Santa Fe, New Mexico – The health secretary denied the petition to add the Alzheimer’s disease to the medical condition list eligible for the medical cannabis program despite the unanimous decision of the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Board to add the disease and neurodegenerative dementia as qualifying conditions.
The Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological ailment without a known cure. People with this disease will need an urgent care and temporary relief in order to prevent the progression of their condition. The disease is currently included in the New Mexico’s Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.
Jessica Gelay, Drug Policy Alliance coordinator, said the disease sufferers are unfortunate not to access relief through the medical cannabis program. Those with Alzheimer’s related dementia refuse to eat and suffer from combative moods. They may need a quick visit to an urgent care clinic from time to time. However, there is no curative treatment for the disease.
The submitted evidence to the health department does not indicate any reasons that the medical cannabis could help those afflicted with the terminal condition, although the temporary relief is available in 13 out of 23 states with the medical cannabis law. Consequently, studies have indicated that sufferers of the condition manifested an increase in their body mass as well as improvement in their sleeping patterns.
More evidence has emerged, suggesting that cannabis can be beneficial in reducing brain inflammation, a major factor which usually leads to the onset of the Alzheimer’s disease.
Drug Policy Alliance director Emily Kaltenbach said medical cannabis should be recognized through a comprehensive approach, supporting the increasing population of afflicted elderly and improving the quality of their lives at the same time. They should be provided with a sort of an urgent care near me relief for their present conditions.
The board’s compassionate recommendation is in respect to the state’s elders, including the long history of great values. The director expressed her sorrow as the health secretary disagreed with the board’s recommendation.
Several, published studies also indicated the benefits of medical cannabis in connection to the symptoms related to the disease, including physiological and pharmacological benefits. The use of whole plant medicine and those with cannabinoid compounds has shown improvements towards the overall symptoms of neurodegeneration.
Urgent care clinics might still be necessary to assist more than 30,000 afflicted individuals, and the figures are expected to go up by 40,000 in 11 years. Alzheimer’s disease has been the leading cause of neurodegenerative dementia among elderly within New Mexico, affecting one out of nine of the elderly population.
