Holy smoke

 LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Congratulations to the candidates in the last barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan elections or BSKE who got more votes than their opponents. Their winning is a fresh mandate for their barangay, an opportunity for change and to perform business correctly this time.
    For those who garnered lesser votes, losing should be an encouragement for them to try again in the next BSKE on December 2025 as public service knows no end. Not winning this time also means the world has better plans for them.
    After all the stress and the problems encountered in the tightly contested BSKE, in addition to numerous election-related killing incidents; it is time to look forward to a much-needed breather, a dip on a beach somewhere in Ilocos with 12-year-old Johnny Walker, and warm friends Alfonso and Pedro Domecq. Maybe good smokes, too.
    Talking about relieving stress and having good smokes, the number of states in the U.S. that have legalized recreational marijuana-use is increasing. Reports say that research on use of cannabis in the treatment of medical conditions is going fast.
    In fact, the number of states in the USA that have legalized recreational marijuana use is increasing. The number of patients seeking information on cannabis for medical use is increasing as well.
    That is the main reason why doctors have to be on their feet and stay updated with proofs to inform their patients about the benefits and risks associated with the use of cannabis as medicine.
    Medical marijuana is increasingly available in the U.S. On many instances, we come across articles claiming that it is often used to relieve chronic pain, nausea caused by cancer chemotherapy, kills cancer cells and slows tumor growth.
    It could also be used to reduce seizures, anxiety and relax tight muscles, reduce inflammation and arouse appetite to improve weight gain for people with cancer and AIDS, and helps treat many other unbearable medical conditions.
    However, medical studies have shown conditions that the application of medical cannabis had clear improvements of symptoms in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and uncontrollable spasms of extremities, and depression.
    Based on the personal claims of patients, medical marijuana helped them manage pain from cancer, and helped reduce epilepsy attacks as well. An old friend who had suffered from insomnia told me it helped recover her sleepless nights. She sipped marijuana tea instead of nipping whiskey as she knew that the latter could spike her blood sugar.
    But this is not to be abused as there are disadvantages in using medical cannabis. It is not a “cure all” plant as some believe it to be. Based on the experience of patients, some of whom I know personally, medical marijuana may or may not treat all our illnesses.
    What is commonly accepted is that the relief of pain from the application of medical marijuana differs from case to case. What medical marijuana-use can treat you may not be effective for me. That is why the risks and benefits of cannabis-use have to be balanced carefully for each patient.
    There are side effects too that have to be revealed, some of the most common of which are dizziness, laziness, dry mouth that makes one drink liquids, light-headedness and even drowsiness depending on the dosage.  
    Cannabis-use affects the thinking of the user, makes one hallucinate and paranoid, gives one a feeling of grandiosity, gives a user the “high”, distorts time and dimensional space perception, slows reaction and compromises motor coordination which could lead to accidents – and death sometimes.
    Of course, excessive smoking of the commodity that profusely grows in the Cordillera could damage the lungs, leading to cancer. The only good side effect that anyone can prove for himself is that it increases the appetite which makes one eat more than the stomach can carry. And it is a cash-crop that can produce money after an illegal trade.
    In the near future, our congressmen and senators might get the chance to try medical marijuana if they have not yet tried, for the sake of genuinely crafting a law that will approve medical use of the controversial hemp. Although, I am suspicious that many of them have tried smoking weed.    
    When that time comes, I am quite certain that many places in the Cordillera would not be left behind in the production of the volume of marijuana that would be required to manufacture medical cannabis. Throw a marijuana seeds somewhere on the mountain, next month you will see wild growth.
    If so, I am about to see employment opportunities for upland farmers, a game changer in the economy of marijuana-producing LGUs, more money for the locals who can now send their kids to school instead of playing hide-and-seek with anti-drug agents, and also foresee a solution to insurgency.
    Of course, the activities of our anti-drug enforcement men would be lessened as the marijuana plantations they keep on raiding would now be presumed to be legit depending on the legislation from congress.
    But come to think of it, while many first world nations have legalized marijuana use, our lawmakers are not serious in coming up with legislation regarding the use of medical marijuana. Is it because our anti-drug agents could become jobless and the illegal plant would now be worthless and no longer be negotiable in the streets?