Pubdate: Fri, 28 Feb 2014
Source: Marietta Daily Journal (GA)
Copyright: 2014 The Marietta Daily Journal.
Contact:  http://www.mdjonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1904
Author: Don McKee

COLUMN: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL OFFERS HOPE BUT RESEARCH REQUIRES MUCH TIME

Medical marijuana bill offers hope but research requires much
time

The medical marijuana bill approved by a state legislative committee
is titled Haleigh's Hope Act, named for Haleigh Cox, a young girl with
a condition that causes severe seizures.

"It's hope. That's all it is. Hope. That's what we're fighting for,"
said Corey Lowe, whose daughter Victoria, 12, suffers from
mitochondrial disease that could wrack her body with up to 100
seizures a day if not controlled.

HB 885 gained approval Wednesday from a House committee after the
bill's sponsor, Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon), revised it to allow
authorized academic medical centers in Georgia to grow, process and
distribute medical cannabis. Transporting it across state lines is
prohibited by federal guidelines - what irony, considering the Obama
administration seeks to legitimize marijuana and its medical use is
permitted in 20 states and D.C.

Peake told the committee, "I do believe that as states like Georgia
lead the way it will put some pressure on the federal level to make
some changes." He said it would "be prudent for us to be ready for
when those changes happen."

Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta) put the matter in true perspective.
She told Peake, "I know your intentions are the best in the world. But
I am having a problem with raising parents' expectations that we are
going to get them something very quickly when it looks like we may not
have the ability to do that. As long as you are honest about it, that
it may not come quickly ..."

Rep. Cooper is on target. Even if the cannabis derivatives help
children and others stricken with conditions or diseases causing
terrible seizures, academic research will take time, no doubt a long
time. If marijuana is obtained for testing, clinical trials to provide
the necessary empirical, scientific results will not be completed in a
short time.

As Peake worked on his bill last month, researchers at New York
University's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center cautioned patients and
parents about finding ways to give marijuana to their children. "But
scientific studies have yet to bear out the hopes of these desperate
families," said Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of the center and one of
the leading experts in epilepsy, and Dr. Daniel Friedman, a physician
at the center. They stated their concerns in a New York Times op-ed.

"The truth is we lack evidence not only for the efficacy of marijuana,
but also for its safety," the doctors said. "This concern is
especially relevant in children, for whom there is good evidence that
marijuana use can increase the risk of serious psychiatric disorders
and long-term cognitive problems.

"The recent wave of state legislatures considering and often approving
medical marijuana raises significant concerns," they said, while "the
tremendous gaps in our knowledge are not effectively conveyed to the
public."

In January, the NYU doctors began a study of cannabidiol in treating
children and adults with severe drug resistant epilepsy. The study
will run for one year after reaching maximal dosage. What will it find?

As Carey Lowe said, "It's hope."
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MAP posted-by: Matt