Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 Source: Macon Telegraph (GA) Copyright: 2014 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company Contact: http://www.macontelegraph.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667 Author: Richard L. Elliott MAKE IT LEGAL While I am reluctant to advocate for expanding availability of another mind-altering drug into society, it appears the drums are beating to make marijuana available as a prescription drug. I think this would be a mistake. I agree with Drs. J.C. Smith and Thomas Frieden that "physicians have supplanted street corner drug pushers as the most important suppliers of illicit narcotics." Rather than adding marijuana to the list of drugs dispensed by doctors that can have legitimate medical uses but which will also be abused and redistributed, perhaps we should ask whether it is time simply to legalize marijuana. Perhaps it is time to recognize that, compared with alcohol, it is less addictive and carries fewer medical risks. And know this for certain -- if it is made available as a prescribed medication, it will be available not only to some who might use it legitimately for medical purposes, but also, at a low, state-subsidized price, to many who can then resell it to others. Such redistribution will cost the state the cost of providing it to the poor through Medicaid, and it will also cost the state in lost tax revenues it might otherwise have generated if marijuana were available on the open market. - -- Richard L. Elliott, M.D. Macon - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom