420: Cannabis Observance Day and Diabetes
By Nadia Al-Samarrie
If you are unfamiliar with the code language 420, it’s a sub-culture of people who observe and describe themselves as cannabis users on April 20th.
Personally, I don’t smoke pot but I do know people with diabetes who claim there are many benefits to cannabis. One subscriber who is an investment banker and has terrible neuropathy shared that he has tried many of the pharmaceutical medication and natural supplements to help him with his unbearable pain. Disappointed with the lack of relief, he turned to cannabis. “Marijuana is the only thing that really helps,” he told me.
Another friend of mine with diabetes went to the ophthalmologist for his annual eye exam and was surprised to find he had high pressure in his eyes. Concerned about retinopathy – which can lead to macular edema, damages blood vessels, leaks fluid and causes swelling – he decided to try marijuana as an experiment to see if it made a difference. He had read various articles about cataracts and the medicinal benefits of marijuana. So, it made sense to him that there might be a slight benefit. He conducted his own experiment to see if using marijuana would reduce the pressure in his eyes. His next eye exam validated his assumption; smoking marijuana did indeed reduce the pressure in his eyes.
I know so many conservative and liberal people that would never use marijuana until a health crisis forced them to consider it as an option.
An estimated of 124 million Americans have used marijuana in 2018. Forbes reports that sales in 2019 were 17.5 billion dollars. These numbers are expected to keep growing as more states adopt cannabis friendly businesses.
I would like to hear from you in our comments section. How do you feel about marijuana use? Is it a health, moral or political issue for you? If you have used it, was there a benefit? Do you know of people who use marijuana for medicinal purposes and it has made a difference for them?
There are many health advocates who promote cannabis use. Political and moral groups are largely against it, while some States appreciate the additional taxation revenue.
If you’d like to learn more about this subject, see these articles we recently published:
Pot Smoking Has Little Lasting Metabolic Effect
Marijuana May Help Blood Sugar Control, Study Says
