 44 (cerebral palsy, Tourette¹s, et al.)
Analgesia / ³Immunomodulatory Anti-Inflammant²
Total: 1133
(A) Migraine and Neuralgias (Subtotal: 179)
Migraine: 127
Neuropathy: 22
Sinusitis: 12
Psychogenic pain: 5
Other pain, neuralgias: 13
(B) Arthritis (Subtotal: 433)
Arthritis, post-traumatic: 318
Arthritis, degenerative: 37
Fibromyalgia: 21
Arthropathy: 22
Myofascial pain: 11
Rheumatoid arthritis: 10
Psoriatic arthritis: 5
Other arthritis: 9 (inc. lupus, polyarthritis et al)
(C) Spinal & Skeletal Disorders: (Subtotal: 366)
Lumbosacral back disease: 175
Disks & vertebra diseases: 88
Scoliosis: 33
Spondylolisthesis: 12
Spinal stenosis: 7
Spondylosis: 6
Other spinal: 12
Sacrum disorder: 11
Other skeletal: 22
(D) Injury, trauma (Subtotal: 57)
Sprain, whiplash: 36
Carpal tunnel:12
Other trauma: 9
(E) Gastrointestinal (Subtotal:68)
Gastritis: 50
Peptic ulcer: 10
Crohn’s Disease: 5
Other intestinal: 3
(F) Other Inflammatory: 30 (endometriosis, panniculitis, pruritis et al.)
Mood Disorders
Total: 660
Post-traumatic stress disorder: 274
Depression: 162
Anxiety disorder: 73
Dysthymic disorder: 46
Bipolar disorder: 34
Schizophrenia: 26
Attention deficit disorder: 15
Obsessive compulsive disorder: 8
Panic disorder: 5
Other psychiatric: 17
Insomnia
Total: 71
Harm Reduction / Substitution
Total: 136
Alcohol dependency: 118
Opiate dependency: 8
Others: 10
Glaucoma & Eye Diseases
Total: 24
Glaucoma:15
Others: 9 (drusen cyst, disease of conjuntiva, et al)
Asthma
Total: 53
Miscellaneous
Total: 62
Pre-Menstrual Stress: 24
Lyme disease: 8
Hypertension: 7
Others: 23 (tinnitus, Meniere¹s disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, et al.)
DR. TOD MIKURIYA
STAFF EXPERT
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