Pubdate: Wed,  2 Mar 2005
Source: GSU Signal, The (GA Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The GSU Signal
Contact:  http://www.gsusignal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1622
Author: Calista Schenk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?323 (GW Pharmaceuticals)

MARIJUANA CAN SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM

If our government were truly concerned about rescuing our economy, it would 
legalize marijuana.

It is already a prime cash crop (nationally it is the fourth largest), and 
an increase in usage would also bolster the fast food industry.

If combating terrorism were the primary goal, our government would legalize 
marijuana.

There is that government-funded commercial saying that buying marijuana 
supports terrorism because the money goes to Al Qaeda. Now half the 
marijuana consumed in the United States is grown domestically, and the 
major foreign sources are Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Jamaica, but the 
minute percentage that funds terrorism would be eliminated if Americans had 
no reason to use foreign sources.

There! I solved that tear-jerking problem for the DEA. I could go on, but I 
want to focus on the main issue of this column, one that is more important 
to me than the economy or terrorism: medicine.

A plethora of scientific research has found that marijuana is a highly 
versatile drug. It can be used in comprehensive treatment plans for 
multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic neuropathic pain, 
Tourette's Syndrome, glaucoma, Alzheimer's, anorexia, fibromyalgia, 
arthritis, post-traumatic stress disorder, endometriosis. There are 
literally hundreds of medical and psychological conditions marijuana can 
assuage.

It selectively kills cancer cells, acts as an antioxidant, and reduces 
inflammation and pain, which are just a few of its positive effects.

Some people point out that marijuana also has negative effects.

It releases carcinogens when smoked - although this effect can be 
circumvented by the use of a vaporizer, which heats (but does not burn) the 
marijuana to a temperature that releases the active ingredient THC. Its 
effects on heart rate and the brain also raise concern, but what legal 
medicine is free of side effects?

Every drug out there used to treat medical conditions has side effects, but 
the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. If marijuana causes a tumor to go 
into remission, isn't some memory impairment acceptable?

Drugs that contain selected components of marijuana or allow it to be taken 
orally (in pill form) have been found to not be as effective for some 
conditions such as vaporized, inhaled Cannabis sativa.

In 2001, U.K.-based GW Pharmaceuticals noted "extracts of cannabis provide 
greater relief of pain than the equivalent amount of cannabinoid given as a 
single chemical entity."

Currently, marijuana is a Schedule I drug in the United States. This 
classification means that there is no accepted medical use for marijuana 
(despite all the evidence to the contrary), and it has a high potential for 
abuse (although it is less addictive than both alcohol and tobacco). Other 
Schedule I drugs include LSD, heroin and mescaline. Schedule II drugs also 
have a high potential for abuse but are appropriate treatments for certain 
medical conditions. Cocaine, morphine and dextroamphetamine fall under 
Schedule II. What this means is that your 7-year-old child can take 
amphetamine so that he can sit still in class, but your 70-year-old 
grandmother cannot smoke marijuana to alleviate the nausea and pain 
associated with her cancer and chemotherapy treatment.

Marinol, a marijuana derivative, is a Schedule III drug, which means it is 
more legal than marijuana, but it is not as effective in treating various 
conditions. In 2001 in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Harvard 
psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon, M.D., stated that he had not found "a 
patient who has used both smoked marijuana and Marinol who finds the latter 
more useful. The most common reason for using Marinol is the illegality of 
marijuana, and many patients choose to ignore the law when they believe 
that the difference between the two puts their health, comfort or economic 
well-being at risk."

I know that our nation is not necessarily fond of policies based on science 
(evolution and stem cell research, anyone?), but when the only barrier to a 
drug that offers so much while costing so little is legality, couldn't we 
make an exception?

Everyone has or has had a friend or family member suffer from a condition 
that could be treated by marijuana.

If other treatments had failed your friend or relative and you knew that 
clinical trials had shown that marijuana was an effective treatment, what 
would you do?
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom