Marijuana and diabetes

[LightBrown79]

Many blessings and happy greetings to you all!  I am 27 and have been a Type I diabetic since I was 10.  I smoke marijuana at least 3 to 4 times a day and am currently trying to stop smoking cigarettes.  I don't exercise but, I do walk almost daily between 1 to 2 miles because I don't have a car.  I do try to eat right, virtually cutting almost ALL sugar, fried and processed foods out of my diet.  During my experiencces smoking marijuana, I've found that it tends to lower my blood sugar if I am in a low stress situation.  What I wanted to know is, if it can be proven scientifically and medically that marijuana can be an aid to diabetics, is there a non insulin regimen I could begin to help me in my fight?  My life has consisted of many bad turns, including me being homeless and unemployed at present, and my supplies and medications are becoming too costly.  Please help me in my search.  Many praises to the Most High!

[JDRF-VOL-RL]

Hello.  I'm not a medical professional, just the parent of a kid with diabetes.  You sound like you are doing fairly well in trying to manage your diabetes, and you should be commended for that.  

I can't find any research which says that marijuana lowers blood sugars.  The little clinical results I've found actually say the opposite, that it will raise blood sugars.  Regardless, with the current climate in the US (I'm assuming you are in the US) for drug law enforcement, you'd face an uphill battle to get anything approved legally.  Sorry.

[BetaBuddy]

Hello LightBrown,

I am also a type 1 diabetic with plenty of experience in the marijuana smoking department. I have had a lot of variable blood sugars while smoking marijuana and am pretty sure every person's response to marijuana, BG-wise, is different. Also, marijuana can sometimes lead to cravings for foods that are high in carbs and thus raise your sugar that way. If you have a regimen now that is working for you, with a sound diet and insulin in addition to any smoking that you're doing, that's great. I doubt you'll ever be able to get marijuana medically approved though, especially since there are therapies (insulin) that are proven to work for diabetes management. And you'll have a hard time convincing a doctor that you can afford the marijuana but not the insulin. So keep shooting for those good sugars but probably don't count on any kind of medical approval for an illegal drug.
Good luck and I hope things work out well for you.

[t8yo]

I am have been diabetic for 14 years now and I to smoke about 4 to 5 times a day. I find that my blood sugars are more stable when i am smoking . Good luck in getting weed passed for a medical use for diabetics. Its far fetched but it would be awsome if you were to suceed.