United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

As some of you know, many of the UK tbpi group are/were involved in the cannabis pain trials. Results are now being published. Looks like this stuff could be available on prescription as early as 2003. It will be so great that people can go and get something legally that they don't have to smoke (it's a spray) I only hope New Zealand follows suit in the near future.
I did laugh at the section in the site where they said they had no problems recruiting volunteers for the trials......yea, I bet!

oops forgot the link http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_05_nov_02.html

Thy spawn of Satan! Do not mention the C word to thy Son of Sam.

hahaaaaa well that was kind of my reason for posting, Jacko-it's pretty clear that many tbpi as well as others with nerve damage such as MS sufferers, amputees etc have been using the stuff illegally for years because for many IT WORKS! Getting all sniffy about people in pain using what works merely because it is illegal as a recreational drug is just having your head in a bucket-imagine if everyone who got given morphine after surgery or when terminally ill got stopped from having it merely because it's an opiate derived from heroin and therefore illegal! Imagine if asking for morphine in those circumstances got you called a junky and arrested.. Ignoring the centuries old use of cannabis for pain relief is comdemning thousands to legal but seriously damaging drugs or intractable pain. If its available on prescription in a spray form for oral use, it will actually eliminate the need to visit a bloody drug dealer to get pain relief, it will eliminate the need to smoke the stuff which is bad for health & it will also stop people like me being classified as criminals-if its use becomes widespread then the producers (often in poor countries) can switch their production to legally supplying the drug companies, instead of the drug cartels-everyone wins! Any country that resists this step forward is ensuring the illegal trade in cannabis will continue to flourish and is making criminals of some of the people most in need of help.
Stepping off soapbox.....and hats off to Queen Victoria who used cannabis daily (it was still legal then) for PMS and other problems-never heard anyone call her a junky!

Hi jenny I was just wondering how effective cannabis is for pain control? What part of the pain does it ease the burning, jabbing etc. I have been looking for something to replace Oxycontin, which I am on right now. Hopefully I can go onto something more natural that dose not have as many of side effects as the opiates. I have been reluctant to ask my doctor about it because I am not sure if it would help my phantom pain. If you are wondering about my injury I am a full right brachial plexus injury. C8 and t1 are avulsed form the spine and c5, c6, and c7 are cut off. I tend to get allot of burning, jabbing and squeezing in my forearm and hand. If you could please answer my question that would be great thanks.

The Canadian government is doing the same thing. They haven't come out with it in pill form yet but they are growing it in some secret mine shaft in the middle of no where. Must be some good hooch

It's great news for anyone suffering from chronic pain and looking for an alternative to opiate based pain killers.

Mikey

ok I have a question.... forgive me for being stupid about this but if they turn it into a pill or spray, will the person taking it still get 'high' or will it just alleviate the pain? (am curious about people driving while on it, etc.)
-francine

It's like all drugs that can make you feel drowsy, or less alert...on the trials we were asked not to drive or drink alcohol after taking it.

Like every other drug that can have side effects I am certain that the prescribed drug will have a leaflet/package insert with warnings about driving, operating machinery and avoiding alcohol etc if the drug makes the user sleepy.

Again, like every other drug, the effects vary from person to person; some people will feel intoxicated, some not. Because it is a spray that can be used as and when it is needed, the user is in more control of the dosage. "Due to it's delivery method Self-titration (adjustment) of the dose enables most patients to achieve improvement in their symptoms without incurring a level of unwanted effects which would interfere with day-to-day living."

The other thing to mention is, unlike many other pain 'killers' prescribed for neuropathic pain, it doesn't take days or weeks to have an effect.

francine, I don't know if you could drive after taking the spray, I would assume there would be explanatory/warning leaflets with the spray as with most pain meds -I DO know there is NO WAY I could possibly even think about driving when I have the pain!

Andrew, for me, it's the burning, crushing 'phantom' pain it helps, it doesn't do a thing for the joint/muscle pain, although I see 'arthritis' is lised under conditions it helps for some people. Some people find it doesn't help at all, just like any medication. Pain is different for everybody and the brain responds differently to different drugs, we can only try to find what works for us as individuals. I am 22 yrs post bpi and have used no other pain relief than cannabis for around 18 years. If I don't have any, (which happens quite often since emigrating) then I have to just go to bed when I get the phantom pain until the 'attack' passes, I can't function.