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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom