Uses of Medical Marijuana

California's Proposition 215 allows medical marijuana to be used for ANY serious condition for which marijuana provides relief. Cannabis has a remarkably wide spectrum of medical uses, ranging from chronic pain, muscle spasticity, nausea and appetite loss to psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

Following is a survey of conditions reported by medical cannabis specailist Dr. Tod Mikuriya. Altogether, Dr. Mikuriya has recorded over 250 indications for medical cannabis, as classified by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Following is a compilation of diseases reported by 2,480 of Dr. Mikuriya's 9,000 patients, according to the primary indication for which the patients were diagnosed. In practice, many patients report more than one indication. One of the most important uses of cannabis is as a substitute for other, more dangerous or costly pharmaceutical drugs. Many patients report substantial reductions in use of narcotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and other drugs. This usage is not reported below, because it does not count as a "primary indication."

Because of government restrictions on research, very few of marijuana's medical indications have been clinically studied. For a survey of recent medical marijuana research, see www.cannabis-med.org,(International Assoc. for Cannabis Medicine) "Recent Research on Medical Marijuana," (NORML, 2006), and "Human Studies on Medical Use of Marijuana" (Cal NORML, 1996).



Summary of 2480 Medical Marijuana Patients

Interviewed by Dr. Tod Mikuriya



Source: Dale Gieringer, "Medical Use of Cannabis in California," in Franjo Grotenhermen, M.D. & Ethan Russo, M.D., ed., Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential, Haworth Press, 2002








Mood Disorders

Total 660 = 26.6%

post-traumatic stress disorder 274

depression 162

anxiety disorder 73

dysthymic disorder 46

bipolar disorder 34

schizophrenia 26

attention deficit disorder 15

obsessive compulsive disorder 8

panic disorder 5

other psychiatric 17



Nausea & Appetite Loss

Total: 113 = 4.6%

hepatitis 42

AIDS/HIV 25

cancer* 29

nausea, other 17

* includes chemotherapy patients w/ nausea & others w/ post-operative pain, etc.



Spasms, Convulsions

Total 228 =9.2%

head, brain injury 45

epilepsy 25

spasm 23

quad/paraplegia 21

lower back pain 20

MS 15

colitis 19

pylorospasm 9

post-Polio 7

others 44

(cerebral palsy, Touretteπs, et al.)



Analgesia / ≥Immunomodulatory Anti-Inflammant≤



Total 1133 = 45.7%



(A) Migraine and Neuralgias

Subtotal: 179 = 7.2%

migraine 127

neuropathy 22

sinusitis 12

psychogenic pain 5

other pain, neuralgias 13



(B) Arthritis

Subtotal 433 =17.5%

arthritis, post-traumatic 318

arthritis, degenerative 37

fibromyalgia 21

arthropathy 22

myofascial pain 11

rheumatoid arthritis 10

psoriatic arthritis 5

other arthritis 9

(inc. lupus, polyarthritis et al)



(C) Spinal & Skeletal Disorders:

Subtotal 366 =14.8%

lumbosacral back disease 175

disks & vertebra diseases 88

scoliosis 33

spondylolisthesis 12

spinal stenosis 7

spondylosis 6

other spinal 12

sacrum disorder 11

other skeletal 22



(D) Injury, trauma

Subtotal 57 =2.3%

sprain, whiplash 36

carpal tunnel 12

other trauma 9



(E) Gastrointestinal:

Subtotal 68 =2.7%

gastritis 50

peptic ulcer 10

Crohn's Disease 5

other intestinal 3



(F) Other Inflammatory 30 =1.2%

(endometriosis, panniculitis, pruritis et al.)


Insomnia

Total 71 = 2.9%







Harm Reduction / Substitution

Total: 136 = 5.5%

alcohol dependency 118

opiate dependency 8

others 10



Glaucoma & eye diseases

Total: 24 = 1.0%

glaucoma 15

others 9

(drusen cyst, disease of conjuntiva, et al)



Asthma:

Total 53 =2.1%



Miscellaneous:

Total 62 = 2.5%

Pre-Menstrual Stress 24

Lyme disease 8

hypertension 7

others 23

(tinnitus, Meniereπs disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, et al.)