When asked about my reasons for advocating the legalization of Cannabis, many would assume that I am a drug addict or something along that line. This is the result of the mind set the war on drugs has instilled upon majority of the conservative population. But my purpose for advocating the legalization of Cannabis has nothing to do with getting high, relieving stress or contributing to GDP profits. My highest priority for advocating legalization has always been 2 things, the right to medication and injustice.
http://therealsingapore.com/content/lonely-fight-awareness-singapore-can...
A few months ago, I shared my story on how my father has suffered from Cancer and the turmoil he and the family had to go through. There are not enough words to describe the pain and the feeling of hopelessness we had suffered. The feeling of seeing your loved one suffer in agony for months, to see him slowly lose himself as his memories begin to fail and to see his life slowly but surely fade away until death finally claimed him.
But unlike the many that faced similar ordeals and simply leave it to the hands of fate, I was given the revelation of medical cannabis. I have researched and found that outside this 649km/sq Island, there are countries where Cannabis is not seen as a deadly drug worth sending people to the gallows for, but a medicine given to sick patients. And so I made a promise that Singaporeans will be made aware of this medicine so in the future, no one will have to suffer as my family did.
The TRS crew has ask me what I believe would help my dad if medical cannabis was available in Singapore when my dad was still alive. Truth is no one can really know if the outcome would have changed, but I can give what I imagine would help if I can go back in time with my current knowledge in a world where Singapore has legalized Cannabis.
Neuropathic pain caused by Cancer is nothing to laugh about. It is an extremely debilitating pain that even opiates cannot relieve. In my dad’s case, he describes it as his hand being on fire constantly where sleep is the only time he feels relieved. Can you imagine putting your hand on fire and letting it burn constantly without the fire ever going out? Can you live with that kind of pain?
He was prescribed many doses of morphine and none of them gives him much relief. And worse, large doses of morphine cause many severe side effects like constipation, dehydration, hallucination and the constant fear of overdose.
After several complaints that morphine is giving my dad so many problems with not much relief, the doctors then prescribed some Diazepam for him and it caused one of the most serious side effects that shocked the whole family. The combination of Diazepam and Morphine has caused severe delirium and loss of motor functions on my dad.
After 2 days on Diazepam, he became catatonic and unresponsive. He just lay on the bed with eyes open, unable to speak or move. He was rushed to the hospital and where he remained unresponsive for 2 days. On the third day, he was able to speak and move to the relief of the family, but the relief did not last as he had no memory of himself or the family. It was devastating news to us. We felt that we had already lost him.
He remain in this confused state for one whole week, unable to remember the country he is in, the faces that came to visit him or why he was there in the first place.
I got into several heated argument with the doctors for prescribing such horrible medication. After 2 weeks off Diazepam, my dad finally came back to us as his memories returned.
If Cannabis was legalized in Singapore, there would be readily made Cannabis supplement available for my dad. I would have given him either Goldcaps soft gel by Tetralabs or the Gold-Pens vaporizer series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_YeDQ7ZCdw
http://tetralabs.com/
http://wa.tetralabs.com/gold_pens/
Studies have shown that Cannabis works very well on neuropathic pain, either individually or together with Opiates as explained by Dr Donald Abrams in one of his lectures back in 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2W6-VTiOt0
And the thing about Cannabis based medication; there is no fear of overdose. The LD50 (the dosage needed to cause death in 50% of the test population) of Cannabis is beyond possible human consumption which is why there has never been a case of fatality due to overdose on Cannabis.
With his pain relieved with Cannabis based medication, my dad would have been able to participate in normal family activity, to eat with the family and watch some movies with us, instead of being forced to sleep in order to relieve himself from the constant pain.
But most importantly, if his pained was relieved by the Cannabis based medication, we would never have to go through those two weeks of horrible confusion. I would not have to see the horror of my father being stripped of his memories. I just like to take this opportunity to say be extremely careful when doctors prescribe you with powerful narcotics. The consequences of the medicine can be worse than the disease themselves.
Aside from the pain, the more radical view of Medical Cannabis is its effectiveness in fighting cancer cells. Just type in “Cannabis cancer” in google and you will find thousands of articles, testimonies and more importantly, published medical studies that show Cannabinoids causes cancer cells to self destruct while leaving healthy cells untouched. “What if Cannabis cured cancer?” is one of the most comprehensive documents explaining the research and use of medical cannabis on Cancer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bMt83_IWkE
Though clinical trials are inconclusive if cannabis “can” or “cannot” cure cancer, when you are faced a deadly disease like cancer, a “maybe” is good enough.
If cannabis was legalized in Singapore, I would have bought some high quality Cannabis oil to give my dad on a daily basis. There have been many stories of Cannabis oil causing a person’s cancer to fall into remission.
Dr William Courtney shrinks baby’s brain tumor with Cannabis oil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iba3sEUIg
Tommy Chong fighting Cancer with Cannabis oil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA6LLkD5KZA
Brave Mykayla fights leukemia with Cannabis oil/juice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCjV9-Bb-UI
and many more. I believe that if my dad consumes Cannabis oil high in both THC and CBD, the chances that he would still be here with me would be very high. He could still be around, completing the family.
Now, I am not so naive to say that using Cannabis would have cured my dad of Cancer 100%. Cancer is a very complicated disease and there is a chance that it might not work. But what it would have given me is closure. The ability to say, “I did my best. There is nothing else that could be done.” That is something I could never do.
When my dad was suffering with Cancer, I was burdened with the knowledge that there is a medicine out there that I could give to my dad which has a chance of saving him. I wanted so much to provide him this medicine but I can’t. It was not because of cost, Cannabis is extremely cheap to grow and all you need is soil, water and sun. It was not because of rarity, Cannabis is one of the most abundant plant on earth that can grow almost anywhere. It was because of a stupid law born of racism and perpetuated by ignorance. It was a chance that was never taken I will be forever burdened with the question of “what if.”
That is all I’m willing to share right now and I hope that my experience show the seriousness of the situation. Cancer is currently the number 1 killer in Singapore affecting 10,000 Singaporeans every year. There is a very high likelihood that one of you come face to face with this disease, be it yourself or a loved one. What would you do when the time comes when you or your loved one is struck by a disease and the last option you have is medical cannabis?
I would like to officially thank, Shiwen Yap who has contributed many articles on a Singaporean’s perspective of Cannabis and its many benefits. You are truly one in a million and a valuable asset to the awareness movement. I would also like to thank the TRS crew for giving us a platform in order to voice our views. You guys truly understand and respect the Freedom of Speech of Singaporeans.
Mike
Singapore Cannabis Awareness