Marijuana

A few weeks ago I mentioned a lady in Arizona. A grandma who was convicted of drug running to support her Bingo habit. I will bring her up again when I write about problem gambling but today I think we should consider the other aspect of her story. The marijuana she had 214 pounds of in her car trunk.
Some recent studies suggest the active ingredient usually targeted in marijuana- THC – interferes with the breakdown of acetylcholine in the brain. That’s what drugs like Aricept do to treat Alzheimer’s type dementia. Heroin seems to cause the kind of tangled cell structures that are another characteristic of Alzheimer’s.
Marijuana advocates claim medicinal pot has beneficial effects on appetite, pain, nausea and other symptoms and side effects. Medical expert respond that there are approved medications that are more effective for those symptoms. There isn’t a good body of research to prove either point conclusively.
I’ve met and treated a few old pot smokers. They seem to have the same problems and strengths as other older adults. The issue that concerns me is the contact with the underground and sometimes criminal element that supplies the pot to them. Last winter Associated Press carried a story of a 92 year-old woman in Atlanta who had a search warrant served at her home. The police kicked down her door to try to find drugs they had good cause to believe were there. Kathryn Johnston shot three police officers before they returned fire and she was killed. She certainly didn’t die from pot smoking, but drugs were a factor- whether they found them or not. In On the Road, Jack Kerouac records the popularity of marijuana in the 1930s and 1940s. It’s not new. My caution to you Dear Reader, is this- as long as there is a war on drugs, stay as far away as you can from the war zone. If you know an older adult who is struggling with a drug problem, let them know they are not alone, they can get treatment and they can get their life back. If you or someone you know uses an herb, supplement or over-the-counter medicine, it’s important to let your doctor know. It makes a difference in what treatment they can safely give you. And don’t buy anything out of someone’s trunk at a bingo game.