REGIONAL – Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced his initiative to combat opioid abuse and reduce supply and demand in the United States. “We will work to strengthen vulnerable families and communities, and we will help to build and grow a stronger, healthier, and drug-free society,” said Trump.
The President’s plans to reduce demand through education, awareness, and preventing over-prescription. He also plans to “save lives” by expanding proven treatments for opioid and other drug addictions. But there is a natural alternative to pain relief, drug addiction, and other ailments that many say is saving lives – and no, it’s not Marijuana or it’s byproducts, which remains illegal under Federal Law.
We recently asked RNRF viewers
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Historically, Kratom has been used as an alternative pain reliever, and to help prevent withdrawal from opiates like prescription narcotics or heroin.
Kratom leaves are ground into a fine powder, which can then be ingested through different methods, most commonly as a tea or smoothie.
Jessie Davenport stated in a response to our social media inquiry, “The interesting health benefits of kratom leaves include their ability to relieve pain, boost metabolism, increase sexual energy, improve the immune system, and prevent diabetes. They ease anxiety, help with addiction, eliminate stress, and induce healthy sleep.” Davenport goes on to say, “It’s good if you don’t want to take pills and are too scared to smoke weed.”
Lisa Anne Zoubek says, “I’m in pain all the time due to a Spinal Fusion in my lower back I’ve been thinking about trying it, but I’m concerned about the side effects!”
One woman even praised the substance for making the last days of her husband’s life more comfortable. “My husband used it the last couple months of his life. It’s the only thing that took away the pain,” says Terri
In previous years, there have been efforts to try and address the Opioid Crisis, but they have hardly put a dent in the issue. For example, in 2016 the Obama administration passed a billion dollar bill to fix the issue, and it was fully funded. The results were more policies and restriction in hospitals, and did not address the issue of opioids on the streets. However, President Donald Trump and his administration plan on further addressing his issues through various approaches
The United States of America accounts for only 5% of the world’s population, yet as a nation, we devour over 50% of the world’s pharmaceutical medication and around 80% of the world’s prescription narcotics (American Addict). The increasing demand for prescription medication in America has evoked a national health crisis in which the government and big business benefit at the expense of the American public.
The opioid crisis is Canada’s worst public health crisis since the emergence of HIV in the 1980s. The epidemic is dangerously pervasive, affecting Canadians of all ages and income brackets. The Government of Canada has taken several steps to address the crisis, but many doctors and public health
The article discussed several potential health benefits to medical cannabis. For example, medical marijuana can be used to test glaucoma by slowing the progression of the disease and preventing blindness. It can help control epileptic seizures and decrease the symptoms of a severe seizure disorder known as Dravet’s Syndrome. The chemical CBD may help prevent cancer from spreading. In addition, it may decrease anxiety, ease the pain from multiple sclerosis, and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Medical marijuana may lessen the side effects from treating some illnesses such as hepatitis C. It has also been used to alleviate pain, reduce inflammation, and promote
It is used for the treatment of arthritis and also for treating the back pain, shoulder pain and knee pain.
In 2016 Americans are turning to heroin to deal with their despair, pain and turmoil in their lives, subsequently causing an opiate epidemic. This point is further evidenced by the following statement
Almost overnight one such venerable substance (or class of substances) has been catapulted into the national spotlight: prescription painkillers, namely those derived from the opium poppy. This class of analgesic encompasses everything from the codeine in prescription cough syrup to the morphine used in the management of sever pain. These compounds are commonly referred to as opiates and are produced naturally by the poppy. The sub-class of this type that has gotten all of the attention recently is the opioids, which are semi-synthetic compounds derived from the opiates (Wade 846). Opioids were developed for a variety of reasons, such as reducing the cost of production (morphine is expensive to synthesize) and attempting to reduce the addictiveness of the drugs.
End of life pain management is an important function of hospice organizations. Families and patients alike are comforted by the fact that, at the end, there are resources which allow for a comfortable death. Much of the quality of hospice care is determined by patient family members. In 2005, the Brown Medical school conducted research with regard to t...
Hospitals may use them for pain management for trauma-related injuries, cancer or post-surgery, and The Premier Safety Institute states that chronic pain is relieved using opioids on a short-term basis.
Even though many dispute over the value and usefulness of treatment and care of terminally ill patients, the debate for the most useful care and pain reliever for these patients is the question that most patients, and their families, have to ask themselves daily. Wesley J. Smith suggests that Hospice care for patients with such a horrible illness is a beneficial program and that many patients need to utilize it. Smith also recommends that a valuable care option would be to “allow the terminally ill to enter hospice care without having to give up life-extending or curative treatments”. (Smith 3) With this statement, Smith demonstrates a way that these ill patients can be provided with treatment and also care for the patient’s quality of life.
When you are looking for any pain killer, which is 100 percent safe and gives you good relief from pain, the first medicine people refer to these days is Kratom. This was just a normal herb in South East Asian countries, thousands of years ago. But now, its popularity is growing in western countries as well. This was taken by the farmers who worked in the dense forests. They started chewing the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa and then realized the benefits of it. Then people started exporting the herb to other parts of the world, with an interest of spreading about this medicinal herb. That was when many countries started making the consumption, selling or buying of Kratom as illegal. There are still many countries which are not aware that this kind of herbal medicine exists and also many countries which are not able to enjoy its benefits in spite of knowing its magical
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
Comfort measures are crucial for the dying patient and their loved ones. Comfort measures, not only, include pain management but also massage, music, position changes, and heat, which are all just as important. Palliative care is an extremely important aspect of nursing. Palliative care “focuses more broadly on improving life and providing comfort to people of all ages with serious, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses” (http://www.WebMD.com). The ultimate goal of comfort measures and palliative care is to ensure that the patient has a more relaxed and peaceful death (End of Life care: An Ethical Overview, 16). Other important aspects of palliative care consists of hygiene measures, which includes keeping the patient dry and clean, offering food and fluids often, and keeping the patient, along with the family, as comfortable as possible. Some try to argue that drugs, like Morphine, should not be given to the dying because it speeds up the dying process, but I believe that their death is inevitable and it is best to make the patient as comfortable as possible. For many families, the thought of losing their family member is too much to handle but with pain management, at least, the patient gets to die a relatively pain-free death. This can be comforting for the family. Although, there are pain medications that can suppress the respiratory and cardiovascular system, the patient, typically, has a much more peaceful death, as opposed to not having any sort of drug.
Some people may feel that K2 is not as bad as marijuana. But here are the facts on marijuana. The most illegal drug in America is pot. Not always and not in everyone will pot effect people. When taken pot can trigger a mild euphoria and increased sensitivity to body sensations. Some people experience perceptual distortions and they are usually pleasant. The effects of pot usually climax within an hour or two and then tend to fade all at once in three to four hours. Pot isn’t a single molecule that is a drug like alcohol or cocaine. There is a mixture of about 400 different chemical elements. There are about 85 cannabinoids that are unique to pot. The main cannabinoid is THC that is the main chemical in marijuana that triggers the drugs actions and effects on the body. (A) Some people who smoke their brains have more receptors to the THC than other people and that will affect the experience the users will have with THC to get the high. (b) THC is the chemical that is like a bomb when it goes off but it makes you feel good, it breaks up into about 80 separate by...
6. There are also some medicinal uses of marijuana such as relieving nausea and pain. Some studies also indicate the possible relief of glaucoma.