By Melita Horvat |
Finally Approved in Croatia: cancer, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy will be treated with marijuana! |
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As announced by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia, most of the preconditions for final approval of medical cannabis have been fulfilled.
Commission for Analysis and Recommendation of Using Indian Hemp and Cannabinoids for Medical Purposes recommended that herbal preparations on the basis of Indian hemp should be allowed in treating cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and childhood epilepsy syndrome.
Even though efficiency of this herb has been proved in treating other neurological diseases such as Parkinson disease and physic disorders such as depression, anxiety and PTSP, the Commission did not recognize cannabis as official medicine in their treatment.
After solving administrative issues that refer to cannabis classification, labeling and proscription, as well as its manufacturing and distribution, marijuana will be put on the Croatian market as an official medicine.
This will stop the purchase of marijuana on the Croatian black market and prevent its illegal consummation for medical purposes without competent control.
One Step towards Legalization
According to Croatian legislation that was in force until 1st January 2013, possession and consummation of marijuana was considered a crime.
After the said date, the new law came into force making it a minor offence.
All people that consume marijuana, even for medical purposes, are purchasing it illegally.
Therefore they are breaching the law and endangering their health due to questionable sources and qualities of the products.
After many confirmations of medical benefits of marijuana, more and more Croatian experts are advocating its legalization for medical purposes.
One of them is Dr. Marijana Persoli-Gudelj, an anesthesiologist working in the Department for Pain and Palliative Medicine at Karlovac General Hospital and the president of Oncology Treating Section of the Croatian Oncologist Society.
She supports the idea of legalizing marijuana in medical purposes and warns that current illegal purchase of cannabis oil is only supporting the black market.
Patients, unfortunately, have no other choice.
Patients are purchasing marijuana illegally and paying high prices.
Legalization would stop the evolvement of the black market, improve the quality of life and in some cases improve the results of the therapy – as stated by Dr. M. Persoli-Gudelj in the media.
Recommendation of the above mentioned authorized Commission is just one step towards the legalization of marijuana, which has been officially acknowledged as a medicine in many countries of the world.
What is the Secret of Marijuana?
Scientists have discovered that two main substances contained in marijuana have beneficial effect on health.
These are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).
Various researches confirmed that these substances are highly effective and at the same time safer than other conventional drugs.
Joycelyn Elders, US Surgeon General, in her article “Myths about Medical Marijuana” published on 26 March 2004 in Providence Journal claims:
The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day.
Robert Kampia, Founder and Executive Director of Marihuana Policy Project claims:
The medical benefits of marijuana are highly acknowledged. There is no way that science-based approach can lead to conclusion that marijuana is not medicine. The opposition to medical marijuana isn’t based on science, but rather lies and myths that are refutable by indisputable facts.
Regarding the claim that marijuana is too dangerous to be a medicine, it is interesting to note that there has never been a death attributed to an overdose of marijuana. Clearly, most prescription drugs are far more dangerous than marijuana.
Jerry S. Mandel Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and Harvey W. Feldman former Fellow of the Drug Abuse Council wrote an article “Providing Medical Marihuana: The Importance of Cannabis” published in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs where they claim the following:
The issue of whether marijuana has medical benefits no longer seems to be in question.
Hundreds of scientific studies and thousands of testimonials form patients have established marijuana’s effectiveness in controlling the nausea of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation, in enhancing appetites for AIDS patients, in reducing intraocular pressure for persons with glaucoma, in giving relief to spasms of muscular dystrophy, and for relieving pain from dozens of others serious diseases.
Officially Confirmed – Cannabis Kills Tumor Cells
New information show that American National Cancer Institute (NCI), the central USA government agency for cancer research, has finally and officially confirmed the efficiency of marijuana in fighting various types of tumors.
Studies conducted on mice and rats have shown that cannabinoid can limit cancer tumors causing the death of tumor cells, blocking their growth and blocking the development of blood cells needed for the tumor to grow. Laboratory and animal studies showed that cannabinoids can kill cancer cells and at the same time protect the normal cells.
According to NCI, cannabinoids effectively destroy cancer cells in lungs, liver, breasts, colon and other organs, without any negative effect on healthy cells.
Also, according to NCI’s report these compounds improve the efficiency of chemotherapy and alleviate its negative side effects such as pain, nausea and appetite loss.
Well known and scientifically proven health benefits of marijuana:
- Heals and prevents glaucoma
- Improves lung health
- Prevents and eases epileptic seizures
- Stops the spreading of cancer
- Alleviates chemotherapy negative side effects (pain, nausea and poor appetite)
- Alleviates hepatitis C negative side effects (fatigue, nausea, muscle pain, appetite loss and depression)
- Helps with rheumatoid arthritis (eliminates pain, decrease inflammation and induces sleep)
- Slows the progression of Alzheimer disease
- Alleviates painful muscle contractions in multiple sclerosis
- Helps with Crohn’s disease (pain, vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss)
- Maintains metabolism health
- Protects the brain after having a brain stroke
- Stimulates brain creativity
- Suppresses fear and anxiety
- Decreases or completely eliminates lupus symptoms
- Calms hand shaking in Parkinson disease
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Helps with PTSP
Testimonials of patients in Croatian and Foreign Media
Many doctors and patients are sharing their testimonials on the medical effects of cannabis consummation.
Damir Žinić from Zagreb, Croatia, explains his experience of using cannabis and curing his cancer.
After four years of conventional medical therapy, this 58 year old turned to alternative methods such as using cannabis oil by which he cured his cancer.
He described his healing experience in his book “My Way – The Story of Cancer Treatment”.
Croatian public also very well knows the shocking story of Huanit Luketić, 36 year old from the city Matulj, who as a person suffering from multiple sclerosis was arrested for cultivating marijuana in order to cure his disease.
It has been acknowledged that cannabis oil alleviates the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and that fact has been confirmed in many cases.
Luketić showed how using cannabis oil helped him in easing the symptoms of his disease.
He also warned of his health getting worse after he stopped using it due to the fear of being arrested and losing his bail money.
The foreign media bring the story of Mike Cutler (63) from Great Britain.
In 2009 he was diagnosed with liver cancer and underwent a transplantation, but in 2012 his cancer returned and spread to other organ.
Mike decided to use cannabis oil and that proved to be successful in fighting his cancer.
According to Mike after only three days of consuming cannabis oil he felt better and his pain decreased.
In May 2014 biopsy confirmed that tumor cells have disappeared and today he feels better than ever.
Note:
Using marihuana for nonmedical purposes (malpractice) can have negative consequences.
Synthetic marijuana is different from organically cultivated cannabis. According to the experts, consummation of synthetic marijuana can have dangerous side effect and ultimately lead to death.
States that Legalized Marijuana for Medical Purposes
High state officials in many countries have recognized and approved the use of Indian hemp in medical treatment of many diseases.
Those countries are: USA (more than 20 federal states in the USA), Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Jamaica, Equator, Uruguay, Peru, North Korea, Israel, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Great Britain.
Croatia will soon be listed.
States where Marijuana is Prohibited
In certain countries marijuana is prohibited by law and its possession and consummation is considered as a crime.
Some of the countries include: China, Japan, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Borneo, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam and Yemen.
For possessing or using marijuana one can be put in prison or fined, but in some states like Iran a person can be executed.
Sources used in writing this article:
[url=http://www.zdravlje.hr]http://www.zdravlje.hr[/url]
[url=http://www.businessinsider.com]http://www.businessinsider.com[/url]
[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk]http://www.dailymail.co.uk[/url]
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