Germany: It's A Pain-Staking Path To Medical Marijuana

[Jacob Redmond]

When Lars Scheimann was seven years old, he was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. Looking back, he says he would often slam his head against the wall, completely randomly, and that he had no control over his shoulders or the muscles in his face, particularly his mouth.

Now 44, he says back then he was given all kinds of hard medication, but that nothing worked. That is, until he was passed a joint at a party when he was 22. "Ten minutes after the first puff, I could feel my nervous spasms go away," said Scheimann, of what he now calls the "best day of my life."

Scheimann smokes all the time now. For him, it's nothing more than medicine, and he is fighting for his rights to have that medicine. He was the first "cannabis patient" in Germany and has been prescribed the illegal drug for the past six years. His therapy, however, is expensive. Five grams, his daily dose that yields around 20 joints, cost him 75 euros at the pharmacy. He could get it cheaper on the street, illegally, if he wanted to, but he doesn't. And German health insurance doesn't cover marijuana therapy. "I go to work pretty much only to pay for my medication," he told DW.

The Cannabis Question

Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in Germany. But while recreational users are interested in the relaxing effects of the substance, researchers have been looking into the exact nature of the drug and its effect on humans for some time now. Cannabis consists of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD), in addition to some 600 other substances. Researchers are still in the dark as to how all these chemicals react when inhaled by humans. THC, for instance, stimulates the psyche, CBD much less so.

The positive effects of cannabis have been documented primarily in patients with chronic pain. The German physician Franjo Grothenhermen, who authored a book on the medicinal effects of hemp, is convinced of the benefits of marijuana. "The spectrum is huge," he said. In his clinic he treats cancer patients suffering from nausea and loss of appetite, but also patients with HIV, Hepatitis C, Multiple Sclerosis, or Tourette's like in the case of Lars Scheimann.

As a registered physician, Grothenhermen is authorized to prescribe either drops or a spray containing both THC and CBD. If his patients would prefer to smoke the drug, they have to go through a lengthy process to obtain it legally that entails proving that all other medicinal avenues have been attempted.

"I wasn't Lars anymore. I was obese, dead in my brain, and I couldn't even really walk straight anymore," said Scheimann, of his attempts at traditional therapy. After he proved that no other medicine could help, he was given special permission to receive marijuana. Right now around Germany, there are 370 people who can purchase medical marijuana at a pharmacy - in a country of over 80 million.

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On The Fence

Lars Scheimann has made cannabis into his livelihood. In the western German city of Duisburg where Scheimann lives, he has a hemp shop where he sells animal feed and all sorts of other articles including spaghetti, chocolate and pesto, all made from hemp - without THC.

"People from all walks of life shop here," he says. He says he plants the hemp for the animal feed in Luxemburg, where he doesn't have to fear the authorities. Despite all the customers that come into his shop, Scheimann struggles to make enough to pay for his therapy. He and other cannabis patients in Germany have taken their case to court; they want to be able to grow their own marijuana.

The federal government wants to prevent citizens from being able to grow plants themselves, but it has indicated that it wants to make it easier for cannabis patients to receive their medication. Federal drug represenative Marlene M. announced last month that the government was considering a law that would allow such patients to have their medicine covered by health insurance. "Germany is in the mid-field at the moment," said Grothenhermen, when it comes to an international comparison of cannabis as medicine.

Nations like Israel and Canada are much more progressive. In a few of the United States, in the Netherlands and Uruguay, marijuana has been completely legalized. The cannabis business has made many dealers millionaires in these places, but that's not what Lars Scheimann is after. His plan is just to be able to afford his medicine for himself.

"I'm already so rich, because I have my health back, because I don't have to fear the nervous ticks, because I can live a normal life."

News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: In Germany, it?s a painstaking path to medical marijuana | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 05.03.2015
Author: Nicolas Martin and Lisa Duhm
Contact: mydw@dw.de
Photo Credit: Tim Brakemeier
Website: TOP STORIES | DW.DE

 

[cleanslate]

Yet again, another real world instance of a person who suffered needlessly through a long debilitating, life destroying illness because cannabis is forbidden to us. Lars Scheimann jumped through the hoops of the officially sanction treatments of allelopathic medicine and Big Pharma drugs with no relief and no doubt additional harm from the side effects of the government approved Pharma drugs. And the only substance on the planet that healed him, and gave him his life back, was from a humble plant that puts the entire medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex to shame. "Ten minutes after the first puff, I could feel my nervous spasms go away," said Scheimann, of what he now calls the "best day of my life."

How many similar cases have we seen and heard of: small children with Dravets syndrome suffering from intractable seizures, destroying their brains and preventing them from developing normally only to have their lives restored by cannabis oil. People with advanced cancers on the brink of death being healed by cannabis oil. Others with Crohn's disease and other life destroying illnesses that conventional medicine is impotent against and often further damages the health of the patient.

These instances of profound healing by cannabis are usually dismissed as anecdotal and unscientific. But there is a consistent pattern of empirical evidence manifesting here. These patients have dutifully gone through conventional medical treatments, like good law abiding citizens, only to have their lives damaged and taken to the bring of death. As a last resort they reach out to cannabis and in many cases they experience something like a miraculous healing.

These healings from cannabis are often dismissed as merely anecdotal not having a real scientific basis. Anecdotal experiences and observations are not baseless rumors or hearsay. These cases have solid empirical evidence that illnesses were stabilized and even reversed. Empirical, observable evidence is the basis for science.

These patients are under a doctor's care who is documenting their health status. Real world data is available to prove the efficacy and safety of cannabis. Double blind, randomized, placebo, trials are only appropriate for synthetic drugs. Cannabis has co-evolved with the endo-cannabinoid systems of all vertebrates. It is as safe and natural as the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat (safer in many cases). If cannabis was used as the medicine of first resort it is incalculable how much suffering and death would be prevented. Good news for us, bad news for the powers who deny this quintessential medicine to us. Denying the healing benefits of cannabis to countless millions is a crime against humanity and a sin against compassion.