Monday, November 25, 2019

Matt Gaetz: Dumber Than He Looks

Li'l Matt Gaetz is--by all press accounts--quite a showman.

Unfortunately, he's not particularly well-read.  Maybe he doesn't have time between teeeveee engagements to read important scientific studies, or maybe he doesn't understand big words.

...Gaetz responded to a clip of Conway discussing marijuana by stating, “To my friend, Kellyanne Conway, I would say, OK boomer. I mean, that’s a very boomer approach to marijuana, if for no other reason than it’s actually THC, not TCH, and I think that her reflection shows a real ignorance to the science demonstrating that in states where there are marijuana programs, you see a reduction in Schedule I drug recommendations, you also see a reduction in the types of overdoses that are crippling our country and hollowing out America.”...
Well, junior, here's the reality.  Canadian researchers ran the tests.

...Bottom Line: Evidence for inhaled marijuana for pain is too sparse and poor to provide good evidence-based guidance. Synthetic MC-derived products may modestly improve neuropathic pain for one in 11-14 users but perhaps not for other pain types. Additionally, longer and larger studies (better evidence) show no effect. Adverse events are plentiful....

The "pain relief" results were either statistically meaningless or were minimal.

But wait!  There's more!!

...Bottom Line: Compared to placebo, medical cannabinoids cause multiple different adverse events in patients, from visual disturbance or hypotension (1 in 3-10) to hallucination or paranoia (1 in 20). Stopping due to adverse effects occurs in 1 in every 8-20 patients. Regardless of the type of medical cannabinoid used, adverse events are common and likely underestimated. Given the extensive harms, potential benefits must be impressive to warrant a trial of therapy....
Maybe L'il Matt should work on fact-based stuff for a change.

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