The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Safety risks of marijuana

    Ms. Leslie Bohner at Touro University in Vallejo, California summarizes the risks of medical marijuana.

    Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is classified as Schedule I, a definition that gives it a high potential for abuse, with no current safe or medical use.

    Meanwhile, in the state of California and 13 other states, patients have legal access to medical marijuana upon physician recommendation for a long list of conditions.

    Here are the risks, based on Ms Bohner’s search of several databases.

    • Possible drug-drug interactions
      • Opioids
      • Antipsychotics
      • Anesthetics
      • Alcohol
      • Benzodiazepines (Valium, others)
      • Muscle relaxants
      • Protease inhibitors
      • Theophylline (Aminophylline)
      • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, a class of antidepressant
      • Sildenafil (Viagra)
      • Tricyclic antidepressants (Elavil, others_
      • Anticholinergics
      • Alpha-agonists
      • Naltrexone (Depade, Revia)
      • Disulfiram (Antabuse)
      • Lthium
    • Cardiovascular adverse effects
      • Increased heart rate
      • High blood pressure
      • Orthostatic hypotension
      • Syncope
    • Respiratory adverse effects
      • Cannabis smoke is known to contain several potent carcinogens.
    • Carcinogenic adverse effects
      • Cannabis use by males under the age of 18 was recently associated with an elevated risk of testicular cancer.

    The bottom line?

    Marijuana use for medical or recreational purposes, especially in California, is not going away.

    At least we should know the risks.

    1/15/11 20:50 JR

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