Slate's Dear Prudence: "Should I score pot for my diabetic sister-in-law?"
"A man asks Slate's advice columnist, Prudence, what to do when his obese, diabetic sister-in-law asks him to get her some marijuana to ease her pain." Note that the sister-in-law doesn't live in a state that allows medical marijuana, and her husband would be very upset if he found out she was smoking pot.
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"High on life." That's great. Marijuana would be a perfectly legitimate treatment in another state, I'd have her bring up the issue to her husband, if he declines- I feel it will only be a matter of time till he reconsiders once he observes her pain...
Frankly, legal issues aside, the last thing you want to do for a diabetic is to give them something that makes them lethargic with the munchies.
Yes I think giving someone who needs to remember to test their blood sugar often a drug that blocks the effects of hypoglycemia, impairs judgment and mucks with perception of time is a great idea!
Sigh.
DIABETES
Cannabinoid Reduces Incidence Of Diabetes
Non-Psychoactive Cannabinoid Reduces Incidence Of Diabetes, Study Says - NORML
Marijuana Compound May Help Stop Diabetic Retinopathy
Marijuana Compound May Help Stop Diabetic Retinopathy
Cannabidiol lowers incidence of diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice
CSA: Cannabis Research - Diabetes
Anticoagulant Effects of a Cannabis Extract in an Obese Rat Model
http://www.level1diet.com/research/id/14687
Neuroprotective and Blood-Retinal Barrier-Preserving Effects of Cannabidiol
Neuroprotective and Blood-Retinal Barrier-Preserving Effects of Cannabidiol in Experimental Diabetes -- El-Remessy et al. 168 (1): 235 -- American Journal of Pathology
The Cannabinergic System as a Target for Anti-inflammatory Therapies
IngentaConnect The Cannabinergic System as a Target for Anti-inflammatory Therap...
Effect of tetrahydrocurcumin on blood glucose, plasma insulin and hepatic key enzymes
Unbound MEDLINE | Effect of tetrahydrocurcumin on blood glucose, plasma insulin and hepatic key enzymes in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Journal article
Cannabidiol reduces the development of diabetes in an animal study
IACM-Bulletin
Getting Eye On Cannabinoids
Getting Eye On Cannabinoids: The Hempire - [cannabis, britain]
Marijuana compound could prevent eye damage in diabetics
Marijuana compound could prevent eye damage in diabetics: The Hempire - [cannabis, britain]
The synthetic cannabinoid HU-210 attenuates neural damage in diabetic mice
http://ccicnewsletter.com/index.php?...#_Toc177908911
Cannabidiol arrests onset of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice
http://ccicnewsletter.com/index.php?...#_Toc177908919
Thanks for the infodump, Takuan, especially the repetitive lines. The video doesn't indicate that the woman wanted the drug for therapy. She wanted the drug because she remembered how much fun it was to get high.
that was from Granny Stormcrow's list, and yes, it could do with an edit but I want to make sure this doesn't degenerate to the usual uninformed debate from the onset. Plenty of wind-bag "opinions" floating around on health-care at the moment as it is.
Yeah never mind that Takuan just spouted a lot of studies for potentially preventing diabetes, not helping or curing existing cases of diabetes.
Look, I know marijuana works well to ease the pain of a lot of ailments, but it isn't some magic bullet that cures all disease. In the case of a disease that requires constant monitoring of your blood sugar and strong discipline about what you eat, it has some serious negative effects.
I wonder if this woman even has health coverage.
Regardless of the possible medical benefits, I have to agree that doing so would be a horrible idea.
First, as he admitted, doing so would be illegal. If he got caught, he would hopefully just get a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately, depending on how much he has on him when caught and how enthusiastic the cop and the DA are, he could get hit with possession with intent to distribute (yes, the idea that buying it for someone else turning into being labeled a drug dealer is nuts, but so are some cops and DAs).
The second, and the most probable, is that this could ruin her relationship with her husband and the relationship between brothers. It's stated that they know that the husband would disapprove and she's planning on hiding it from him. This could probably be done once or twice, but eventually the husband would find out. Hiding little things from your spouse is bad, hiding big things is the stuff divorces are made of.
No don't score her the reefer---tell her to try a salad instead. No sense taking any risks for something like that IMHO
I've got a crazy plan:
How about we stop discussing this from the actuarial perspective of how best to optimize the sister-in-law's ability to maintain some semblance of life function for as long as possible and discuss the question of what course of action would maximize the sister-in-law's perceived quality of life?
and (from the extremely limited information provided) she is indeed fast-dying, what is more important? I once squatted outside a hospital in the smoker's ghetto with the other scum and outcasts and had someone far gone with full blown AIDS bum a light for an illicit joint. The only thing that gave him any relief and he had to scrabble and hide.
The SlateV video player takes forever to load. Brightcove? Lame.
I have to wonder what sort of overlap there is between the people who comment here about how anti-obesity drugs are a crutch - that people should "simply" change their lifestyle and stop being fat, and the people who would support the use of medical marijuana for this person.
People should get over their hate-on for pot. Something being legal or illegal does not make it wrong or right. People need to start making decisions based on facts and evidence, not hearsay, gov't propaganda, or religious belief. Anyone who does some reading on marijuana knows that 99% of what is said about it by government and law enforcement isn't true. Most of it is FUD invented by Harry J. Ansliger that dates back to the 50s
Pot is no worse than alcohol. They both contain mood-altering chemicals. They both have certain temporary and lasting effects. Enjoyed in moderation, they are both quite harmless.
Should you score pot for your diabetic sister-in-law? Well, if she can't get any, and you can, and you can keep your mouth shut about it, why not? If her husband would stop loving her because she chose to inhale smoke that relieved her pain, he's not much of a husband.
As the clip mentioned, there is evidence that marijuana eases neuropathic pain (i.e., pain that is not caused by direct stimulation to nerves but rather is completely within the mind), which is why it is sought-after in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. She is not seeking it as a treatment for the diabetes, but rather to treat a symptom, much like giving hydrocodone to someone with a broken limb. She should not be denied an opportunity for relief from pain simply because she also enjoys the "high" of marijuana use.
As for Dave Faris' comment, people with the "munchies" are not compelled to eat uncontrollably, no matter what you saw on Pineapple Express or Harold and Kumar.
Furthermore, I can anecdotally assure you that marijuana use has no effect on an individual's ability to manage their glucose levels.
I think the current perception of all marijuana users as worthless, giggling gluttons may be potentially more damaging than the previous (more obviously inaccurate) image of hardened, drug-addled criminals.
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsSG-Ctf9bw
* words to live by.
are fat people evil?
Takuan,
No, that's just the converse fallacy applied to the truth, "all evil people are fat".
The late stage diabetes neuropathy the questioner was describing is not going to be reversed or treated by diet and exercise. He was stating pretty clearly that this is a pain management and quality of life question. There are still reasons Prudence can give for him considering not scoring for his sister-in-law - legal and personal - and she touched on those. i just wish she'd stayed clear of the facile and judgmental medical advice.
"High on life" was a phrase betraying lack of comprehension in the 60's, still is.
correction: all poor, fat people are evil.
As your attorney, I must advise you against doing anything illegal.
says Senor as he disappears in an implosion of oily paradox smoke.
All he has to do is introduce her to someone who deals pot. give her some ideas on how she could meet someone. Then its all on her.
There's enough evidence to at least try it as a therapy. If I were in her position I would regardless of what my husband would think.
Don't get it for her. Just find her a somewhat respectable dealer who delivers. And be honest. Lying never ends well.
the number of medical uses for cannabis is increasing all the time. many drug schedules have sections divided by addictive potential, medical use and the lack thereof. for a drug that is on the 'no medical uses' segment in many drug schedules it's sure not looking that way is it?
i find it fascinating that in the 70s there was much research done to discover novel cannabinoid receptor active synthetic chemicals, and there is some hundred or more of them already known, yet despite all this medical marijuana business the obvious idea of exploring already known active chemicals exist that may have the desirable effect (say, vasodilation and analgesia) without significant psychoactive effects, but we aren't going to know until someone looks at them.
i used to believe, like most, that THC was a unique chemical for its effects but there is an abundance of potential options. the cannabinoid system is relatively under-studied and synthetics would permit a more wide-ranging probing into it's potential roles in treating the symptoms of many diseases.
for example, it is well known that in most cases thc/cbd as found in cannabis causes appetite improvement. surely if hitting those receptors one way makes hunger more, there is another that hits them such that the opposite occurs? and unlike most current drug treatments for excessive appetite it probably won't be something contraindicated for obesity and diabetes.
Maybe hook up the woman with the friend, if given the friend's permission, and step away from any further involvement in that exchange?
I'd like a reference to "blocking the effects of hypoglcemia", and maybe a clarification, since what you want as a diabetic is neither hypoglycemia nor hyperglycemia, but normal-glycemia.
Great colors and textures in the animation.
I hope this woman gets some relief.
Despite the lousy and condescending advice here, Yoffe is still one of the only decent things about Slate. Imagine if they assigned the advice column to Kaus, Hitchens, or Saletan ("Call the cops on the friend, shoot the s-i-l, give your brother a stern talking-to about his failings as a husband, then spend the rest of the day admiring your own moral superiority.")?
Easy for the Dilberty engineer in me to make a solid, clinical decision: No, don't do it.
1. It's illegal. Purchase, possession, and delivery put "Reluctant" at legal risk. Receiving and holding put both Sister-in-law and Neighbor at legal risk, possibly the unknowing Brother as well.
2. It's immoral. Well, kind of. I mean the Brother is presumed to be against it. Aren't there enough stresses in this family now (any family, any time, now that I think about it) without aggravating Brother and his relationships?
3. It's potentially dangerous (if not actually fattening). Taking the THC could cause various side-effects or problems (IANAD), and so as a minimum, Sister-in-law is going to have to tell the doctor she wants to do this (or is). Is she prepared to do this (considering she can't even tell her husband)?
No, pretty easy call to make from here at my computer, given the problem constraints as described.
How this all helps the woman, I don't know. If she's willing to talk to Husband and Doctor, then it changes the problem slightly. Still illegal in that jurisdiction (Californy is the place she oughta be) but maybe having co-conspirators would make things work better.
Dear Prudence:
I'd hit it :-)
Seriously, for her age, she is a cutie!
Wow. Prudence has her head up her ass. Someone with diabetic neuropathy is not going to get up and start an exercise regimen because someone encourages her. Mid-sixties for someone with Type I diabetes can be like mid-80s for someone without a major health problem. Cheerleading =/= sound medical advice.
And, of that whole group, the sick one seems like the only one who knows how to party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fG1tNO0_Pk
@#15 Anonymous--
Well said, I have been an athletic type for the past 20 years, but still love to smoke before exercise, such as hitting my local bike path for an hour or two (street riding is too risky, and not necessarily because of my own impairment). This way, I can smoke less, but still feel the same effects whenever I partake. Every time feels like the first time (well, for some people, the second time), I stay in good health, I flush the toxins, and my stash lasts longer. Now if I could only get proper information as to the source, so I could boycott sellers who deal in "bad dope" that comes from Mexican cartels or from crops grown in our own national forests...
Pot obviously hasn't slowed Michael Phelps down any, has it? As for those who would suggest that it has impaired Phelps' judgment, I say they need look no further than some of our nation's leaders and other "sober" celebrities to see that we all have impaired judgment from time to time without the use of marijuana. We need reform, based on regulation and taxation.
As for the OP's situation, until the laws change, he's putting himself in a bad spot if he were to become a dealer for his sister-in-law. I'd have to agree with Prudence.
As for me, I might take that risk, but only if she agreed to follow the program Prudence suggested, with a toke now and then as a personal reward.
Half of you people are wimps. Buy her the weed, or better yet, hook her up with a dealer so you're not running around for her.
If you think drinking alcohol is ok, you should have no problem with weed. And don't give me the 'but it's illegal excuse', plenty of things that should be legal aren't.
My brother was diabetic. As a kid, I would sit on the couch watching TV with him while he injected his daily dose of insulin, ever since I can remember (btw, he did all himself: boiled the needles, decided when they were getting dull, watching the cotton-ball supply. To this day I can't smell rubbing alcohol without thinking of him). He could not eat candy, ice cream, no sugar at all. This was the late '50s - early '60s, so it was a tough regimen. He had to maintain a constant vigil all of his life. He really liked pot, just for the high and bit of relaxation it gave him (alcohol was not good for him). As a life-long diabetic, checking his insulin level was pretty much part of his DNA by this time; he never "spaced it out". The few times he did, it was usually a case of too much business travel interrupting his schedule. He was a fun guy to have a smoke with and be with. Pot didn't cure anything, but let him lay back and feel normal for a while. The stuff should be legal, just like beer and wine and cheese.
knew a man who spent his childhood being woken up several times through the night by his parents and being sent outside to throw a baseball against a fence for an hour - to adjust his blood sugar. He was one of the first to receive insulin.
OK... I AM DIABETIC. I've had diabetes since I was 5 & I am now 24. I never did drugs but I always did wonder how it would affect me. I feel "normal" like everyone else the only thing is that I can't eat right away until I give myself a shot (which still to this day I hate doing). I still eat sugary foods once in a while & drink alcohol. Moderation is the key to EVERYTHING. I'm pretty sure exorcise isn't a good replacement for pot for this woman in the video. Exorcise will help her loose weight & keep her blood sugar in control but it won't make her feel "relaxed".
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/magazine/16FOB-wwln-t.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper
Ok, I'm a diabetic, too. Type 2. Joking aside about lethargy and the munchies, in my experience, smoking pot increased my blood sugar levels. Not really sure why, and can't even rationally explain it -- there are no carbs in pot smoke.
I'm personally all for legalizing pot, but this guy shouldn't hook up his sis-in-law, unless he just does the introductions. I don't think anyone should be a go-between in a case like this unless they're willing to do the time if they're unlucky enough to get busted. Just give her the guy's phone number and let her get it herself. Better yet, have her move to California or Canada, where medical marijuana is legal, and get her doc to write her a script.
"Pot no worse than alcohol"
For sake of argument, I'll grant that may be true medically, but it certainly isn't true legally or socially.
crap. Alcohol is far worse socially than pot in every way measurable.
Whatever 'Dear Prudence' might really think about 'the ethics of scoring pot' in a case like this, you can hardly expect her to publicly advise the guy to break the law. She's got her own ass to cover -- and I'm sure they don't call her 'Prudence' for nothing.
How many people do you know that have been arrested and forced to spend years in prison because they had a couple cases of beer?
I've been a near daily pot smoker for the last 17 years and personally, I think it's a bad idea for her to smoke. I have some low blood sugar issues from time to time and they seem exacerbated by pot. Google 'pulling a whitey'. I've had this happen to me a few times. After smoking you start seeing stars until your entire field of view is saturated with them until you can't see. This can last for a few minutes. In my case, it's been while smoking on an empty stomach. I wonder if it would be worse for a diabetic? On a positive note, I had a friend who healed himself of diabetes by eating the right foods (which admittedly, he says has been difficult). He got suspicious when his doctor just wanted to prescribe him medications and not discuss any lifestyle changes.
Anon's 2 cents.
I'd do it. I think the fact that it's illegal makes the act MORE moral.
It's her choice, essentially. If she doesn't know where to go, that's just logistical.
@3 any source on that hypoglycemia claim?
I found this:
"Marijuana per se does not cause or increase hypoglycemia nor does it block the body's response to hypoglycemia."
here:
http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/mj.htm
The article says diabetics shouldn't do it mostly cause jail sucks. Jimmy Carter once said something like, "The penalty for using a drug should not be more harmful than the drug itself."
I loathe Dear Prudence and try very hard not to click on her stories. Of course visiting Slate I still do often enough. She demeans the people who write to her and many of their situations. In some ways she is just such a prude and it's ugly.
I can't say her legal analysis is bad in this case for a state with no medical MJ exemptions but she sure ridicules the diabetic here.
Thanks to the folks here with an understanding of late stage diabetes you added a human dimension that was totally missing from the video.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Marijuana+activist+Emery+give+speech+tonight/1902117/story.html
Poor Emery. I bought various seeds from him in person or from his staff on several occasions. I still remember meeting him at my first 4/20 years ago as a young man.
It disturbs me profoundly that a Canadian political activist is being handed off to America like this. He has always been one of my heroes.
Here's why I think the guy shouldn't get her the pot:
1. We have no idea what her other medical issues are. Will the pot exacerbate her medical issues? Will it conflict with her various medications? Since she can't tell her doc she's using marijuana they have no way of knowing which drugs are safe to prescribe her. If her medical condition worsened because of the pot he procured for her the guy would have to live with that guilt.
2. Smoking, whether it's tobacco or marijuana reduces both blood flow and oxygen to the tissue. Diabetics are already at serious risk of losing their limbs, heart disease and losing their eye site. Adding smoking to that would not make her get better or feel better, it would make her medical condition worse and increase her chances of serious medical complications. Again, if she died from said complications how would the BIL feel? Would his brother forgive him?
3. Smoking raises your blood sugar levels. Again, this would only make her worse.
4. This would probably ruin the friendship he has with not only his sister-in-law but with his brother and put an unneeded strain on the marriage. Haven't they got enough to deal with?
5. It's illegal. I personally think pot should be legalized but my wishes don't change reality. I fail to see how going to jail would help any of the people involved.
The SIL shouldn't ask him to do something she knows the BIL is uncomfortable doing not to mention illegal. She already knows about his friend, give her the phone number and let her make her own choices. Frankly, there are many cases where I think pot has a use both recreationally and medicinally but this is not one of them.
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/08/obamas-drug-czar-blames-hot-weather-for-medical-marijuana-slip/
It sounds like the real problem is the state of this woman's marriage if she can confide in her brother-in-law but not her own husband.
Inreply to #2,#3,#49 ..... I'm type 1 diabetic for 30 years and smoked weed about the same time ... Pain is a problem in arms and legs weed does help and you dont need to be Sh#@t faced all the time..... to all the smeg heads that think blood sugar control is just a matter of just food and exercise, you need to walk a mile in my shoes.... When you feel like crap all the time a smoke is the best medication ....Smoking has also saved my eye sight, I have a lot of nerve damage but very little damage in my eyes and the eyes are were the smallest nerves are doctor's say i should be blind no one could tell me why i wasn't, now studies tell the story...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060227184647.htm.... I vote for the first post!!!!