Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2013
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Debra J. Saunders

DOC: WEED CAN HEAL

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta admitted earlier this month that he had been 
wrong in his opposition to medical marijuana during the rollout for 
his documentary, "Weed." Gupta reported on research that demonstrated 
the proven benefits of marijuana in treating neuropathic pain. 
Medical marijuana was the only drug that helped a 5-year-old girl 
with Dravet syndrome live without constant seizures. It calmed the 
constant hiccuping of a 19year-old. Israelis use it to treat 
Parkinson's disease and other ailments.

Gupta took on the federal government's classification of marijuana as 
a Schedule I drug, which has no accepted medical use but has a high 
potential for abuse. (Heroin also is a Schedule I drug. 
Methamphetamine is Schedule II.) Gupta now believes that 
classification is an outrage.

The doctor didn't say marijuana is all good. He cited research that 
found that regular use by teens can lead to a permanent decrease in 
IQ. But Gupta could find no documented case of a death from a 
marijuana overdose, whereas someone dies every 19 minutes from a 
prescription-drug overdose. The federal Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention estimates that 80,000 Americans die each year from 
excessive alcohol use.

Last week, Gupta's sentiments were echoed on the right when columnist 
Charles Krauthammer, a former psychiatrist, told Fox News that 
alcohol is much more harmful than marijuana. Quoth Krauthammer: "If I 
were starting a society from scratch and had to choose the 
intoxicant, I would outlaw alcohol and I'd allow marijuana." (Side 
note: Since he can't reset the world, Krauthammer said he wouldn't 
legalize pot.)

Gupta's about-face might well signal a sea change in how this country 
looks at marijuana. Gupta told CNN's Erin Burnett that he used to 
look at medical marijuana advocates as "malingerers who are just 
looking to get high." But he came to see that cannabis not only helps 
severely ill people but also averts the dangerous side effects of 
more potent pharmaceuticals.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy, D-Vt., announced on Monday that 
his committee will hold a hearing on Sept. 10 about the correct 
federal response to state laws legalizing the use of medical 
marijuana and, in the cases of Washington and Colorado, recreational 
use of marijuana.

Is President Obama paying attention? Reporter Jessica Yellin asked 
White House spokesman Josh Earnest last week if the administration 
was considering changing marijuana's Schedule I designation. Earnest 
responded with a long-winded no.

Before the American Bar Association recently, Attorney General Eric 
Holder delivered a speech that was supposed to signal big changes in 
the administration's approach to nonviolent drug offenders.

But he didn't mention marijuana enforcement, even though his 
Department of Justice has waged a ruthless war against medical 
marijuana dispensaries. Federal prosecutors not only have sent 
registered California dispensary operators to prison, but they have 
also gone after their landlords, their bankers and contractors.

Listen to Gupta and Krauthammer, and it's fair to surmise that 
marijuana is the least harmful of all controlled substances. It's 
less toxic than alcohol, which is legal. It's less lethal than 
prescription drugs.

So why is Washington still waging a war on weed?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom