Pubdate: Tue, 09 Jun 2015
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2015 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/about/newsroom/editor/
Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Pubdate: 9 Jun 2015
Author: Jack Lawn

NO MEDICINAL PURPOSE TO MARIJUANA

Regarding the June 2 editorial "Yes to medical marijuana" reprinted 
from the Fayetteville Observer: How disappointing that you would 
publish, without comment, a guest editorial extolling the medical 
benefits of marijuana.

Marijuana is listed in the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I, 
which means a drug "with no currently accepted medical use." Marinol 
is a synthetic version of THC, which was approved by the FDA in 1985 
and supported by the National Cancer Institute.

THC in marijuana indisputably damages cognition, especially among 
teenagers, and results in auto and industrial accidents and decreased 
mental acuity and academic achievement. Different from alcohol, a 
legal drug, THC is not water soluble like alcohol, and trace amounts 
remain in the brain for extended periods, with potential brain damage.

Marijuana is not bad because it is illegal; marijuana is illegal 
because it has no medical value. Check with the scientists and the 
doctors. It is said that "emotion is the enemy of analysis."

Jack Lawn

Chapel Hill
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom