While marijuana may typically be used more for recreational purposes, with many of us having to evacuate halls at uni because someone decided to hotbox in their room, it’s increasingly also used for medical reasons.
Plenty of people cite the stuff as their go-to treatment for chronic pain among other conditions. And when a man with Parkinson’s disease tried it for the first time, the results were astonishing.
A clip previously went viral on social media, showing Larry Smith’s experience with medical marijuana.
The video comes from an old 2013 documentary, Ride with Larry, which showed the man’s ongoing struggle with Parkinson’s as he hope to bicycle across South Dakota.
The American had been diagnosed with the disease for 20 years, which is a neurological condition where parts of the brain become progressively damaged over time.
In the highly-viewed clip, Smith travelled to San Diego to try medical marijuana as it was illegal in his home state.
Before taking a drop of cannabis oil, he is struggling to walk and having difficulty speaking while his hands tremor.
But within a few minutes, his body seems to completely relax and it looks as though the bloke is no longer in pain. Even he was pretty baffled by how quickly things changed.
His hands tremor as he takes a drop of the oil. (Ride with Larry/Bandito Films)
His wife echoed: “He used just a single drop and his hands afterwards were rock steady, and the dyskinesia left.”
Parkinson’s UK describes dyskinesia as muscle movements that sufferers can’t control including twitches, jerks, twisting or writhing movements.
While the clip shows Smith having a quick and positive reaction to the cannabis oil, viewers were divided over using it to treat medical conditions.
One said it’s simply ‘proof it should be legal and accessible everywhere’ with many calling it a ‘game changer’.
He quickly changes physically. (Ride with Larry/Bandito Films)
Another wrote: “My aunt who had ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] started smoking marijuana. It helped her a great deal. It still took her life, but it made things easier until the end. Hard to understand why it’s not federally legalised yet.”
Parkinson’s UK reminds people that the benefits of medical marijuana in controlling symptoms is ‘limited and inconclusive’.
It adds: “However, we hear anecdotally from people with Parkinson’s that some experience short-lived benefits on their symptoms from using cannabis-derived products.”
Smith has since sadly died since the video was shared, passing away aged 71, on the exact day of the 9th anniversary of his incredible South Dakota bike ride.