Pubdate: Fri, 16 Aug 2013
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2013 Bradenton Herald
Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/submit-letter/
Website: http://www.bradenton.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58

CNN'S DR.SANJAY GUPTA FINDS AMPLE EVIDENCE OF BENEFITS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Advocates of the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes 
gained an influential ally and a powerful message this week with the 
airing of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's groundbreaking documentary "Weed."

Gupta, a neurosurgeon and CNN's chief medical correspondent, once 
took a hard line against medicinal cannabis -- prominently 
articulating his position in a 2009 Time magazine article titled "Why 
I would Vote No to Pot."

Today, though, after thoroughly researching the issue for a year 
while working on his documentary, he now apologizes for that stance, 
stating in a "Why I changed my mind on weed" essay posted on CNN's website:

"... I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of patients whose 
symptoms improved on cannabis.

"Instead, I lumped them with the high-visibility malingerers just 
looking to get high."

Ammo for Parrish couple

Parrish's Kathy Jordan can now cite Gupta's research in her lobbying 
efforts for passage of the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Bill. Her 
16-year struggle to change Florida law once again did not gain 
traction during this year's session of the Legislature.

In a different and new bid to legalize medical marijuana, petitions 
are circulating for a constitutional amendment to be placed on the 
2014 ballot. Jordan and husband Robert have been collecting signatures.

A poll earlier this year found 70 percent of Floridians support such 
an amendment, surpassing the 60 percent benchmark required for passage.

Meanwhile, Jordan, president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network, 
can take heart in Gupta's startling conclusions.

His reversal only came about after he interviewed medical leaders, 
experts, growers and patients as well as reviewing the scientific 
literature on medical cannabis.

DEA wrong on two counts

"I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana 
as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, 
they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the 
category of the most dangerous drugs that have 'no accepted medicinal 
use and a high potential for abuse.'

"They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know 
that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It 
doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very 
legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the 
only thing that works."

Florida proof of pot's value

Kathy Jordan is living proof of that last statement.

Diagnosed 27 years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, an 
incurable condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, Jordan 
found little relief from her symptoms with a host of traditional medications.

Then three years after her diagnosis, she discovered that marijuana 
eased her pain, stimulated her appetite and helped other symptoms.

Reviewing the research

Gupta examined the research on cannabis, discovering that hundreds of 
journal articles on the benefits were written between 1840 and 1930.

"Keep in mind that up until 1943, marijuana was part of the United 
States drug pharmacopeia. One of the conditions for which it was 
prescribed was neuropathic pain," he states.

Powerful narcotics such as morphine and oxycodone are prescribed for 
this "miserable pain," Gupta notes, but don't work well.

As Florida well knows from prescription drug abuse and addiction, 
those drugs can lead to accidental overdoses and death.

Yet "marijuana has long been documented to be effective for this 
awful pain," the neurosurgeon writes.

U.S. drug policy fails

Gupta calculated that only 6 percent of current U.S. studies into 
cannabis examine its medical benefits while the remainder look into 
its harm, blaming this on national drug policy.

Considering the history of medical marijuana, isn't that upside down?

"We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years 
in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that," Gupta 
writes in the hopes that his essay and documentary will set the 
record straight.

If a comparatively benign drug like cannabis can replace powerful 
prescription pain medications in certain treatments, why would 
Florida deny patients this option?

Twenty states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana. 
Florida should join those ranks.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom