Rolls eyes ... Is anyone else shocked that a CannaMed doctor thought he was a perfect candidate for cannabis? If he'd visited a Chiropractor, I'm sure he would have gotten manipulated and I bet a psychologist would have suggested bi-weekly sessions.
I don't want to start a debate about the value of medical marijuana, but you do need to consider the motivation of the people giving you recommendations.
If it seriously improved his life with little or no negative side effects... I'd say he was indeed the perfect candidate. I find too much of medicine is dedicated to make life longer; it's good that some of it is trying to make life better (I'm not saying the balance is off in this matter, I honestly wouldn't know how to measure it).
That's true of all doctors from oncologists to surgeons. But in this case back pain is largely caused by anxiety and inflammation, and marijuana is an anxiolytic and an anti-inflammatory, in addition to being an analgesic. So yeah, it kind of makes sense that weed would help with back pain, as it has been shown to many times over. Weed isn't a panacea by any means, but at the same time it's better than any other pharmacological option in terms of safety and efficacy.
If you're an adolescent, if you are pregnant or nursing, if you are predisposed to heart disease, stroke, or psychosis, if you use heavy machinery frequently or work in government, then occasional cannabis use may not improve your quality of life. It's not hard to be a perfect candidate.
That's exactly what I thought! What a stupid article: "I was a loser father until I started doing drugs! Let's legalize marijuana!" I'm not sure how such a shitty article made it into the NYT, or HN for that matter.
Just out of curiosity, as someone who agrees with you (and is skeptical by default), how do you typically explain _how_ to actually consider the motivation of such people?
For example, chiropractors often offer free assessments which usually entail an X-ray. I'm not sure how risk-free this is, especially for healthy people in their early twenties. Of course, these assessments usually find misaligned vertebrae and lead the person to go back for a paid visit. Sometimes it's hard to compete with a certified practitioner's recommendation...
I would say it is different in this case because you only go to those CannaMed doctors for 1 reason- to get your medical marijuana card. Paying for the visit is basically just part of the cost of getting the card. There are no upsells, the doctor isn't profitting off you buying the "medicine", etc. He gets paid for your visit and that's it.
So yeah, completely different than a chiropractor or psychiatrist who profits from your ongoing treatment.
That's a tough question and I don't have a great answer. I guess I'd prefer the advice of someone who was a skeptic themselves and who was predisposed to doing nothing over guessing.
I would say it's completely different than a psychologist or chiropractor because those 2 types of "doctors" get paid every time you come in for treatment. So they have a financial interest in prescribing treatment.
AFAIK Medical marijuana doctors don't have any financial interest in prescribing treatment. They get paid when you come in (which is only the one time), and if they think you can benefit from medical marijuana, they give you the card. They aren't getting paid every time you get high.
The stupid thing about that sentence in the article is that BIG SURPRISE, the CannaMed doctor recommended medical marijuana. No shit! That is why people go to them!
I don't want to start a debate about the value of medical marijuana, but you do need to consider the motivation of the people giving you recommendations.