"MS forum hears of pot's benefits":

The Winnipeg Free Press
Marijuana, the illegal street drug that can get you arrested and jailed, remains a medicine people with MS hate to admit they use.

Cannabis -- the formal name for marijuana -- along with various other medicinal herbs and nutritional supplements like vitamins K, D, B-12 and omega-three fish oils, are attracting patients nevertheless, Ceaser said.

The Charleswood health practitioner cited THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, as a nerve-affecting element that soothes spasms, eases pain and promotes sleep. Doctors can help patients get federal approval to use it.

Conference spokeswoman Gwenda Nemerofsky confirmed there are people in Manitoba who have applied to Health Canada for legal permits to use marijuana as medicine.

"But most will not come forward," she said.

Some take it by prescription in forms like nasal spray. Others roll it up in cigarette papers and smoke it. Some even grow it.

The conference focused on the social and emotional devastation that can accompany a diagnosis of MS and ways, including pot, that patients can cope better....

Dr. Michael Schapiro, an expert in MS from the Minneapolis Clinic for Neurology, said his mother had the disease, so he understands how hard it is for patients and their families to live with it.

But the American doctor is not keen on marijuana as a solution, especially if it's smoked.

Studies show smoking pot can block symptoms like muscle tremors, the doctor said. And prolonged toking can kill off brain cells in the same way alcohol abuse does. It can also cause respiratory diseases, like tobacco-smoking does.

"It's not just a casual thing," Schapiro said.more