Pubdate: Wed, 30 May 2012 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2012 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 MEDICINE FARCE OBSCURES DEBATE Some sick people may benefit from marijuana. A hot toddy can help a cold, too. And a nice cup of chamomile tea does wonders for indigestion - just ask Peter Rabbit's mother. But whiskey and herb tea are not medicine. Neither is marijuana - regardless of the Trojan horse the voters dragged into the public square. Medical marijuana is a backdoor attempt at legalization, a diversionary strategy to create an air of legitimacy around a street drug. Consider that the law voters approved in 2010 requires state officials to periodically look at expanding the list of ailments for which pot can legally be used. The first round of petitions is being considered now. "This will go on and on," says Will Humble, director of the Department of Health Services. He is reviewing scientific evidence, but he's likely to be sued no matter what he decides. What's more, once on the list, there is no mechanism under the law to remove an ailment, he says. Now under consideration are PTSD, depression, anxiety and migraines. Adding these serious conditions to the already broad list of pot-treatable ailments could give impression that marijuana is on par with proven medical or psychiatric treatment. Depression can lead to suicide, so a faux "treatment" could be lethal. Any guise of legitimacy is fast falling from medical-marijuana arguments as pot aficionados push the boundaries. Humble deserves credit for designing rules meant to avoid recreational diversion, but he can only do so much. Arizona voters made a mistake with this law. Judgment was clouded by natural sympathy for sick people who might - just maybe - be helped by marijuana. Rather than entertain this "marijuana as medicine" farce, it would have been far more honest to have a discussion of potential medical uses in the context of a debate on the larger public-policy questions about decriminalizing marijuana. This incremental push toward widespread acceptance is risky and mendacious. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom