# Has anyone seen Sanjay Gupta's series on marijuana? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807 "2014-12-21T05:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/41 "2014-12-22T18:41:29Z")
Speaking as (probably) the only 53 year old in America who’s never smoked pot… My take on medical marijuana is pretty much the same as my take on agricultural hemp. Yeah… riiiiight. You just want the stuff legalized for MEDICINAL purposes. And you just want to grow hemp because it makes really neat shirts, and it will replenish the soil and save the environment. Riiiiight. Look, even though I’ve never smoked pot, practically everybody in my graduating class at high school did. Almost all of them are now doctors, lawyers, and big businessmen. So, I’m aware that, for most people, a little weed doesn’t do any serious or permanent harm. I’d be okay with legalizing it for those who just wanna get stoned. Just so long as it’s restricted to settings where I don’t have to smel it. I just don’t take stoners seriously when they start claiming weed has millions of other benefits for everything under the sun. Come on, just admit what you REALLY want to use the stuff for. If it then turns out later that it has a few (probably exaggerated) legit medical uses, so much the better. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/42 "2014-12-22T18:53:59Z")
Claims for medical marijuana are definitely exaggerated but it’s ridiculous to equate it with agricultural fibre hemp which does in fact have a long history of industrial uses\* and does not contain meaningful amounts of THC. \*eta: though many of those uses are probably made obsolete by more modern materials. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/43 "2014-12-22T19:13:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think many of the claims of medical utility are suspect. Some of them are likely true, it’s certainly not an inert substance, but recent coverage of the benefits of marijuana seem to be a pendulum swing reaction. I didn’t notice much attention to it’s main advantage, it gets you stoned. Actually, getting stoned is a bit of a nuissance when your focus is on symptom treatment. Whether it’s neck pain working its way into a raging headache, or a severe depressive episode, one dose from the vaporizer and I’m back to normal and functional without becoming intoxicated. Like most things (beer, exercise, reading, employment, water, sex, sleep, religion)overindulgence can be bad for you, but a moderate bit can improve your life. > [@astorian](#): > > Speaking as (probably) the only 53 year old in America who’s never smoked pot… > > My take on medical marijuana is pretty much the same as my take on agricultural hemp. Yeah… riiiiight. So, you don’t use it, but all these people who do, and claim benefits, are what? Liars? And you know this for the gospel because you lack firsthand knowledge of the stuff? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/44 "2014-12-22T19:18:05Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Claims for medical marijuana are definitely exaggerated Skepticism should cut both ways. “Definitely exaggerated” is not warranted. Lots of drugs used recreationally are great for symptomatic treatments - anxiety, pain-killing, etc. Morphine, codeine, heroin (originally), oxycodone… It would be surprising if marijuana wasn’t useful in some way. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/45 "2014-12-22T19:25:28Z")
Sorry but some of the claims are just too far reaching and wide ranging for me not to be confident saying “definitely exaggerated”. Not remotely saying there’s no uses for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/46 "2014-12-22T19:29:52Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Speaking as (probably) the only 53 year old in America who’s never smoked pot… > > My take on medical marijuana is pretty much the same as my take on agricultural hemp. Yeah… riiiiight. You just want the stuff legalized for MEDICINAL purposes. And you just want to grow hemp because it makes really neat shirts, and it will replenish the soil and save the environment. > > Riiiiight. Slight nit-picking sidetrack: Industrial & recreational are two completely different crops. If you grow them in close proximity (within a mile or two), they tend to cross-pollinate and the people growing industrial end up with plants with inferior fibers they can’t make anything out of, and the people growing recreational end up with dope that tastes like rope and won’t get people high. Dope growers are _vehemently_ anti-industrial hemp because if anybody starts growing legal hemp plants for cloth, their illegal operation is busted. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/47 "2014-12-22T19:30:00Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Sorry but some of the claims are just too far reaching and wide ranging for me not to be confident saying “definitely exaggerated”. Not remotely saying there’s no uses for it. What about the wheelchair-ridden girl who now plays blissfully on the beach with her twin sister after being given the CBD pot? Is she faking it? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/48 "2014-12-22T19:30:08Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Actually, getting stoned is a bit of a nuissance when your focus is on symptom treatment. Whether it’s neck pain working its way into a raging headache, or a severe depressive episode, one dose from the vaporizer and I’m back to normal and functional without becoming intoxicated. Not being stoned is the only symptom I ever tried to treat with marijuana. It worked fine. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/49 "2014-12-22T19:33:34Z")
**CarnalK** : Well, fair enough. I don’t know what claims you’re thinking of, but some loons probably claim it reverses aging and cures cancer. Among the non-loony claims, though (how _true Scotsman_, I know, but you know what I mean), any might be just as true as claimed. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/50 "2014-12-22T20:28:18Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Slight nit-picking sidetrack: Industrial & recreational are two completely different crops. If you grow them in close proximity (within a mile or two), they tend to cross-pollinate and the people growing industrial end up with plants with inferior fibers they can’t make anything out of, and the people growing recreational end up with dope that tastes like rope and won’t get people high. Dope growers are _vehemently_ anti-industrial hemp because if anybody starts growing legal hemp plants for cloth, their illegal operation is busted. While that’s true, every shop I’ve seen specializing in hemp-based products is obviously run by people who want to legalize marijuana for smoking purposes. I have YET to see anyone arguing vehemently that marijuana smokiung should be banned BUT that hemp is an extremely useful product that was unfairly banned by William Randolph Hearst. And I haven’t seen anybody arguing FOR marijuana as a medical drug but GAAINST it as a recreational drug. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/51 "2014-12-22T20:42:40Z")
There has been [a case study write up](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24237632) regarding the use of cannabidiol in children with treatment-resistant epilepsy. The cohort included nineteen patients who, on average, had tried 12 medicines which failed to control their seizures. Parents reported a reduction in number of seizures in 16 of the 19 patients including two reporting being free of seizures entirely and eight reporting more than an 80% reduction in seizures upon treatment with cannabadiaol, a component of marijuana. Yes, double blind studies are needed to verify anecdotal reports. But these are patients who have failed multiple prior drugs and are seeing remarkable results with cannabadiol treatment. Actually being able to fund and do the studies seems warranted. At least one of the pot shops selectively bred a strain of marijuana that is low in THC and high in cannabidiol for these patients. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/52 "2014-12-22T20:43:06Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > And I haven’t seen anybody arguing FOR marijuana as a medical drug but GAAINST it as a recreational drug. What, you think I want EVERYBODY to hate me? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807/53 "2014-12-22T22:15:18Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > And I haven’t seen anybody arguing FOR marijuana as a medical drug but GAAINST it as a recreational drug. To be fair, those are two completely different approaches to legalization. As I understand it, there are beneficial compounds in pot that do not contribute to intoxication. Your pro-med folks are going to be considering that: “Hey, at least let us do some science on the non-intoxicating compounds.” Very much about science and not about getting high. The other camp, who admittedly enjoy being filthy hippies, are more inclined to point out the absence of harm in the stuff (impossible to OD to death, fewer problems linked to abuse compared to tobacco or alcohol, ridiculous financial and social costs of keeping it illegal, etc.). I think both arguments have merit, and even individually they certainly more merit than any argument in support of keeping it illegal. Maybe it’s time our government became brave enough to let this be the land of the free? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-seen-sanjay-guptas-series-on-marijuana/707807.md?page=2)