Posts by Shane Le Brun
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Hard News: Helen Kelly's letter, in reply to Ross Bell,
e: wondering if anyone has noticed that Peter Dunne (minister of the Crown, associate h
That was an eye opener for many I'm sure, William Rea (KiwiCannaseur) felt quite pleased with himself extracting that statement from him.
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Hard News: Kia kaha, Helen Kelly, in reply to Russell Brown,
I have spoken with a long time MC user who was making high THC alcohol extracts for Nausea. They rated their "high" when using it responsibly as 6/10. They are now on Sativex and rate it as a 1/10, less mental effect than a lowly diazepam. Of note was that Sativex was slightly less effective for the Nausea and appetite, however the improvement in Sleep, and anxiety (decades of high THC I suspect) was remarkable.
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Hard News: Kia kaha, Helen Kelly, in reply to Russell Brown,
The requirements were published here http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/medicines-control/medicinal-cannabis#nonph several months after the Alex Renton case. Hospitalization makes sense for cases such as severe epilepsy, as sometimes introducing THC in any amount can make a dire situation worse, but in the context of chronic pain, MS, palliative care etc, that requirement is over the top. What we need is for some of the high quality products from overseas to have provisional status as pharmaceutical grade medicines, circumventing the requirements for animal studies and human trials, which seems redundant given the plant and its ingredients is one of the more researched drugs on the planet.
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With regards to Sativex, Pharmac got a completely different result on cost effectiveness than say. Link:Italy
We also are inundated with patients seeking access, at MC Advoacy NZ, we have brain cancer patients talking to Manuel Guzman and his team, the word leaders on research of cannabis for brain tumors, and their advice and support to the patients have been soundly ignored by the oncologists, kids looking at their 3rd lobe removed from the brain, and the surgeons not prepared to try Sativex or an MC product instead, (non invasive experimental medicine vs repeated failed brain surgery?). Those are the extreme cases, but there is also the issue where doctors will not discuss sativex with the patient as they think its too expensive for the patient, that is not the doctors call to make and is causing unneeded suffering. Due to the wide support for MC most crowd funders for sativex are quite spectacular, one achieved 20k in 2 days just this weekend!!
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Hard News: Talking to the United Nations…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Wow, had to reread chelation therapy, hadn't heard the term in years, and people actually force that on their kids for autism??
Ive done 1 post on the pros and cons of conventional versus experimental treatments, specifically surgery for paediatric epilepsy..
http://yournz.org/2015/03/04/medicinal-cannabis-its-not-brain-surgery/ -
Hard News: Talking to the United Nations…, in reply to mpledger,
RE Sativex, its available off label for chronic pain, however even with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), widely touted as the most painful condition on the books, ACC still wont cover it, despite approval by specialists and MOH, what a rort.... (the case I am referring to is under review currently)
I am aware of a woman with one of the more aggressive forms of MS being prescribed it, but cant afford to fill a script, at 1k per month starting rate.......
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Hard News: Talking to the United Nations…, in reply to Russell Brown,
companies are moving into medical cannabis
Agree with the benefits being oversold, As a supporter of Medicinal Cannabis I am constantly stomping on far lefties who tout it as a cancer cure....
(lab dish studies are showing it has promise as an additional medication on some types of cancer)On the pain side it is often described as being equivalent to Codeine, which isn't that strong really, but for chronic pain patients, tolerance rapidly escalates with opiate medicines, I have a family member on Methadone now for pain, after a failed back surgery, having gone from codeine to tramadol, morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl... In these patients Cannabis provides a bit more relief than codeine I assure you!! It also has significantly less negative effects, Like having to have enemas' (if you think codeine blocks you up, wait till you try Oxy!!) Naloxone administration for respiratory arrest (that was a close call) and as I have witnessed first hand, withdrawals on newborns....
I would also like to point out that codeine, the weakest opiate, is the leading cause of prescription overdose deaths in New Zealand...
https://www.fyi.org.nz/request/2394-rate-of-adverse-events-to-opiates-in-the-chronic-pain#comment-879To spell it out simply for the Joe Blogg general public, Raw Cannabis, a Class C Drug, routinely provides more relief than Class B Opiates for those who have been on them for years, and that are associated with at least a dozen deaths a year in NZ....