It concerns me when powerful bureaucrats like Deputy Drug Czar Scott Burns "see no gray area where marijuana is concerned," as noted in the article about his recent visit to Montana. It is this type of fanatic extremism in prosecuting the drug war that has resulted in sick and dying people being sent to prison for using the only medication that works for them, even when their doctors agree with the treatment. Burns doesn't want to be asked why such established medical organizations as the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, American Preventive Medical Association and the state medical associations of New York, Florida, California and Rhode Island all support the use of medical marijuana under a physician's supervision. [continues 167 words]
I respectfully disagree with David Henrich's conclusions regarding studies of teen use of marijuana in California. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse didn't break down results by state until 1999, so it does not show anything about the trend of marijuana use in California before and after Prop. 215 was passed in 1996. Also, NHSDA/NSDUH has problems of its own, not the least of which is the fact that participants must discuss illegal behavior in a face-to-face interview with a representative of the government who comes to their home. The California Attorney General's survey is anonymous. Which do you think is more likely to reflect what teens are actually doing? [continues 201 words]
Thank you for the article discussing Larry Rathbun, the MS patient imprisoned for treating his MS with medical marijuana. While the article was very positive overall, opponents of Montana's medical marijuana initiative, I-148, made several unsupportable claims. Opponents predict that I-148 would create a law-enforcement nightmare. Yet, in 2002, Congress' investigative arm reviewed four state medical marijuana laws and found that those laws did not hinder law enforcement efforts. Opponents also focus on teens' treatment for marijuana use. Yet these arguments would only be relevant if allowing sick people to use medical marijuana led to higher recreational use among teens. In states with medical marijuana laws, the opposite has proven true. In fact, California's Office of the Attorney General found that since the state passed its medical marijuana initiative, marijuana use among teens has dropped, in some age categories, by as much as 40 percent. [continues 102 words]
It was unfortunate The Gazette's survey of gubernatorial candidates combined two entirely separate issues: Allowing seriously ill patients to use medical marijuana with their doctor's recommendation and decriminalizing the possession of marijuana in Montana across the board. I-148, the medical marijuana initiative, has nothing to do with general decriminalization of marijuana possession. Highly respected research on medical marijuana, such as the 1999 National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine study, establishes the therapeutic value of medical marijuana to relieve pain, control nausea and improve appetites. Research in states that have medical marijuana laws shows no evidence that allowing the use of medical marijuana by patients would increase illicit drug use among the general population. [continues 136 words]
