Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2013
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Patrick J. Kennedy

PUSHING A HEALTH-FIRST APPROACH TO MARIJUANA POLICY

In Congress, I voted many times to allow access to medical marijuana. 
Those votes reflected my early, uneducated views. I never looked too 
closely -- I didn't realize "medical marijuana" was the Trojan horse 
for legalization.

When I woke up after the 2012 election, two states had voted to 
legalize marijuana. That day I also "woke up" to how naive I had 
been. I should have realized, without the facts, and without public 
policy experts, you wind up with a vacuum where anecdote and opinion 
become public policy.

Since leaving Congress, I have focused on promoting brain research to 
find better treatments for mental illness and other neurological 
disorders. I've learned from experts at the National Institutes of 
Health, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric 
Association, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The more 
I've learned about how the brain works, mental health and addiction, 
the stronger I feel we must engage in a smarter dialogue about 
marijuana policy.

The issue is not black and white -- it's complex. Incarceration is 
not a solution. Drug legalization is not a solution. What we need are 
new approaches, fresh ideas and a perspective free from hyperbole. 
That's why I reached out to form an alliance dedicated to a 
health-first approach to marijuana policy.

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is a coalition of professionals 
working in mental and public health. We are bipartisan. We are 
medical doctors, lawmakers, treatment providers, preventionists, 
teachers, law enforcement and others who seek a common sense, 
third-way approach to marijuana policy based on reputable science and 
sound principles grounded in public health and safety.

We believe in an approach that neither legalizes, nor demonizes, 
marijuana. We reject the dichotomies of "incarceration versus 
legalization" We champion smart policies that decrease marijuana use. 
We do not advocate harming marijuana users and low-level dealers with 
arrest records that stigmatize them for life.

Let's use today's science to inform public policy. Research has 
taught us more about marijuana in the past 20 years than in the 
preceding two centuries. There is a major disconnect between the 
science and the public's understanding. Marijuana use directly 
affects the brain -- specifically the parts responsible for memory, 
learning, attention and reaction time. These effects can last up to 
28 days after abstinence. Science confirms the adolescent brain -- 
particularly the part that regulates planning for complex cognitive 
behavior, personality expression, decision making and social behavior 
- -- is not fully developed until the mid-20s. Developing brains are 
especially susceptible to the negative effects of marijuana and other drug use.

We encourage further research on marijuana in order to obtain 
FDA-approved, pharmacy-dispensed, medications. Opium has medical 
value, and it is called morphine. Marijuana's medical value should be 
identified and components isolated for it best use. We should pursue 
cannabis-based medicines to be developed for safe administration. Not 
a smoked drug. In fact, the FDA has determined some elements found in 
marijuana are helpful to seriously ill patients, and the Institute of 
Medicine has also concluded "if there is any future for marijuana as 
a medicine, it lies in its isolated components ..."

It's time for honest conversation about reducing the unintended 
consequences of current marijuana policies. Although people arrested 
for marijuana possession rarely end up in prison, an arrest record 
can hurt chances of getting a job or accessing social benefits. A 
survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed 0.7 percent of all 
state inmates were behind bars solely for marijuana possession and 
only one tenth of one percent (0.1 percent) of all state prisoners 
were marijuana-possession offenders with no prior sentences. The 
stigma that attaches as a result of incarceration is unacceptable.

We need to prevent the establishment of Big Marijuana and marketing 
to children. There's a budding industry intending to follow the same 
playbook as Big Tobacco and make money off other people's addictions. 
If we didn't like Joe Camel, we're not going to like what 
commercialization of marijuana is already doing. Now is the time to 
prevent Big Tobacco from capitalizing on this burgeoning marijuana market.

California is the battleground for marijuana policy, swinging from 
voters approving marijuana for medicinal purposes to voters rejecting 
marijuana for recreational purposes. Passions run deep. We invite you 
to join us for a rational discussion driven by science to reform 
current marijuana policy, increase social justice and reduce incarceration.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom