“What? You like this terribly hot weather? Well, yes, because you are pretty odd anyway! Ha ha ha ha ha!” These queer words, hurled at me by my family-doctor’s assistant-girl, made me smile and at the same time there aroused the wish in me to define the meaning of “odd” in this context.
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Beside the sad fact that at least in Germany the time has not come yet that nearly all doc’s assistant jobs are not only done by females but by males as well, I feel embarrassed about the girl’s impudent type of assessment regarding my person. My loving hot weather – she calls odd? And my living vegan – she probably finds odd too? May be my caring for animals’ and humans’ wellbeing she calls odd as well? My conviction that cannabis is healthier than morphia certainly she calls odd?!
Girls and women like this assistant generally feel proud to be appointed by the “doctor-boss” as his “right-hand”, though they themselves often have the capacity to study medicine and to practice medicine in a medical office. Girls like her mostly are not aware of the imbalance regarding gender aspects in relation with professional qualification. Girls like her like to serve a man of higher qualification what might be called a “cap in hand”-behavior. Even if girls like her are topping the doc’s medical knowledge in some respects they are still the doc’s modest and undemanding “right hand”, always at the doc’s service, seldom opposing him.
But if it comes to “odd” patients like me who are just living in contrast to the human horde, i.e. living an individual life, those girls are bold enough to criticize them and make abusive remarks about them. It seems to amuse them if their “hero”, the doc, ridicules patients about their opinions and health convictions contrary to his mostly old-fashioned medications, and so they don’t hesitate to join him in slandering the “odd birds”.
If you don’t go along with the majority, be it the present fashion, haircut, food, beverage, color of socks, shoes, ties, conventional pills, vaccination and old-fashioned medical treatment etc. you may try to explain your “odd” opinion, you may argue, you may tell the people for hours about your reasons why you like this and not that – it does not work. You are just “odd” to the mind of the human horde. Full stop. Punkt. Basta. That’s it.
Well, dear girl, knock yourself out and go ahead slandering “odd” patients together with your doc-boss while I would like to concentrate on my “odd”-essay concerning the above mentioned cannabis theme which is impossible to discuss with my family doc since he is an ossified narrow-minded orthodox medical practitioner not having a scrap of humor even. However, you and your “hero”-doc should read straight away an excerpt of the following link, and mind please, it is not the only pro-cannabis-statement. There are innumerable academic researches and papers concerning this item in a way of positive results:
https://www.marijuana.com/news/2017/01/is-cannabis-addictive/:
“According to a 2011 study of recreational users of drugs, the probability of becoming dependent on cannabis is 8.9%. Other substances are reported to have much higher risks of dependency: 67.5% for nicotine users, 22.7% for alcohol users, 20.9% for cocaine users. (1) Recent media reports have stated that the numbers of those seeking drug treatments for cannabis dependence are rising. But according to a recent study, 70% of Americans in drug treatment for cannabis were court-ordered to do so as part of a plea agreement, not because they are dependent on the drug. (2) Due to continued prosecution of cannabis users, the numbers of those considered “cannabis dependent” are falsely elevated — most will choose rehab over jail time. However, it’s clear that the majority of cannabis users, both medical and recreational, do not develop addiction issues.”
My very reliable friend E., who is a highly qualified editor, found out a discourse about the history of cannabis-usage centuries ago, which I will copy here as a response to my family doctor’s stupid statement that “we don’t have experience with cannabis yet and therefore we do not prescribe it as treatment”:
„Hemp is escorting manhood since a very long time. Archaeologists discovered cannabis seeds in 5.000 years old grave mounds in Siberia. The Chinese used to exploit the plant as basis for medicinal products thousands of years ago. The first American president, George Washington, cultivated hemp near the Mount Vernon. During the long-lasting history of mankind the cannabis products were ingredients of many medical tinctures and extracts – even in Germany. Nowadays the application of cannabis for medical purposes is self-evident in most of all federal states of the USA.”
- writes furthermore: “The detailed cannabis-research started in 1964; at first in the USA, and then worldwide. (…) You are allowed to purchase Marihuana in at least eight of the 50 US States. Most of all in Colorado, i.e. everybody above 21 years is allowed to buy and consume Marihuana and Hashish legally.“
And now – what nonsense was he, my family doc, stating the other day, namely that after more than 50 years we don’t have “any experience with cannabis yet?”
So I wonder what makes my family doc and his assistant-girl laugh and call me “odd” when I am asking for a treatment with cannabis concerning my different chronic pains instead of taking me serious, since the prescription of the drug in terms of precisely defined medicine is licit now in Germany too. To move with the times seems to be a difficult process for my family-doc and his assistant-girl anyway. If scientific researches prove that cannabis resp. marijuana has a pain-relieving effect, then why is it so knotty to understand and to accept for some docs and their assistants?
There are docs who treat patients with cannabis-oil, -drops or –capsules. But the problem is the realization of the legalization of the medicament, which is created by the health-insurances and by those docs who are scared of the requirements they have to fulfill when subscribing the marijuana as medicine. However, there are brave physicians, who recently created a page with contact details for people who are desperately searching for help regarding their unbearable suffering of pain:
„We are a community of free colleagues who make available an archive of all doctors & pharmacies supplying medical Cannabis for patients in need. We do not earn any money herewith, albeit the resources have to be paid by the patients just to keep the platform alive.”
Both, my family doc and his assistant girl, are they not feeling ashamed and embarrassed by this human support offer organized by a couple of brave physicians? What if I turn the tables and call both of them “odd” in regard of their antiquated opinion concerning the cannabis? Did they ever reflect on human history, as for instance described in a funny but none-the-less realistic way in the poem by our famous writer and poet Erich Kästner “The Development of Mankind”? The very last rhyme says it all: “…But on closer consideration they are the same ole monkeys to this day!” In other words, if we do not follow the pioneers of mankind, we would still sit on trees in the jungle like monkeys eating bananas!
Hilde-Habiba
Hamburg, 23rd September, 2018
