Page 22 - CannabisOkMagOnlineMay2019

22 CANNABIS OKLAHOMA | MAY 2019
Oklahomans: Breaking the Chains

of Opioid Use.

by Bridget K. Wood
Before legalization of medical marijuana in Oklahoma, many pain patients suffered greatly due to lack of
access to cannabis. Pharmacological concoctions were the only options available during that time. Using these
dangerous, although legal drugs, many persons, already ill experienced harmful side some to the point of acci-
dental death. As a result, a sense of awe and wonderment often strikes the minds of those who have triumphant-
ly dislodged opiates from their regiment, feeling fortunate that they survived without a deadly overdose from a
simple accident. After all, if it could happen to people like Prince and Tom Petty, who with their status had access
to excellent medical care, it could happen to anyone.

Accidental death and overdose is the perfect rational to move to cannabis as pain con-
trol, which is one of the few strong medications without serious side effects, includ-
ing death from accidental overdose. According to JAMA Internal Medicine, which
publishes scientific studies, in states with legal medical cannabis, overdose deaths
from opioids dropped drastically, and fast. Within one year, these states enjoyed a 20
percent reduction in deaths from morphine, oxycodone and heroin. By the end of the
second year of medical access these deaths were down by 33 percent, and by years five
and six, 33 percent plus. *

Many people who are on the verge of making this leap from opiates to cannabis are
extremely apprehensive as they search for a way to navigate through to the other side.
Patrick Kertock is an Oklahoman who is in recovery from opiates and alcohol, he
uses medical cannabis to control his pain from a spinal injury that created a lifetime
condition, in addition to stenosis, degenerative disk disease, arthritis, and muscle PATRICK KERTOCK
spasms. Patrick suffers from chronic pain as a result of these conditions making rest almost impossible. Using
legal medical cannabis Patrick is able to get relief, he says: “Absolutely, it has helped with pain and sleep issues. I
use cannabis before bed, and it allows me to get a full night of rest. Without it, I am up about every 90 minutes to
stretch and regain some sense of comfort, to go back to sleep for a little longer.” He continues “I would definitely
say it makes the chronic pain in my back much more manageable, without all the negative side effects of opiates.”

Patrick’s methods of delivery are typical for many Oklahomans “I mostly smoke flower
and vape. I also use edibles and tree sap (liquid THC) when in an environment I do
not want to smoke openly or vape in”. As for his regular regiment he says: “Currently, I
smoke a small amount of flower in the evenings, followed by a few puffs from my vape
pen, it has been working great for managing my back pain while trying to sleep”. This
lifestyle change has now brought positive results to fruition: “It has definitely improved
my quality of life. My performance at work is noticeably better when I get adequate
rest. Quality rest = more energy = more productive days”.

Sherry Sampson, another fellow Oklahoman suffers from severe migraines. “I have had
three brain aneurisms... and don’t know how I am alive to tell you the truth.” Dilaudid,
Xanax, Flexaril, and Vicodin were employed for 15 years to control the resulting pain,
she says: “It damn near killed me”.
SHERRY SAMPSON
“I tried all and every med the doctors gave me, anything to get rid of that headache.” With access to legal medi-
cal cannabis at home in Oklahoma the results are impressive: “ I take zero meds now, just a little shatter or wax
in the evening and I now have no major sleep issues. If I smoke, I don’t need meds to sleep, because I sure don’t
wanna die from pills, you know?”
It’s clear that significant positive changes occur when people move to medical cannabis to ease their pain, al-