Breaking the Cycle of Opioid Addiction: Supplement Your Pain Management with Cannabis

by Uwe Blesching

Overview

An evidence-based guide to using cannabis to enhance pain relief safely, effectively, and economically while reducing the risks of opioid addiction

Opioid addiction has exploded to epidemic proportions in the U.S. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids—more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills. Uwe Blesching, author of The Cannabis Health Index, clearly and thoroughly lays out the overwhelming benefits of using cannabis—not only to reduce the nation’s dependence on opioids—but also to manage the craving and withdrawal symptoms of opioid addiction, and especially to address the pain that leads to drug use and addiction in the first place. Citing statistics showing that states allowing legal access to cannabis have seen a 25 percent drop in opioid-related deaths, Blesching explains how precision applications of cannabis can alleviate the mental and emotional aspects of pain by modulating numerous neurotransmitters and their emotional counterparts. He presents a convincing case for the powerful benefits of cannabis in reducing the risks of addiction and overdose, cutting monetary costs, and restoring a sense of balance and control to those who struggle with pain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623171865
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	06/12/2018
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,262,642
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

UWE BLESCHING is a medical journalist and regular contributor to the cannabinoid health sciences, mind-body medicine, phytopharmacology, as well as evidence-based illness prevention and treatment protocols. In addition to his life-long passion for integrative medicine, his latest book Breaking the Cycle of Opioid Addiction: Supplement Your Pain Management with Cannabis is informed by rigorous in-depth research and twenty years experience in emergency medicine as a paramedic for the City of San Francisco. He holds a BA in humanities from the New College of California and an MA in psychology and a PhD in higher education and social change from the Western Institute for Social Research.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 The Opioid Crisis: Where We Are and How We Got Here 7

2 The History and Science of Opioids, in Brief 15

3 Cannabis, the Endocannabinoid System, and Pain: A Brief Overview 39

4 Pain: Contrasting Opioids and Cannabinoids in Pain Management 59

5 Opioid Withdrawal: The Current State of Affairs and New Possibilities 89

6 The Endocannabinoid System and Its Role in Returning Balance to Body, Mind, and Emotions 99

7 Determining Vulnerabilities to Addiction and Developing Effective Means of Shoring Up One's Defenses 117

8 The Pathologization of Euphoria: Rethinking the Idea that Euphoria Is a Side Effect and Reclaiming Its Capacity for Deep Healing 133

9 Conclusion: Putting It All Together 139

Notes 149

Bibliography 189

Acknowledgments 225

Index 227

About the Author 232

Editorial Reviews

Blesching makes a convincing evidentiary case for the use of cannabis to sometimes replace and frequently supplement the use of opioids in the treatment of a variety of pain syndromes. Along the way, one learns a remarkable amount about history, opioid addiction, medicinal cannabis, and mind-body integrative medicine. It is a much-needed contribution in this time of grave concern regarding the epidemic of abuse, addiction, and death related to opioids. Read it and apply its lessons, if you wish to contribute to healing our society.”
—David E. Presti; University of California, Berkeley, author of Foundational Concepts in Neuroscience: A Brain-Mind Odyssey

“Bringing keen insights into cannabinoid integrative health, Uwe Blesching turns attention to opioid substitution and pain management, introduces a very helpful three-pronged scheme to divide up cannabis by chemotypes, and helps the reader to sort out why to opt for one cannabis chemotype over another. This is a helpful guide for patients and their advocates as well as clinicians.”
—Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, MD, PhD

“Breaking the Cycle of Opioid Addiction is a timely book in light of the opioid crisis Americans face today. It offers real clinical evidence to support cannabinoids as a safe and effective alternative to pain management. Those looking to replace their opioids can find an easy approach to incorporating cannabis into their pain management treatment plan in this well-researched and comprehensive book.”
—Eloise Theisen, adult geriatric nurse practitioner and founder of Green Health Consultants and Radical Health

From the Publisher

04/15/2018
Health journalist Blesching (The Cannabis Health Index), a strong proponent of integrative medicine, proposes cannabis as a solution for the opioid epidemic. Blesching details the widespread problem with opioids, cannabis and pain, comparison between opioids and cannabis for pain management, opioid withdrawal, the science of addiction, and finally provides an overview chapter that includes a chart of potential dosages. Almost a third of the text is a reference list and bibliography, which make it informative, although many of the studies cited support the author's stance rather than building a balanced, evidence-based view. Blesching focuses on euphoria as more than an "adverse side effect," noting that it can positively affect body, mind, and emotions; he also champions cannabis for balancing one's physical and emotional state, along with other modalities, such as practicing mindfulness. VERDICT Blesching's study supports a certain viewpoint, but readers interested in researching the topic should seek out additional research. This title could be used in conjunction with Rav Ivker's recent Cannabis for Chronic Pain, in which the issues of legality are more openly addressed.—Elizabeth J. Eastwood, Los Alamos Cty. Lib. Syst., NM

Library Journal

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