Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive disease which affects movement, muscles, and speech. As time goes on, the symptoms of the disease worsen leaving the person severely debilitated. As time moves on, they are no longer able to care for themselves and remain completely dependent upon others for help with every aspect of life. These helpers become the arms, legs, and voice for the Parkinson’s patient.
Medical marijuana is the use of the marijuana plant to treat illness, chronic conditions, pain, and anxiety. There are many social media posts, blogs, and videos which show improvement of ailments with the use of medical marijuana. One condition, in particular, is Parkinson’s Disease. There remain countless videos on youtube which depict before and after footage of a Parkinson’s patient using marijuana.
In this particular video, the patient opens the door for the doctor while visibly unable to control his movements. His speech and voice are soft and trembling, and his body moves without meaning to. The doctor administers the marijuana, and after some time his movements slow, he is able to sit still, and his speech is improved. His voice is louder and more controlled, and the Parkinson’s symptoms are barely recognizable.
While there does remain evidence of medical marijuana improving symptoms associated with Parkinson’s Disease, the fact remains that there has not been enough testing on the medication to state for a fact that it will help every person, every time. The myth that medical marijuana is a miracle drug lay in the fact that this plant has not been thoroughly tested. It is not FDA approved for treatments of any condition. Any medication given to a patient must go through years of trials and approvals. Because of the state and federal government restrictions on marijuana, studies have been limited, until recently. An increasing number of states have approved the use of medical marijuana. As such, there has been more testing and studies done on marijuana as a medication. The hopes for most people is that as studies progress, and the dosage more precise, marijuana will be both safe and available for treatments of disease.
The reality remains that until marijuana is tested and the doses managed from patient to patient, marijuana as a miracle drug remains a myth. The increasing number of patients who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease using marijuana and showing a slow down in tremors and body movement only increases the awareness that this plant can help people. If Parkinson’s patients cannot achieve independence through this medication, at least they can experience times of rest.
