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Legalise ganja to treat HIV, cancer, doctors tell gov't
‘Cannabis keeps viral progression down’
BY NADINE WILSON Sunday Observer reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, December 23, 2012
DIRECTOR of the Caribbean Drug and Alcohol Research Institute Dr Marcus Day believes the time has come for regional governments to legalise marijuana to counteract the spread of HIV.
"I think we should regulate cannabis (marijuana) use the same way we regulate alcohol use, the same way they are talking about regulating it in the states of Washington and Colorado in America," said Day, an HIV/AIDS specialist and coordinator of the Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition.
A cannabis plant
DAY... there are documented cases of using marijuana as a substitute, so it’s less risky
A cannabis plant
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"Cannabis actually keeps viral progression down in a body. If you are HIV positive and you are not on medication, smoking cannabis is actually therapeutic, and that's science, not people's opinion," he told the Jamaica Observer on a visit to the island last week.
Day believes HIV patients — especially those who haven't started anti-retroviral drugs for whatever reason — should be allowed to ingest marijuana as a tea or in pastry such as brownies. Statistics show that approximately 30 per cent of those living with HIV in the Caribbean are not on any type of treatment.
The legalisation of marijuana should also be considered as a prospective harm reduction mechanism, said Day, who noted that some crack smokers had resorted to selling sex as a means of supporting their habit, and this increases their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
"A lot of the research that we have done over the years has pointed to the fact that many of these women only began to engage in sex work as a regular activity after they started to use substances and we also find that probably 20 per cent of the men who are homeless crack users are also engaged in selling sex, primarily to other men," he said.
"We encourage the crack smokers that we work with to substitute their crack for cannabis and to smoke cannabis instead. Even though it's probably not the best thing, it's much better than crack smoking. We don't know anybody who sells sex for cannabis, we don't know anybody who is breaking into houses for cannabis, nobody stealing cars; and cannabis users are not coming down the streets and pulling your chain off your neck. These are things that are associated with cocaine," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2FsXisGOD
Legalise ganja to treat HIV, cancer, doctors tell gov't
‘Cannabis keeps viral progression down’
BY NADINE WILSON Sunday Observer reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, December 23, 2012
DIRECTOR of the Caribbean Drug and Alcohol Research Institute Dr Marcus Day believes the time has come for regional governments to legalise marijuana to counteract the spread of HIV.
"I think we should regulate cannabis (marijuana) use the same way we regulate alcohol use, the same way they are talking about regulating it in the states of Washington and Colorado in America," said Day, an HIV/AIDS specialist and coordinator of the Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition.
A cannabis plant
DAY... there are documented cases of using marijuana as a substitute, so it’s less risky
A cannabis plant#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/2 "Cannabis actually keeps viral progression down in a body. If you are HIV positive and you are not on medication, smoking cannabis is actually therapeutic, and that's science, not people's opinion," he told the Jamaica Observer on a visit to the island last week.
Day believes HIV patients — especially those who haven't started anti-retroviral drugs for whatever reason — should be allowed to ingest marijuana as a tea or in pastry such as brownies. Statistics show that approximately 30 per cent of those living with HIV in the Caribbean are not on any type of treatment.
The legalisation of marijuana should also be considered as a prospective harm reduction mechanism, said Day, who noted that some crack smokers had resorted to selling sex as a means of supporting their habit, and this increases their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
"A lot of the research that we have done over the years has pointed to the fact that many of these women only began to engage in sex work as a regular activity after they started to use substances and we also find that probably 20 per cent of the men who are homeless crack users are also engaged in selling sex, primarily to other men," he said.
"We encourage the crack smokers that we work with to substitute their crack for cannabis and to smoke cannabis instead. Even though it's probably not the best thing, it's much better than crack smoking. We don't know anybody who sells sex for cannabis, we don't know anybody who is breaking into houses for cannabis, nobody stealing cars; and cannabis users are not coming down the streets and pulling your chain off your neck. These are things that are associated with cocaine," he said.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz2FsXisGOD
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