Overview
The use of medicinal compounds that occur naturally in plants to cure illness and promote good health is an incredibly ancient practice. Eight species of plants found in a 60,000 year old Neanderthal burial are still widely used today in traditional herbal treatments around the world. Many of the herbs and spices used to season and spice our food contain active medicinal chemicals. In the modern world, a number of herbal medical traditions have been combined including the Native American, Greek, Roman and Arabic herbs in the West, Ayurvedic medicines from India and Chinese herbal medicines from Asia. This has resulted in the widespread availability of an enormous array of herbal medicines in “Natural” food stores, from traditional healers and even from the Internet.
Many pharmaceuticals currently in use by physicians have been derived from plants that have a long history as herbal remedies including aspirin, opium, digitalis, quinine, cocaine, marijuana and many others. The idea that because an herbal remedy is “natural” and “natural” equals “safe” is a dangerous notion because some herbs can have lethal effects especially if they interact with or enhance the effects of other drugs that are being ta ken. Because of these and other concerns, if you wish to use herbal remedies for any condition, you should consult with a physician in addition to any discussions you might have with herbalists or natural food store experts. In addition, the legal status of some herbal remedies varies by country and state and Ayurvedic herbal products may contain levels of heavy metals like lead or mercury that are considered unsafe by the FDA. Other herbal remedies are considered illegal controlled substances, such as marijuana and ephedra, the possession of which can get you arrested.
 Medical Marijuana
California is one of the few states and Palm Springs is one of the few suburban areas in California that has an outlet for the legal dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes. Where these programs exist, patients with a doctor’s prescription can legally purchase in licensed outlets, grow or possess small amounts of marijuana. It is illegal to resell anything obtained in a medical marijuana program because it is still a Federally-defined Class 1 controlled substance everywhere in the U.S. Some local enforcement agencies are refusing to acknowledge the legality of this program, so participate at your own risk!
“Cannabis Buyer’s Clubs” began in San Francisco for AIDS patients seeking to obtain medication for AIDS-related conditions and to deal with the side effects of AIDS medications and/or cancer chemotherapy. The benefit of marijuana ta ken as a medication has now been established for many different ailments so that patients diagnosed with several chronic illnesses can obtain a doctor’s prescription for medical marijuana. After a prescription has been obtained, a county health department I.D. card must be issued and only then can a patient go to a nearby Cannabis Club to buy their marijuana legally. No illnesses are cured by using marijuana but their symptoms can be reduced and better managed. The November, 2002 U.S. GAO lists the following symptoms or conditions under Appendix IV of their report: “Descriptions of Allowable Conditions under State Medical Marijuana Laws”. If you have any of these conditions, a doctor’s prescription will allow you to participate in a State-regulated medical marijuana program:
- Anorexia
- AIDS
- Arthritis
- Cachexia (wasting, weight loss, loss of appetite, general disability)
- Cancer
- Chronic Pain (including neuropathy and neuropathic pain)
- Glaucoma
- Migraine
- Seizures (including seizures from Epilepsy)
- Severe Nausea (including nausea from chemotherapy)
- Persistent Muscle Spasms (including Multiple Sclerosis spasms)
- Other persistent, debilitating medical symptoms as defined by a physician
Ongoing research in the U.S. and the U.K. suggests that medical marijuana has the potential for the management of the severe symptoms of other conditions including the following:
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Asthma
- Bladder dysfunction
- Brain injury/stroke
- Depression
- Fibromyalgia
- Hypertension
- Motion Sickness
- Tourette’s Syndrome
Why not just a Marinol pill?
The political and medical debate over the benefits of smoking marijuana goes on, but the rapidity of delivery of smoked marijuana versus eating the drug is still its biggest advantage. Advocates also point out that the natural plant has a wide variety of active ingredients in addition to cannabinoids that may be as efficacious as the synthetic primary active ingredient that is already available in pill form as Marinol. Proponents also point out that smoked marijuana is relatively safe — no known cases of marijuana overdose have ever been reporte — and marijuana is far less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe for the above listed conditions every day.
Critics of medical marijuana are quick to point to the addictive nature of marijuana as a “gateway drug” to other more powerful drugs, neither assertion of which has ever been proven in controlled studies. That pot is not physically addictive is attested to by the lack of withdrawal symptoms when it is discontinued. However, psychological addiction to the drug is fairly common. In addition, medical marijuana users are adults who must obtain a prescription from a licensed medical doctor which is not a license to buy or use any other drugs. The main concern of health professionals that is generally agreed upon is that marijuana smoke does contain some carcinogens and the heat of burning leaves can irritate the throat and lungs. Many of the negative effects of inhaling hot smoke can be reduced through the use of water pipes instead of marijuana cigarettes or short pipes and minimizing use to obtain the beneficial effects of smoking marijuana.
What is the process of obtaining a Medical Marijuana card?
Getting a Cannabis Club card is a long and expensive process. First, your physician must write a prescription for medical marijuana, but many doctors are unwilling to participate even though it is a legal activity by State law. To legally prescribe medical marijuana a physician must:
- Receive and review written medical records from other health care providers establishing the diagnosis and treatment of one of the previously listed conditions for the patient.
- Conduct a physical examination of the patient.
- Review the patient’s use of marijuana and its effectiveness in amelioration of the condition being treated.
- Receive a copy of the patient’s picture ID (Driver’s license, etc.)
After obtaining a doctor’s prescription, the next step is to call Riverside County Health Department for office locations and ID card fees. Your doctor may already have the necessary Health Department application forms for you to use, but if not, click here to obtain a copy of the necessary forms. The form must be signed by your doctor before going to the County Health Department to submit the application and pay your fees. For Medi-Cal participants at the time of application, there is a 50% reduction in county fees. Riverside County charges approximately $200 for a Cannabis Club ID card, but this may change and other counties may have different fees.
At the time you obtain your ID card, you will be given the addresses of the Cannabis Club locations in the area where you actually purchase the medical marijuana. Only those patients with proper personal ID and an official Cannabis Club ID card will be allowed entry, so don’t be tempted to buy a counterfeit card that are reportedly already out there for unsuspecting and gullible pot users who think they can get in to the Cannabis Club with a phony card. It’s not a Sam’s Club that will let anyone in!
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 Herbal Therapies
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The folk or traditional practice of using plants and plant extracts to treat illness is also known as “phytotherapy”. Many of the naturally occurring compounds in plants are poisons intended to protect the plant from being eaten by insects and animals, so plant toxins are among the most poisonous substances on earth. In addition, traditional herbal medicines often combine a number of different herbs that may multiply the effects of the medication. This is in addition to drug interactions with other prescription medications that might also being ta ken under a doctor’s orders. For this reason any use of herbal compounds should be done with caution and in consultation with your health care professional.
Do traditional herbal medicines work?
Surveys by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine have shown that herbal therapies not involving any use of prayer, vitamins or minerals are the most commonly used form of non-traditional therapy, and other studies have shown the efficacy of many herbal remedies. It is BECAUSE herbs have real physiological effects that everyone needs to be cautious in their use. For example, St. John’s wort is a common herbal medication used to treat depression but if given in excessive doses or ta ken with some other prescription anti-depressants or medications can lead to overdose. Herbal remedies that have been shown to be effective include garlic for cholesterol reduction, peppermint tea for digestive problems, saw palmetto oil for prostate problems, milk thistle for liver problems or artichoke for serum cholesterol reductions, but there are many, many more that might prove beneficial with cautious use.
What are the dangers?
In addition to herbal and pharmaceutical drug interactions, other factors need to be ta ken into account to avoid injury to your health when using herbal medications. Just as many doctor-recommended drugs have side-effects for some patients, so can herbals have unexpected and sometimes serious side effects. This problem is exacerbated by lack of control over recommended dosage and by differences in the concentration of active chemicals that can vary widely between one batch of herbal medicines and another. Finally, there is the danger of “summation” with many herbal medicines. This is the situation where herbals are ta ken in conjunction with other herbal or pharmaceutical drugs like Viagra, recreational drugs or alcohol. Drugs of any kind that have a similar effect on the body ta ken at the same time can act together to make for a drug overdose that can lead to serious organ damage or even death. Gay men should be especially cautious in combining herbals such as Kava Kava or other “sexual enhancement” herbal supplements with prescription drugs, party drugs or alcohol.
Are any herbal remedies illegal?
As active ingredients in some herbal supplements are studied, more are found to be identical to some prescription or illegal drugs. In such instances, the FDA is sure to regulate them as controlled substances. The herbal supplement Ephedra, also called Ma Huang, is a very strong stimulant and can be used in the manufacture of crystal methamphetamines or other illegal drugs and so has been banned from natural food store shelves. More recently a number of dietary supplements used for male erectile dysfunction sold online and in some stores have been declared illegal sex drugs by the FDA because they contain active ingredients that are similar or identical to FDA-approved drugs like Viagra or Levitra. Just as with Viagra, these supplements can interact with party drugs like crystal meth, poppers or nitrite-based heart medications to cause heart attacks and strokes. These “all natural” herbal supplements include products named Zimaxx, Libidus, Neophase, Nasutra, Vigor-25, Actra-Rx and 4EVERON, all of which have been found to contain potentially harmful undeclared ingredients of unknown strength and purity. Most of these supplements are being imported by way of the internet but some may be sold in stores and all are now illegal herbal drugs.
Before taking any herbal or dietary supplement, check with health food store personnel and your physician to make sure that the herbs you are taking will benefit your health and wellbeing rather than harm it. For more information on the potential medical use of specific herbs, vitamins and minerals go to American Cancer Society web site.
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