Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2003
Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Contact:  2003, Denver Publishing Co.
Website: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Dr. Robert J. Melamede
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

OUR BODIES MAKE, USE 'POT'-LIKE COMPOUNDS

The federal government appears to be unable to get sound scientific advice
from the peer-reviewed professional literature regarding medical marijuana.
I am concerned. I see two choices. They are incompetent or they have an
agenda that overrides their concern for suffering citizens.

All aspects of our health are regulated by the marijuana-like compounds
known as endocannabinoids.

Every time U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gets hungry his body makes
endocannabinoids that give him the munchies. If he had a stroke - or,
simply, as he ages - they help protect his brain from damage. If he had a
heart attack, they would help repair his heart. They protect him from pain.
They protect him from immune disorders.

If he is lucky enough to get by with what his body produces, why does he
deny those who need more of what he uses every day?

Dr. Robert J. Melamede

Chairman, Biology Department, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
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MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk