{"id":7759,"date":"2017-09-29T00:02:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T00:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=6637"},"modified":"2017-09-29T00:02:17","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T00:02:17","slug":"dr-oz-starts-petition-for-nih-to-increase-medical-marijuana-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/dr-oz-starts-petition-for-nih-to-increase-medical-marijuana-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Oz Starts Petition For NIH To Increase Medical Marijuana Funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/dr-oz-starts-petition-for-nih-to-increase-medical-marijuana-funding\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Dr. Mehmet Oz isn\u2019t satisfied with opioid medication options doctors have for pain relief, and he\u2019s petitioning the National Institutes of Health to look into another option: medical marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Oz, a cardiovascular surgeon and host of \u201cThe Dr. Oz Show,\u201d started a petition on Change.org last week called Fund More Research for Medical Marijuana as a Solution to the Opioid Crisis, which asks the NIH to quadruple its spending on medical marijuana. According to Oz, the NIH currently spends $111 million, or 0.3 percent of the NIH\u2019s total spending and 0.1 of the cost of the opioid crisis, researching cannabis. So far, the petition has received over 24,000 signatures.<\/p>\n<p>Since rising to fame on \u201cThe Oprah Winfrey Show\u201d and his own show, Oz has come under fire for some of his medical claims. In 2014, senators questioned his promotion of weight loss supplements that don\u2019t have scientific backing. Oz was later sued for promoting a dietary supplement he called a \u201cmagic cure.\u201d He\u2019s also been criticized by fellow doctors \u2014 in 2015, a group of 10 doctors wrote a letter to the dean of medicine at Columbia University calling Oz\u2019s position as a faculty member \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the petition\u2019s description, Oz explained that 20 years ago, he and his colleagues were \u201csold a bill of goods\u201d on opioids as a new strategy to treat chronic pain. He said they were led to believe opioids were effective and \u201ccouldn\u2019t be addictive,\u201d but later discovered that opioids are addictive and, according to the CDC, little evidence supports they relieve chronic pain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was duped. It\u2019s hard to admit it, but I have to face the facts. To make sure it never happens again, I\u2019m asking you to sign this petition,\u201d Oz wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Oz added that almost half of opioid deaths are due to the overdose of prescription drugs, and while heroin is responsible for much of the other half, research suggests that four out of five heroin users started with prescription drugs. Meanwhile, he said that studies show states with medical cannabis laws have a 25 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared to states without medical cannabis laws, and that evidence suggests cannabis is more likely to reduce pain symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYet the government still says cannabis has no proven medical value,\u201d Oz wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, Oz said there is a \u201chypocrisy\u201d around marijuana and criticized the fact that it\u2019s a Schedule 1 drug, which means there are restrictions on how it can be studied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople think it\u2019s a gateway drug to narcotics. It may be the exit drug to get us out of the narcotic epidemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>One thing Oz didn\u2019t mention in the petition is the fact that studies show the majority of people who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain do not develop an addiction \u2014 only between 8 and 12 percent become addicted, according to one review. While it\u2019s clear that patients need better pain management options like medical marijuana, it\u2019s also important that those who use opioids safely are not shamed for their choice or forced off medication that is improving their pain and quality of life.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/dr-oz-starts-petition-for-nih-to-increase-medical-marijuana-funding.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Ron Strider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/themighty.com\/2017\/09\/dr-oz-medical-marijuana-petition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Oz Petitions NIH for Medical Marijuana Research | The Mighty<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Erin Migdol<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"https:\/\/themighty.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contact Us | The Mighty<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Getty Images<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"https:\/\/themighty.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Mighty | We face disability, disease and mental illness together<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Mehmet Oz isn\u2019t satisfied with opioid medication options doctors have for pain relief, and he\u2019s petitioning the National Institutes&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/09\/dr-oz-starts-petition-nih-increase-medical-marijuana-funding\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7759"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}