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Brennan Linsley

The vast majority of people in Ireland want to see medicinal cannabis legalised

A new poll conducted for the Claire Byrne Live show revealed how 77% of us want the law to change.

A LARGE MAJORITY of Irish people want to see medicinal cannabis made available here.

A poll conducted for The Claire Byrne Show by Amárach found that 77% were for it, 13% were against while 10% responded that they didn’t know.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of people discussing the pros and cons of legalising the drug in recent weeks.

Health Minister Simon Harris has asked the Health Products Regulatory Authority to get expert advice on medicinal cannabis.

While he said he was not planning on total decriminalisation, he wanted to review the potential medical benefits of cannabis for treating particular illnesses and chronic pain.

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For many people, the legalisation of cannabis will help loved ones deal with serious pain brought on by illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis or chronic back pain.

A number of stories have been brought to the public’s attention in recent weeks in relation to cannabis and its benefits.

One of those stories relates to Ava Barry, who has Dravet syndrome, a drug-resistant form of epilepsy.

Her family has tried several types of pharmaceutical medication have failed to improve her condition and she frequently has to spend time in hospital.

Her parents Vera Twomey and Paul Barry believe there is one thing that can help her: cannabidiol (CBD) oil, a form of medicinal marijuana.

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59 Comments
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    Mute Mick McGuinness
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    Nov 14th 2016, 6:46 AM

    It has nothing to do with US State’s legalising it, it’s more to do with common sense. It’s saving people lives and doesn’t cost the earth like the drugs used at the moment. Big Pharma will lobby hard to stop it, the Minister should tell them to get lost under no certain term. Legalise it by prescription for people that really need it for a better quality of life. Money saving and life saving at the same time.

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:33 AM

    You know… most cancers that would have killed you a few decades a go you can survive, you can accept an organ from someone, if you break your spine they can inject a drug to stop you being paralyzed, you can live out your full life and never show symptoms of AIDS, having diabetes no longer means losing your limbs to gangrene… I could go on and on.

    Wonder how long l these anti ‘Big Pharma’ principals in today’s youth would last if they were being kept alive by one of their products… Anti ‘Big Pharma’ rhetoric people really are the 21st century version of Luddites

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    Mute Ben McArthur
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:48 AM

    @Mick McGuinness: You realise that we’re not talking about people growing weed here? We’re talking about a drug which has actually gone through clinical trials for safety and efficacy, and is manufactured by one of those evil Big Pharma companies?

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    Mute TDV
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:15 AM

    @Ben McArthur: and do you know that GW Pharmacy would only love it if the majority of people who knew sweet feck all about this subject until very recently would adopt the big pharma lies that what they grow is superior to what can be grown by pretty much anybody.

    Don’t believe me, well then just read about poor Marie Flemings husband who not only had to listen to the Irish government tell his wife repeatedly that she had no right to end her pain and suffering by being allowed to die on her terms peacefully, but he also had to risk a criminal conviction by buying female cannabis seeds online to grow it in their home.

    Guess what, the cannabis he miraculously managed to grow (I am being uber sarcastic here as humans have been cultivating cannabis for a very very long time for it’s medical and recreational properties) worked exactly like it will for anybody that buys the seeds/soil/lights and let the weed grow, like a weed to be perfectly honest, it’s not rocket science. You don’t believe me? Well read the quote below from Tom

    Tom Curran told TV3′s Ireland AM that the illegal drug had a “very positive effect” on Marie as she battled with Multiple Sclerosis.

    “Rather than buying it on the street, I bought seeds on the internet and I grew it for Marie and the results were incredible,” he explained.

    “The pain relief, the spasms and also to be perfectly honest, the lifting of her mood so it helped her in lots of ways that the pain control drugs just weren’t able to do.”

    He said that Marie smoked the cannabis, rather than bake it.

    “You could see within two minutes of her taking it, her limbs stopped shaking, the pain relief, you could see the anxiousness in her was gone because the pain was dissipating. It was remarkable. It became part of our routine, if that’s the way to put it, yeah.”

    http://www.thejournal.ie/cannabis-marie-fleming-1513997-Jun2014/

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:41 AM

    @Mick..exactly!.well said

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    Mute malcolm kyle
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:32 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :):

    KINDLY GOOGLE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

    FDA warns that diabetes drug Actos may increase bladder cancer

    FDA warns that thyroid cancer and pancreatitis are associated with liraglutide (diabetes drug Victoza)

    COPD mist inhaler Spiriva may increase risk of death.

    Seizure medications (Antiepileptic drugs) linked to increased risk of birth defects

    FDA warns simvastatin may cause severe muscle damage

    Osteoporosis Drugs & New Evidence on Heightened Risk of
Femur Fractures

    Meridia Pulls Diet Drug Due to FDA Concerns of Increased Risk of Heart Attack & Stroke

    Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac & Zoloft Linked
to Birth Defects

    Yaz & Yasmin (contraceptive pills) – linked to heart attack, stroke, blood
clots, and death

    Antibiotic ZIthromax (Azithromycin) Linked to Sudden Cardiovascular Death

    Blood-thinner medication Pradaxa (Dabigatran) found to cause internal bleeding in several hundred patients.

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    Mute Billy Mooney
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:54 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :): I wonder how the victims of Thalidomide feel about the motivations and methods of Big Pharma? Human health should not be left in the hands of entities who sole motivation is profit accumulation.

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    Mute TDV
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    Nov 14th 2016, 12:47 PM
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    Mute Science of beer
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    Nov 14th 2016, 2:41 PM

    What the fook would you know about the optical rotation of thalidomide there Billy. Do your homework before ya make stupid statements. The original drug was a rasimate rather the a single rotation specific drug.

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    Mute Tara Dowling
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    Nov 14th 2016, 3:34 PM

    Yes it definitely should be legalised, however you’re wrong about the big pharma companies. Without big pharma companies a lot of people would be dead due to lack of medication. Also these big pharma companies would be tripping over themselves to produce the cannabis based drugs. If anything it would be the big pharma companies that would make it easier for people to get the drug.

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    Mute Tara Dowling
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    Nov 14th 2016, 3:36 PM

    And anti epileptic drugs control seizures, and chemotherapy drugs cure cancer. Fact!!!

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    Mute Roy O Brien
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:24 PM

    @Tara Dowling: cytotoxic chemotherapy 2.3% success rate / herbal chemotherapy 85% success rate

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    Mute Paul Lane
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    Nov 14th 2016, 6:52 AM

    Just legalise it in general

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    Mute Brendan Mason
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    Nov 14th 2016, 6:18 AM

    Colorado Washington Oregon Alaska California Nevada Maine and massatuse tes. If they can legalise so can we.

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    Mute Rory Stafford
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:30 AM

    It is cruel and inhumane to prevent people using cannabis.
    Our heartless government could act on this but as usual they will just bluff, appoint a few highly paid consultants from their circle of cronies and kick the issue into the long grass.

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    Mute Seán Domhnall O'Sullivan
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:14 AM

    Reassured we’re romping home with medicinal cannabis support but this plant should be legal for both medicinal and recreational uses here and in many more developed countries by now.

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    Mute Upowthat Burke
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    Nov 14th 2016, 12:08 PM

    What ever party legalised cannibis in this state will get the youth on side and secure their popularity into the future In countries and States where it has been legalised The benifits for society are enormous 22percent drop in hospidal admissions……drug bill slashed. crime down drasticly…. freed up police to catch real criminals…and a huge tax benifit But this is backword Ireland We the people demand better from our lazy politians……. ….free the bud for everyone’s benifit

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    Mute Brian Houlihan
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:52 AM

    Hopefully there is political support for Gino Kenny’s medical cannabis bill next month

    https://medium.com/@HelpNotHarm/medical-cannabis-bill-to-be-debated-next-month-54c8bcca4216#.i1qigc666

    With the HPRA set to report to Simon Harris on the medicinal properties of cannabis and the health committee due to discuss the topic soon, this is a big time for medical cannabis in Ireland

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 6:51 AM

    Not in favor… it basically opens the flood gates for prescriptions for every suspect IBS, anxiety, attention, insomnia, stress condition and ailment.

    As I’ve told one of my consultants when he’s suggested it, if it has pharmacologically active components, let them separate them out and put them in a pill. Seen too many people loose themselves to the negative effects of that drug.

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    Mute Kirk Van Houten
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    Nov 14th 2016, 6:55 AM

    The negative effects? Did they get fat from all the bags of doritos or die from giggling too much?

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:14 AM

    No they generally lost motivation, academic and job performance suffered, increasingly unable to manage their emotional state, mood swings, some became depressed, self harmed, cut social ties, lost interest in other more social and active hobbies…. and yes many cases their general presentation weight and personal hygiene suffered.

    There’s no doubt in my mind there are long term mental health side effects associated with that drug.

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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:26 AM

    @drew thanks for you professional medical advice that contradicts all the facts about marijuana. Now that you have made your opinion known we can put this issue rest.

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    Mute ocJBI3Df
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:32 AM

    Sounds like they were abusing it. Abusing anything is irresponsible. The same arguments you just made could be made against the abuse of alcohol, codeine, nicotine or even caffeine

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    Mute tim cormack
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:49 AM

    So there’s no negative effects only positive??

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    Mute Adam Laycock
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:57 AM

    @tim cormack: As will all substances taken for madical reasons there can be negitive effects that occur weather its a simple pain killer or a long term pill.

    we should not rule this drug out when you can clearly see the possitive medicinal effects it has on people who need it.

    Understand. Educate. Legalise.

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    Mute tim cormack
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:04 AM

    @Adam,What research have you done to educate yourself on it ?and do you think the majority of people taking these polls have educated themselves on the matter ?

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    Mute just readin
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:08 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :): Ar you talking about yourself? I myself try not to diagnose friends or strangers as I am not qualified to, however I do have a keen eye for a troll. You seem to have a pretty bad case of that , in fact I would guess that it extends beyond the internet , they type of person who is so miserable with their lot that they insist on trying to make everyone else miserable.

    Picking on people who are looking for any relief from chronic illness is pretty low.

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    Mute Alan b..
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:10 AM

    Drew you do know medicinal cannabis doesn’t get you stoned

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:11 AM

    We should not rule out potential bias and gross exaggerations, misrepresentations of any evidence of medical benefits given there’s nothing wrong with most of its supporters and for the most part they’re feigning compassion because it’s their own personal high of choice…

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    Mute Seán Domhnall O'Sullivan
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:18 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :): Alcohol and tobacco must be criminalised by your logic (lack-thereof) so, Drew. Or bread knives, I hear its a gateway knife. Less of your ignorance

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    Mute Adam Laycock
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:28 AM

    @tim cormack: I’ve read about 3 of 4 medical reports in the past two years, 2 from europe and at least one from the US, all seemed to hold the same conclusion though they were not written on the same illness. The end finding were on one I recall were something like; over 70% of people being treated with *CBD displayed a regression of illness related episodes, including a number of patients going from daily seizures to bi-weekly and in some cases none while they stayed on the treatment.

    Just like any medicine it works for some and might not for others, as everyone here knows there is not just a magic plan thats fixes everything
    If you give me a few moments I’ll be happy to find you some very reputable reports?

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:29 AM

    Interesting… you do know alcohol and tobacco in moderate quantities were originally proposed and marketed to the masses as medicinal cures of various ailments. Completely debunked and proved to be far more harmful than any beneficial effects other than the feel good factor of course.

    Or are you too young to remember ‘Guinness is good for you’..

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    Mute Adam Laycock
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:31 AM

    I will also make it known that I am in favor of decriminalisation of the drug and fully believe its less dangrous than alcohol and other legal things, but we’ll save that argument for after the people who need it get it

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    Mute Seán Domhnall O'Sullivan
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:00 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :): Kansas was a mostly dry state until 1987, Utah is mormon state yet people are overwhelmingly for legalising safe medicinal cannabis, 61% of Republicans in usa support same sex marriage. Just saying conservatism and the pharma lobby are beginning to lose out to science and the information age. North dakota was seen as highly unlikely to vote for medical marijuana and they just have. Profit making pharma are agaont legalising cannabis because they know it works

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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:03 AM

    Having to look at my relative living with constant pain 24 /7 , with all the medicine she takes doing no real good .. I fully support this for medicinal reasons ..

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    Mute tim cormack
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:12 AM

    Much appreciated ,I know it’s getting to patients to ease their pain when they’ve reached a certain stage I’m just not totally sold on the curing of illness or what prolonged use will do

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    Mute TDV
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:23 AM

    @Alan b..: medical cannabis with equal THC/CBD does get you stoned and so what if it does. if you’re talking about the likes of charlottes web that has as close to 1% THC to 99% CBD then that most certainly cannot get you stoned.

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    Mute TDV
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:24 AM
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    Mute Tony O Reilly
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:41 AM

    Go fxxk a duck

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    Mute Tony O Reilly
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:43 AM

    Go fxxk a duck drew

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    Mute Adam Laycock
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:54 AM

    @tim cormack:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24778283

    Maybe I can find you more, but im working right now, but you are right prolonged use of anything can be bad for you.,prolonged abuse can be even worse.

    speaking as long term user(cronic dental pain and a bad history with codeine is why I use cannabis) I have expereinced some negitive side effects such as lack of sleep and mood change without it and considering my way of taking this was via smoking it has given me the same bad effects smokers get, so of course it can harm us, but I will say it helped me more that codeine did, stopping was use after my pain was gone was a smoother change than coming off codeien too.
    If I was able to get this in a form that did not have to be smoked when I needed it I would have 100%
    and I think young people and all people should be given all options for treating their illness/pain and also should be educated on it to prevent abuse or misuse

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    Mute malcolm kyle
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:36 AM

    @Drew TheChinaman :): Drew, everything you’ve posted on here has been proved wrong.

    The Duke University (New Zealand) Dunedin study, the one which claimed that smoking cannabis/marijuana in your teens leads to a long-term drop in IQ, has been utterly rebuked by a later paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They examined the research and found its methodology to be flawed.

    “…existing research suggests an alternative confounding model based on time-varying effects of socioeconomic status on IQ. A simulation of the confounding model reproduces the reported associations from the [August 2012 study], suggesting that the causal effects estimated in Meier et al. are likely to be overestimates, and that the true effect could be zero”.
    —Ole Rogeberg.

    “The conclusions were modest in the paper. we never said cannabis/marijuana caused these changes. The media may have given that impression in headlines, but the study doesn’t show causation. I think I saw one headline that was ‘Marijuana reshapes the brain’ and I groaned –that’s not what we did,”

    – Dr. Jodi Gilman, 31, author of the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital study on marijuana’s effects, in an interview with PolicyMic.  

    Here is a 2012 peer-reviewed Study proving that Cannabis/Marijuana is not linked with Long Term Cognitive Impairment:

    Amy M. Schreiner of the Department of Psychology at the University of Central Florida recently led a study that looked at 33 existing meta-analyses of cognitive impairment experienced by heavy cannabis users. Schreiner was unable to provide evidence of long-lasting impairment. Specifically, the participants demonstrated no significant cognitive deficiencies once the intoxication period ended. Additionally, Schreiner found no symptoms of impairment in the individuals who had abstained for 25 days. In conclusion she said, “These results fail to support the idea that heavy cannabis use may result in long-term, persistent effects on neuropsychological functioning.”

    Reference:

    Schreiner, A. M., Dunn, M. E. (2012). residual effects of cannabis use on neurocognitive performance after prolonged abstinence: A meta-analysis. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0029117

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    Mute Cowboys Ted
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:36 AM

    He’s not necessarily wrong. It will trigger mental problems in someome with an underlying problem. Having said that the same could be said for alcohol. Alcohol isn’t for everyone, neither is Cannabis but that doesn’t mean we ban it for the massess. And seriously, people harping on about it having literally zero negatives effects need to grow up. I smoke it and realise like all drugs it must he used responsibly.

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Nov 14th 2016, 11:34 AM

    And I could quote you studies demonstrating inexplicably high rates of schizophrenia in users that we have yet to determine causality and relationship for but the data is there.

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    Mute Daffy the Bear
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    Nov 14th 2016, 2:08 PM

    Please do that Drew..

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    Mute tim cormack
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    Nov 14th 2016, 7:51 AM

    These Poll’s are usually uneducated Poll’s,people read a few stories on facebook and think it cures everything

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    Mute Thommo's Big Nose
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:21 AM

    Delicious

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    Mute Julian Friesel
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:42 AM

    says a lot about you, that you believe yourself to be more educated than the vast majority.

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    Mute tim cormack
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    Nov 14th 2016, 9:06 AM

    Where did I say I was more educated than the vast majority ?

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    Mute Peter
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:18 AM

    Is it correct in saying that medicinal means there’s no ‘high’ in it? If so, even more reason for it to be used to help people.

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    Mute Shane Kinsella
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:50 AM

    Have you ever heard the saying laughter is the best medicine? Why would you want to stop a sick person feeling good for an hour or two in their otherwise painfully life?

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    Mute robert ludden
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    Nov 14th 2016, 12:22 PM

    Yeah the medicinal cannabis whether smoked or used as oils with a high CBD content and low to no THC will give no high and Pepsi even the same therapeutic effects. CBD is an anti-psychotic so it’s very good for anxiety also

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    Mute John Power
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:05 AM

    the picture is misleading medical cannabiss will be in tablet form and will be made from compounds in the plant giving pain relief but with out the high effects..

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    Mute malcolm kyle
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    Nov 14th 2016, 10:37 AM

    @John Power:

    Reducing cannabis to just THC (Marinol or Dronabinol), minimizes efficacy and greatly increases side effects.

    “THC is actually a single molecule — and THC alone is horrible. That’s what Marinol/Dronabinol is, and that’s why no one wants to take it. It makes you very uncomfortable and it doesn’t get you high in the sense that it gives people relief. It gets you stressed, which is why Marinol/Dronabinol isn’t used by anyone with an alternative — plus, it costs something like $1,500 a month.”
    —Dr. Robert Melamede, Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado,

    Many scientists believe—and patients agree with them—that Marinol/Dronabinol lacks the beneficial properties of marijuana/cannabis, which contains more than 60 cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), which is thought to be the major anticonvulsant that helps multiple sclerosis patients, and cannabichromene (CBC), an anti-inflammatory which is believed to contribute to the pain-killing effect of cannabis.

    It takes two to four hours for Marinol/Dronabinol to reach full effect, compared to minutes for smoked or vaporized cannabis. Patients accustomed to inhaling just enough cannabis smoke to manage symptoms have complained of too-intense intoxication from Marinol’s predetermined dosages. Further, If a patient is suffering from nausea it makes it near impossible to keep a pill down. Many have also said that Marinol/Dronabinol even produces a far more acute psychedelic effect than cannabis.

    The following two paragraphs come from “Marijuana and Medicine”, a report published by the Institute of Medicine, March 1999:

    “Marinol/Dronabinol is synthesized in the laboratory rather than extracted from the plant. Its manufacture is complex and expensive because of the numerous steps needed for purification. The poor solubility of Marinol in aqueous solutions, and its high first-pass metabolism in the liver, account for its poor bioavailability; only 10-20% of an oral dose reaches the systemic circulation.
    The onset of action is slow; peak plasma concentrations are not attained until two to four hours after dosing. In contrast, inhaled marijuana is rapidly absorbed…”

“Dronabinol/Marinol’s most common adverse events are associated with the central nervous system (CNS); anxiety, confusion, depersonalization, dizziness, euphoria, dysphoria, somnolence, and thinking abnormality.”

    Marinol (Dronabinol) = 1500 USD per month

    Marijuana = practically free if you grow your own outdoors.

    Cannabis is safe. The Queen of all herbs, with euphoria-inducing and life-preserving qualities . . . and need euphoria be a bad thing?

    Cannabis vs Marinol/Dronabinol http://tiny.cc/alxy0

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Nov 15th 2016, 3:28 AM

    ffs…

    Why just ‘medicinal’?
    Bite the bullet and legalise it properly plz.

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    Mute Adam Laycock
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:46 AM

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24778283

    This may be 2 years old so you might look for a new update to this report., Full report link on page

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    Mute Paul A Whelan
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    Nov 14th 2016, 8:55 AM

    Garreth. You use the terms cannabis and medicinal cannabis as thought they were the same. They are different drugs. Please research. Your head photo is also incorrect. Please research.

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    Mute Yvonne Clarke
    Favourite Yvonne Clarke
    Report
    Nov 15th 2016, 1:42 AM

    The sooner the better Cannabis is legalised for medical purposes.
    People in bad health don’t want to get stoned, they want to get better.

    2
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