When It Comes to Pain, Should You Start Dancing with Mary Jane?

As many of you are aware, Mary Jane is a slang term for marijuana. With so many issues related to opiates cropping up, many are beginning to ask themselves and others if the use of medical marijuana to treat their pain might be a more appropriate option.

The answer is a profound and resounding...maybe.

There is research to suggest that certain subsets of pain can be effective with the treatment of medical marijuana but are probably not for everyone as side effects include sedation, dizziness, and confusion. Guidelines put forth in Canadian Family Physician, reveal solid data to support the use of cannabis to treat four conditions only, based on a review of multiple trials utilizing medical cannabis. These are:

• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Palliative cancer pain
• Nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy
• Spasticity from multiple sclerosis or a spinal cord injury

Although the state of Arizona has given the green light to the utilization of medical marijuana, there are still some regulatory issues that come up. The use of marijuana, medical or otherwise is still considered illegal from a federal standpoint. At Advanced Spine and Pain, we are monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency or DEA, a federal agency. As a result, it is ASAP’s policy not to allow the concurrent use of opiates and medical marijuana. So before considering that slow dance with Mary Jane, you may want to ask yourself whether your pain will be controlled sufficiently with Mary Jane (marijuana) alone, because regardless of the music being played, opiates will not be added to that particular dance.