Marijuana works wonders on serious pain related to major illnesses. But could weed also be a better option than over-the-counter drugs for sports injuries and muscle soreness?
by Marc Peruzzi
I’m an advil junkie. I started abusing the anti-inflammatory after injuring my back spring skiing at Killington, Vermont, in the early 1990s. That day, while cresting over a slushy mogul, I compressed my spine and stacked all of my body weight on one wee, jelly-like disk in my lower back. With much manipulation I folded myself behind the wheel for the three-hour drive home, popped open a bottle of Advil, and crammed five “skier’s Chiclets” into my mouth, bucking them down dry.
For the next four years I turned screws in ski shops with bags of frozen peas strapped to my back and a bottle of Advil on the workbench. “Vitamin A,” we called it. During that time I developed an ulcer. One night, piranha swimming in my intestines, I ended up in the ER with a stocky nurse’s thick finger up my ass. The doctor told me it was stress and that I should take it easy. Stress? I told him I was a ski bum. He never asked if I was a ’profen-head. It wasn’t until years later that I recognized the connection.
When taken for extended periods or in large amounts, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Advil (ibuprofen) and aspirin shred your gastrointestinal system. That’s because NSAIDs work by blocking natural chemicals (COX enzymes and prostaglandins, to be precise) in your body that cause inflammation. But those same chemicals protect your stomach from burning up in its own acid. Little known but absolutely true: A few thousand people die each year in the U.S. from complications involving NSAIDs.
Over the years I’ve scaled back my Advil consumption, but due to nagging aches and pains, I still feel as though I’m at the drug’s mercy and end up taking as many as 20 pills a week when my back injury flares up. So when an editor suggested I try a pain-relieving wonder drug, I was intrigued. Then he told me he was talking about pot, and I got wicked paranoid and dropped the blinds. I haven’t regularly used marijuana recreationally since high school, but some quick research turned up a 1999 White House–funded study done by the Institute of Medicine revealing marijuana is a proven painkiller. Twelve states now effectively allow patients to use medical marijuana, and thousands of testimonials from AIDS, cancer, and MS patients vouch for pot’s positive medicinal effects. The time seemed right to ask: Is pot better than Advil?
According to the institute of medicine’s report, here’s how marijuana works: Our perception of pain is a function of neurotransmitters relaying messages (“my legs are sore from mountain biking,” for instance) through our central nervous systems to our brains. Certain drugs (opiates, including morphine) and many of the body’s own agents (a ligand called anandamide) can turn those switches off or at least slow down cellular communication to the point that the perception of pain is diminished or interrupted. Such is the case with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical found in marijuana, which, when it binds to two types of “cannabinoid receptors” (CB1 and CB2) in the brain, nervous system, and the body’s peripheral tissue, “reduces reactivity to acute painful stimuli in laboratory animals… [and] was comparable with opiates in potency and efficacy,” according to the Institute’s 1999 study. Other studies of the drug have shown that it reduces muscle spasticity, too.
Hold on: What was that about lab animals? Right. They got rats stoned, not people, which is where I come in. With a baseline understanding of the science, I was ready to substitute marijuana for Advil to treat my daily sports-related aches and pains.
Since there’s no universal standard for what one puff of pot delivers, dose size is actually a gray area in the medical marijuana world. For help I turned to a Canadian survey of patients who self-prescribed pot to treat chronic pain. A majority of them (53 percent) toked four times or less per dose.
Since their pain was more intense than mine — and because Canadians are such heavy stoners — I decided that one toke at night, around the same time I would usually pop some pills, would be the equivalent of 600 milligrams (three pills) of ibuprofen, which was my normal dose.
In April I traveled to Snowbird, Utah, for some late-season skiing, which involved lots of bootpacking to chutes and charging recklessly through wet powder. The skiing and air travel home left me with a touch of muscle spasm–induced sciatica and glutes that were sore to the touch. That night I took my first puff. (Although THC is available in the pill Marinol, and I could have baked the pot into brownies, it takes about an hour to feel marijuana’s effects when you ingest the drug. Smoking is still the fastest form of THC delivery.) I coughed a little. Five minutes later I was mildly giddy. Then I settled in and tried to quantify what I was feeling. My legs definitely still burned, but now the sensation was enjoyable. It felt like the healthy fatigue of exercise, similar to the rush of endorphins you experience after a hard workout.
“THC is a euphoria-inducing product,” my doctor buddy Eric had told me on a bike ride a few weeks earlier. “Anything that induces such a state will reduce one’s perception of pain, or, for that matter, depression, anxiety, et cetera.” To which I replied, “If I don’t care that I’m in pain, am I indeed in pain?” He said that in medical school they used to argue that very point, but the debate quickly moved past science into the realm of philosophy.
Actually, Cartesian dualism (the idea that the mind is somehow separate from the body, a ghost in the machine) pervades Western thought. But mind-body duality is just semantics. Most rational people would believe the following: If you don’t feel pain, you’re not in pain.
I completely forgot about my sciatica that night, and it was gone in the morning. I also slept well even though I woke a number of times to wet my parched mouth (a common side effect). In the morning I had a mild headache, and my lungs felt inflamed, but I recovered with coffee and was still able to ride my bike without hacking up a lung.
I continued to toke when I was in pain for two weeks — with more encouraging results. One afternoon, during a long bike ride, I experienced serious muscle fatigue (but nothing I would’ve taken anything for). Then, about 20 miles into the ride, the muscles above my right shoulder blade locked into a horrendous knot that wouldn’t release. After a short hit from my pipe, however, it went away overnight and it hasn’t come back since.
Given that I’m just one guy getting high after 45 miles of singletrack, take from me what you will, but through my improvised clinical trial I discovered that, used in moderation, pot can be an effective painkiller for sports injuries. I was most impressed at how quickly it relieved muscle spasms (the knot and the sciatica), which tend to plague me for weeks. More than that, I found that smoking pot for pain might be a smarter choice than popping pills.
“As long as you’re able to cope with the drug’s potency, it can actually be better for you than ibuprofen,” says Dr. Donald Abrams, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California–San Francisco, who has studied marijuana’s medicinal effects for years. What’s more, he adds, “Marijuana has anti-inflammatory properties similar to ibuprofen, and it won’t give you an ulcer.”
Still, I’m not about to become a pothead. (Been there. The summer after my freshman year of college, my roommate picked up a WWII-era gas mask at an army-navy store and brought it back to our attic apartment on Cape Cod. We attached a pipe to the air intake, and thus rebreathed exhaled smoke. It was too much and with rare exceptions I quit completely.) I don’t want another ulcer, but I don’t want to be stoned all the time, either. I have kids to pick up from school and deadlines to hit. And I don’t want to make a habit out of escaping my pains, physical or otherwise. Besides, my lungs are only good for the occasional hit (I’m still perfecting my brownie recipe). I’ll use pot to treat my pain, but I’ll save it for when I really need it.
This article originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of Men’s Journal.
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November 4th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I READ YOUR SEPT. 08 ARTICLE AND YOU HIT RIGHT ON WITH THE NEGATIVE AFFECTS MOST DRUGS HAVE ON OUR BODIES. THANKS FOR THE INFO IT WAS GREAT ARTICLE…
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November 11th, 2008 at 2:03 am
great article marc. real good facts about how marijuana is not bad for you. does more help than harm in my eyes. everyone lets get a petition goin to get it legalized. maybe marc could be our leader. with his help and all the people for it and not against it i dont think it would take long to get it legalized. if u havent seen the movie, “totally baked,” then i reccomend it to anyone. even those non-believers. it is a pot-u-mentary and explains all facts about the effects of marijuana and how it is better than any type of pill or anything o-t-c. if we presented this to the HOUSE and all those political f**kers along with our case they would have no reason to turn it down. we actually wouldnt need to build a case because this movie has explains it all. instead of drilling for all this oil everywhere for fuel we could just grow pot and use the ingredients for our fuel, our clothes, and we also wouldnt have to cut down that many more trees for paper. (i think enviromentalists and the tree-huggers would back us on this) hemp is a grest source for all of americas needs. in the 1860′s pot was the 3rd largest crop in the world. lets make a stand people. join together in peace and do wuts right to save our country. it shouldnt be illegal because god put it here for us. if he didnt want it here he wouldve not created it. Right? religious people should also be a great “backer” on the legalization process because as we all might know, Genesis 1:12, says, (in short) “any seed-bearing plant i give to you.” so i say we all stand together and help those gvt. assholes see the brighter side of things. my email is erk42084@yahoo.com for any comments. we need to stick together and i bet we the people can change this dumb law. hope i hear from anyone whether uts bad comments or good comments. later ya’ll.
p.s.
hey marc. did u perfect yur brownie recipe yet?
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November 11th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
It works.
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November 13th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
It is also for used in pain associated with with cancer chemotherapy
you need to eat well when taking product as marijuana causes sharp reductions in blood sugar levels .One of its active ingrediants is a broncial dialator which can improve proformance ,can also incease endurance. Traditionally if it used medicinally it is either drunk or eaten In jamaica usually a teaspoon or table spoon is taken daily for a problen.In jamaica one can get eyedrops made from an extract of marijuana
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:00 am
wow, i feel the exact same as this guy. I am blown away that the MJ put this in their magazine. Finally someone is recognizing the real benefits of this wonder substance. it also helped save my life when I had cancer by giving me the ability to EAT! Eating helped me keep my blood levels up and hence I did not need a blood transfusion. Great job on putting this into Men’s Journal.
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November 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Thanks for the feedback. One of the interesting discoveries I made while reporting this story was that most forward thinking pain specialists would prescribe pot for intermittent (non-chronic) pain if only the law would let them. Which would indeed bring us back a hundred an fifty years to the days when marijuana was the pain killer of choice for such ailments as headaches and menstrual cramps. Until that happens though, Americans are at the mercy of the pharmaceutical industry, which clearly doesn’t want to compete with a cheap, grow your own, pain reliever. So instead we have legal meds like Tylenol–the number one suicide drug in the world. —The Author
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December 3rd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
You would be suprised how many medical benefits there are to marijuana, it can be used to help depression, eating disorders, glaucoma, chemotherapy patients, pain, stress and an unbelievably long list of other things. It was originally made illegal for economic and political reasons, and had nothing to actually do with the herb itself. compared to the positive effects it has on people, the negative effects are slim to none. Also Marc, if you want the quickness of smoking, but don’t to do damage to your lungs by smoking, use a vaporizer. A vaporizer will draw thc potent vapor from the weed without actually heating it to the point of combustion, therefore eliminating the carcinogens. I enjoyed the article though thanks for writing it.
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December 26th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
An excellent and well informed article. As generation upon generation come and go, the majority will start to become pro-marijuana. The truth is it’s a wonderful herb that has many positive effects, like the author states. With the power of the internet, the truth of this plant will become common knowledge.
I’d like to also recommend everyone try a vaporizer opposed to smoking. Even in moderation, I wasn’t crazy about putting smoke into my lungs. With a vaporizer, problem solved. It’s even a slightly different high, a bit more mellow, than you get from smoking.
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Bhargav Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Hello Simonyadig
can you please tell me how to do the ‘vaporizer’ thing.
thanks
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January 2nd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
This is bogus pseudo-science. There are 10 times as many medical reports debunking the myth that marijuana has any substantial medicinal or pain killing effects.
People just want to get high legally and cheaply. Its about getting their fix and their hit rather than real science and medicine. Grow up. The 60s are over.
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Titus Reply:
February 2nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I am a medical marijuana patient and your comment is plain insulting, not to mention ignorant. You are probably right, Doctors are always lying. But we know the Government is always telling us the truth. WAKE UP!
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Bhargav Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Hi Michael
You are being fooled by those so-called studies/ tests.
MJ is not a myth.
Im an Indian. If you have not heard about it, there is a field of medicine called ‘ayurveda’ which is centuries old and it recommends ganja[a.k.a marijuana] for pain and so many different medical problems. MJ is also defined as magic drug to attain ‘immortality’. It is exaggerated but it definitely has properties to slow aging.
Please publish if you personally experienced any problems / can prove that NSAIDs are better that ganja.
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January 13th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Michael must work for a pharmaceutical company. Anyhow my best friend is disabled and about three or four times a month he can not even get out of bed because his ankle is in so much pain. If it were not for pot he would probably have to sit around and collect disability; but because of a hit or two when he needs it he is living a normal life. How could that be “bogus” dumb@ss?
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January 22nd, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Leif, your friend is a bullshitter. Tell him to see a doctor.
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January 28th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I am a College Basketball player and i thought i was crazy because i would be soo sore after a big work out because i would start working out at 6 in the morning and workout doing various shooting weight and jump programs and end at 8 at night an would be sore as hell and didnt want top get out of bed when i woke up. But then i started smoking weed i would smoke one blunt before going to bed and instantly felt ok no pain an felt like doing it all over again when i woke up in the morning. I thouhgt i was crazy until i read this article and a few others it really does work for pain and is extremly helpful for gym rats like myself. Only bad thing is breathing so its an eye for an eye.
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February 2nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
I’ve lived in chronic pain, and I don’t think smoking pot really did anything that made pain less. Weed made me very aware of what the pain was and what actions were causing it. It gives the user control of pain managament because you can physically feel it’s effects. Like most things, the gov. shouldn’t control it.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Marihuana has more ways to be administered as pain killer, i’ve been to some countrys where older folks like grandmas and such use it. the way they use it is that they get the buds and leaves and place it into a bottle fill with rubbing alcohol, and let it ferment for few days. they apply it directly to the area where its required or where the pain is. believet or not i came to this country not knowing a word of english, and within six months i was fluent i the language, not because i was some kind of genious, but because i used to take one or two tokes and watch tv, learn all the phrases and then ask what do they meant, some people have said to me, i have a very slight accent in my way to speak. by the way I never been to school to learn english.
if you ask me, pot use wisely is not to bad, is the abuse what makes it bad.
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June 28th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I love it. A lot better than popping pills. And it doesn’t make your exit door bleed.
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August 16th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I have “experimentally” used marijuana many times for various types of physical pain, and in every instance it failed miserably. This included a perpetually aching tailbone from a 2001 skiing accident and more recently the pains associated with Lyme Disease. I’m still proudly back with the “Annie Hall” generation and believe that at least in “raw, unprocessed” form it is best for MENTAL pain. I hate the way the more “holistic freaks” have hijacked the movement in recent years and made all conventional meds look evil. You’re supposed to use the latter properly, and NOT become ibuprofen freaks. MY definition of ‘medical marijuana’ is to legalize it defacto (for adults only) BUT tax it heavily and use the proceeds to fund universal health care in the United States! And PLEASE don’t tell me that if I “stopped eating so much animal protein my threshold for pain would increase and smoked pot would then abate it”, because neither I nor ‘mainstream America’ have any intention of going that route. If you want to make marijuana a truly (American)-efficient analgesic, you’ll have to tamper and synthesize it into some kind of exilir. But that scene in “Platoon” where Charlie Sheen’s flesh wound is numbed by mere smoked pot is the kind of propaganda that will actually HINDER – not help – defacto legalization.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 10:50 pm
I’ve been included in taxations for longer then I care to admit, both on the individual side (all my working life history!!) and from a legal stand since satisfying the bar and following tax law. I’ve supplied a lot of advice and redressed a lot of wrongs, and I must say that what you’ve posted makes complete sense. Please persist in the good work – the more people know the better they’ll be armed to handle with the tax man, and that’s what it’s all about.
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January 30th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
All canadiens are not stoners ….Your a poor intellectual representative to the USA …And further more at least we are not gun toting fanatical alcoholics who do not have education beyond their borders….Poor article indeed from the most hated country in the world….Man I wish you werent my neighbor.
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March 13th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Hi
anyone here know where I can get ‘medical marijuana’ in Phoenix, AZ. Im going to a chiropractor for my disc problem but he cannot prescribe any medication.
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Nick Talbott Reply:
May 19th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
hey man i live and Missoula MT and we got the dankest med shit ever. i’m a pole vaulter and have personally used marijuana as a pain killer. the only negative affect is loss of respiratory capacity. using the vaporizer or brownie methods are much more efficient. but if Montana is too far you can get online and look up cities which have legalized medical marijuana. the numbers are continuing to grow.
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August 3rd, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Hi,
I see people that say they just want to get high have not suffered with long term pain.its easy to run your mouth when your body feels good.i have been on pain meds for 3 years and they are not going to work forever.it is nice that there are safe options.
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August 3rd, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Hi,
I see people that say they just want to get high have not suffered with long term pain.its easy to run your mouth when your body feels good.i have been on pain meds for 3 years and they are not going to work forever.it is nice that there are safe options.
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November 30th, 2011 at 3:20 am
It would be interesting to see if a Marijuana effect obtained from Hypnosis would have a similar effect that would be safe and legal
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