Could medical cannabis be the new thalidomide
Each of the 400 phone calls to the cannabis dispensaries followed a script. ‘Hi,’ said a female voice. ‘I’m eight weeks pregnant and feeling canada goose victoria parka outlet really nauseated. Are there any products recommended for morning sickness?’
In two thirds of cases, the reply was: ‘Yes’.
uk canada goose outlet The recommended cure in question? Marijuana. But far from being genuine requests for help from expectant mothers, the phone calls were part of a research project by the University of Colorado. state of Colorado since 2000 and fully legal since 2014 was being dispensed. The answers they received offer a worrying insight into the booming medical marijuana industry. uk canada goose outlet
When 400 phone calls were made to cannabis dispensaries from a supposedly pregnant woman, two thirds recommended cannabis canada goose outlet products for morning sickness (stock image)
cheap Canada Goose ‘After eight weeks [of pregnancy], everything should be good with consuming alcohol and weed,’ one dispensary assistant replied. cheap Canada Goose
canada goose uk outlet ‘When I canada goose outlet niagara falls was pregnant and started to feel nauseous, I did not smoke [cannabis] more than two times a day,’ recommended the proprietor of another clinic. canada goose uk outlet
‘Edible [marijuana] would not hurt the child,’ reassured another, telling the woman, wrongly, that something ‘going through your digestional tract’ will have no effect on an unborn child.
canada goose black friday sale Of the 277 dispensaries that recommended cannabis as a cure for morning sickness, three quarters then attempted to sell a version of the drug containing canada goose outlet las vegas THC, the chemical that gives users a ‘high’. canada goose black friday sale
Many also advised their pregnant patients to keep their consumption of this intoxicating drug secret from their doctor.
‘The doctor will probably just tell you that marijuana is bad for kids and try pushing pills on you,’ said one. ‘I do not know if the baby doctors are chill or not, [so] do not go stoned when you talk to them,’ warned another.
canada goose store Perhaps those doctors had good reason for their canada goose parka outlet uk reservations about cannabis. For the Colorado research paper, published in the canada goose outlet black friday sale journal Obstetrics and Gynaecology earlier this year, highlights cannabis as a matter of growing concern to medical practitioners across the world. canada goose store
Increasingly, marijuana is being sold for medical reasons. Yet this ‘medical’ marijuana is very far from being the safe, natural healthcare product its often rapacious suppliers would have us believe. and most recently Britain in highly specific circumstances can be dangerous and possibly fatal. Particularly when taken by pregnant women.
To blame is a simple fact: a multitude of studies over several years have shown all forms of cannabis to be ‘teratogenic’. Meaning that, like tobacco or excessive alcohol, they can harm a foetus.
Canada Goose online The drug has been linked to a host of serious birth defects, including at least six life threatening deformities. Canada Goose online
They include two congenital heart problems; a neurological condition called anencephaly, in which a child is born with a large portion of the brain missing, often dying within hours; and the birth defect gastroschisis, where the intestines develop outside canada goose discount uk the body.
‘There are also concerns about possible long term effects on the developing brain, impacting cognitive function and decreasing academic ability later in childhood.’
Which brings us to the situation in Britain, where there is pressure on the Government from an increasingly powerful cannabis lobby to loosen the NHS guidelines on medical cannabis use.
canada goose coats They were relaxed this year following two high profile cases involving children who suffer from serious forms of epilepsy. canada goose coats
One, Alfie Dingley, found an unlicensed, technically illegal cannabis oil from Holland prevented his seizures. Another, Billy Caldwell, had medical marijuana from Canada confiscated at customs, causing him to be admitted to hospital buy canada goose uk with what his family described as ‘life threatening’ seizures.
canadian goose jacket In response to the public outcry over both cases, the Home Office relaxed the law to allow specialist doctors to prescribe unlicensed cannabis based drugs to patients. canadian goose jacket
Canada Goose sale Their use is still limited to three distinct conditions: epilepsy, nausea associated with chemotherapy, and muscle stiffness associated with multiple sclerosis. Even then, patients must first have tried conventional medicines. Canada Goose sale
But the cannabis lobby is calling for it to be made more widely available, claiming six million Britons would eventually use the canada goose outlet ottawa product for a variety of ailments, including pain and nausea relief. It would almost certainly canada goose outlet toronto mean dispensaries handing it out over the counter, just like in Colorado.
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) recently published an article arguing that the widespread use of medical cannabis could eventually lead to a public health crisis bearing comparison with the https://www.goosecanada.ca thalidomide disaster.
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