Pubdate: Sat, 11 Feb 2012
Source: Republican-American (Waterbury, CT)
Copyright: 2012 American-Republican Inc.
Contact: http://www.rep-am.com/about_us/how_to_reach_us/
Website: http://www.rep-am.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/571

SMOKING OUT THE REAL MOTIVES

Smoking marijuana is "moderately effective in treating nausea and 
vomiting, appetite loss, and acute and chronic pain," says the 
National Center for Biotechnology Information. Sixteen states have 
bought into the argument that marijuana should be legalized for 
medical purposes, and Connecticut may be next.

A new study, trumpeted in a published report in Connecticutlast 
month, exposes the lie underpinning the "medical-marijuana" narrative.

The study found states that have made it legal for patients to 
acquire marijuana as a prescription drug have seen greater reductions 
in traffic fatalities than those that haven't.

"Legalization is associated with nearly a 9 percent decrease in 
traffic fatalities, most likely as a result of its impact on alcohol 
consumption by young adults," said the report by Colorado, Montana 
and Oregon university professors. In a Jan. 16 article, The Hartford 
Courant noted: "Advocates of a medical-marijuana law could tout the 
study's findings as a societal benefit of legalization."

Could. Will they? Dare they?

If they do, they will expose the criminal conspiracy that is the 
foundation of their cause. It's a conspiracy of drug dealers and 
disreputable doctors, aided by useful idiots masquerading as 
advocates, who use medical marijuana as a foot in the door for full 
legalization.

It's no secret that illicit dealers are exploiting medical-marijuana 
laws to increase their sales volume. "In California, Colorado and 
Montana, a handful of less-than-ethical doctors decided to get rich 
handing out marijuana cards to anyone with $150," an Arizona doctor, 
Ed Gogek, wrote in 2010. "They see patients one time only, for as 
little as five minutes. Although few in number, they write almost all 
the pot prescriptions, recommending it for every ache and pain, from 
sprained ankles to skateboarding injuries. One woman got pot because 
her high heels hurt."

Dr. Gogek estimated 10 percent of marijuana prescriptions go to 
people with glaucoma or cancer -- the supposed beneficiaries of the 
medical-marijuana laws.

Now comes a study that seems to prove Dr. Gogek's point.

Illegal marijuana use in states with medical-marijuana laws 
apparently is widespread enough to influence traffic-fatality rates, 
based on the dubious assertion that young people would rather get 
high than drunk, and are less likely to have accidents as a result. 
(The study focuses on traffic deaths and does not address the many 
harmful unintended consequences of more widespread marijuana use.)

No one supposes these young people are glaucoma or cancer sufferers.

The study may make medical-marijuana proposals all the more 
attractive in Connecticut, which suffered the highest percentage 
increase in traffic fatalities in the nation in 2010 after having 
America's fifth-best driving record the previous year, according to a 
December 2009 Forbes magazine report.

(Every death is tragic, but it is unclear the numbers are 
statistically significant enough, when converted to deaths per 
million vehicle-miles driven, to warrant public-policy changes.)

One hopes that Connecticut lawmakers will cringe, if only briefly, at 
the prospect of providing a public benefit (maybe) from a law that 
tacitly endorses illegal, personally and socially destructive activity.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom