The long haul debate over medical marijuana is a heated one, with both sides launching a hefty campaign for their side. 14 states have already legalized Marijuana for medical use. This week the Obama Administration issued a statement proclaiming that federal prosecutors will no longer pursue charges against Medical Marijuana users’ or their suppliers. At this point it seems like there is little room for debate. However, the general public has very little information with which to form an educated understanding. DARE classes and old wives tales have convoluted the truth to some disturbing levels. In reality, Marijuana is a safe and effective drug that can deliver low-risk benefits to even the most terminal of patients.
First off, lets begin by debunking two of the major myths in regards to Marijuana exercise in general. For if these were myths were true, then Medical Marijuana would be little more than a sick joke. The spacious one being that it can waste you. Marijuana can not kill you. ProCon.org recently requested reports from the FDA in regards to Marijuana related deaths. The relate that they produced from the data they received lists zero known deaths in which Marijuana was the primary suspect of death. Stephen Sidney, MD, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Kaiser Permanente, wrote the following in his Sep. 20, 2003 article titled “Comparing Cannabis with Tobacco — Again,” published in the British Medical Journal:
“No acute lethal overdoses of cannabis are known, in contrast to several of its illegal (for example, cocaine) and apt (for example, alcohol, aspirin, acetaminophen) counterparts…The current knowledge base does not support the assertion that it has any notable adverse public health impact in relation to mortality.”
Joycelyn Elders, MD, former US Surgeon General, wrote the following in her Mar. 26, 2004 editorial published in the Providence Journal:
“Unlike many of the drugs we prescribe every day, marijuana has never been
proven to cause a fatal overdose.”
Another famous memoir of Marijuana use is that Marijuana is addictive. Well, this one’s a tough one, because it depends on who you ask. Ask any drug addiction treatment center, and they will tell you that even mild use causes helpless addiction that requires thousands of dollars in therapy to shake. According to the United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services DASIS Characterize Series, “Differences in Marijuana Admissions Based on Source of Referral”,
“Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild.”
The definition of addiction is hazy. By FDA standards when withdrawal symptoms interfere with the functioning of daily life or exceed a period of more than 2 weeks they mediate the substance in question addictive. According to the “National View Results on Drug Utilize from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1994, Volume II:” released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1996, withdrawal symptoms were only reported in 2% of heavy Marijuana users, and peaked at about 2-3 days. The most typical symptoms reported included restlessness, loss of appetite, inability to sleep and anxiety. None of the people who reported symptoms required treatment to alleviate the withdrawal effects.
Marijuana can not extinguish you all by itself, you can not overdose, and there is no evidence of chemical or any other accomplish of long term dependency. Why is this important in regards to the medical marijuana debate? Because these are the very reasons that Doctors say Marijuana is a better prescription choice over other drugs currently used to treat a variety of conditions.
Among the Data procured from the FDA by procon.org, was the mortality statics of 17 other FDA current prescription Drugs. In a span of eight years more than 11,000 deaths were directly attributed to the use of those 17 prescription drugs. What’s so special about these 17? These 17 are prescription drugs that could be replaced with cannabis.The main attraction to using Marijuana as a Medical Option is that it does not have the risk of side effects associated with harsher, legal prescription drugs.Philip Denney, MD, stated to the Arkansas legislature in support of the Medical Use
of Marijuana:
“I have found in my study of these patients that cannabis is really a safe, effective and non-toxic alternative to many standard medications. There is no such thing as an overdose. We have seen very minimal problems with abuse or dependence, which at worst are equivalent to dependence on caffeine.”
When ruling on Docket #86-22, Francis Young (The DEA’s Administrative Law Mediate)
stated that:
“In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care.”
In those states that allow it, doctors can prescribe Medical Marijuana to patients suffering from AIDS, anorexia, arthritis, asthma, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, including spasms associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures, including seizures associated with epilepsy, severe nausea, as well as other chronic or persistent medical symptoms.
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine, in the most comprehensive study of medical marijuana’s efficacy to date, concluded, “Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety . . . all can be mitigated by marijuana.”
The Aids Action Council has discussed and supported the legalization of medical Marijuana to AIDS patients. Donald Abrams, MD said in Aug of 03 in his report “Short-Term Effects of Cannabinoids in Patients with HIV-1 Infection,”
“Patients receiving cannabinoids [smoked marijuana and marijuana pills] had improved immune function compared with those receiving placebo. They also gained about 4 pounds more on average than those patients receiving placebo.”
One doctor found that 78% of 56 cancer patients with nausea who were resistant to standard drugs became symptom free through inhaling cannabis. Common Drugs used to ease the symptoms associated with chemotherapy treatments such as Marinol have little effect and often have troubling side effects. Cannabis can be used as an antiemetic, a drug which relieves nausea and allows patients to eat and live normally. It is safer, cheaper and often more effective. Marijuana also stimulates the appetite, helping patients maintain a healthy weight and the strength to recover.
It may seem unique to think that smoking anything can stop and Asthma attack, but in a study by the New England Journal Of Medicine, Donald P. Tashkin, MD found that :
“Marijuana smoke, unlike cigarette smoke, causes bronchodilatation [expansion of the air passages] rather than bronchoconstriction [narrowing of the air passages] and, unlike opiates, does not cause central respiratory depression.”
When subjects were induced into exercise related attacks, the subjects that received the placebo Marijuana took 20 min. to an hour to fully recover. The subjects that smoked a single dose of Marijuana saw instant relief.
In an age of puny gadgets. younger and younger people are being faced with the pains of arthritis and carpel tunnel syndrome, characterized by an inflammation of the joints or the lining that protects them called synovium. Cannabis modulates the productions of proteins which reduce the inflammation and ease damage.
Organizations that have endorsed medical access to marijuana include: the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians; American Bar Association; American Nurses Association; American Public Health Association;American Society of Addiction Medicine; AIDS Action Council; British Medical Association; California Academy of Family Physicians; California Legislative Council for Older Americans; California Medical Association; California Nurses Association; California Pharmacists Association; California Society of Addiction Medicine; California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; Colorado Nurses Association; Consumer Reports Magazine; Kaiser Permanente; Lymphoma Foundation of America; Multiple Sclerosis California Action Network; National Association of Attorneys General; National Association of People with AIDS; National Nurses Society on Addictions; Fresh Mexico Nurses Association; New York State Nurses Association; New England Journal of Medicine; and Virginia Nurses Association.
With all this compelling evidence in more than 15 government studies alone, it’s hard to understand why there are still 36 that do not allow the use of Medical Marijuana. The chief (and practicably sole) argument of the opposition is the dangers related to the smoking of Marijuana. Smoking anything damages your lungs, though the level of carcinogens in a suggested dose of Marijuana is about the equivalent of a day out in the city. Ethan Russo, MD, in a letter to ProCon.org wrote:
“Smoking is a rapid and easily titrated form of cannabis delivery, but recent techniques such as vaporization, sublingual and nebulized cannabis-based medicine extracts offer other choices to the clinical cannabis patient without the risks
of smoking.”
Yet In spite of the established medical value of marijuana, doctors are presently permitted to prescribe cocaine and morphine – but not marijuana.
The American Government is no stranger to the medical Marijuana debate. In 1978 a court ruled that the Federal Government had to allow some patients to posses medical marijuana based on a “Medical Necessity”. To this day the Federal Government still provides 7 surviving members of the Investigational New Drug compassionate access program with access to marijuana for medical purposes.
The continued site 1 status of Cannabis Sativa is a downright human injustice committed by the American Government against its people. The sick, disabled and dying are being forced into a moral dilemma. Weighing quality of life and effective medical treatment against their personal freedom. Marijuana is a safe and effective drug that can deliver low-risk benefits to even the most terminal of patients. Even with the support of the scientific community, Doctors and a slew of Health care associations the Federal Government still balks. The FDA still refuses to classify Marijuana has having medical benefits. There are many political roadblocks and social barriers standing against the Legalization of Medical Marijuana. However, the truth can not be denied forever, and one day at a time those that support Marijuana as a Medical option make headway in the fight for relief.
