The Affliction

Just got my fall issue of Momentum magazine (it's a publication of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society), and there is a small issue on Marijuana and MS (pdf here).

The article goes through the standard mishmash of yes, there are some benefits but there are potential side effects, so you really need to discuss any therapy with your trusted health-care providers.

Has anyone actually listened to the side effects of all the drugs being hawked on tv lately? Vesicare is a drug used to treat overactive bladder. Here are some of the side effects mentioned on the official web site:

The most common side effects with VESIcare are:

• blurred vision. Use caution while driving or doing dangerous activities until you know how VESIcare affects you.
• dry mouth.
• constipation. Call your doctor if you get severe stomach area (abdominal) pain or become constipated for 3 or more days.

• heat prostration. Heat prostration (due to decreased sweating) can occur when drugs such as VESIcare are used in a hot environment.

Here is a more complete list, from drugs.com:

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); back pain; bloody or cloudy urine; constipation lasting 3 or more days; fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat; fever or chills; mood or mental changes (eg, confusion, depression, hallucinations); pain below the ribs; pain while urinating; severe stomach pain; unusual or severe headache; urinary retention (unable to empty the bladder).

But noooooo, we can't have people self-medicating with a drug that they can grow in their own back yards, now can we?! I mean, how will the government get their cut? How will it be standardized? I mean ..... how?

Here's how .... they can't. And because there's no money in it. And because there's no control.

That's why the government will never get out of the way.

pm