Paul Armentano asks in his letter on Thursday, Nov. 8, "Why is cannabis being withheld from patients if it has all these positive effects?" This question is answered with one word: euphoria. Believe it or not, euphoria is the only side effect in U.S. medicine that is absolutely intolerable. Pain medications are regularly withheld from patients based upon worries that they might "enjoy it." If one listens to the warnings on any given pharmaceutical that is advertised on morning or evening national news programs, one finds politically tolerable side effects that range from dry eyes or mouth to gastrointestinal distress, including inability to hold bowel movements until one reaches the toilet, and even death. That's right, death. Our old favorite acetaminophen, better known as Tylenol, causes big problems, according to the National Institutes of Health: "Acetaminophen overdose is the leading cause for calls to Poison Control Centers (100,000/year) and accounts for more than 56,000 emergency room visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and an estimated 458 deaths due to acute liver failure each year." [continues 245 words]
To the Editor, As the author of the recent publication, "Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Scientific Literature," I am disappointed that Rachel Vamenta's Nov. 5 commentary makes no reference to the substantial body of emerging science supporting the medical use of cannabis. While writing this booklet, I reviewed more than 150 clinical and preclinical studies assessing the therapeutic value of cannabis and its active compounds to treat symptoms - and in some cases, moderate disease progressions - in a variety of illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, diabetes and Lou Gehrig's disease. Nearly all of the studies cited in my work were published within the past six years. [continues 527 words]
I suggest a simpler law that would get back to basics. Educational institutions should require their students to do their homework before they write editorials. The points missed in this case include the following: 1) The U.S. federal government already distributes marijuana as a medicine to a number of people. They do that because some of those patients went to court and proved to a legal certainty that marijuana is the only medicine suitable for their needs. 2) Statements about there not being enough research are signs of abject ignorance. Every major government commission report on drug policy in the last 100 years has concluded that the marijuana laws were based on racism, ignorance and nonsense. They all said the laws should have been repealed long ago because they do more harm than good. You can read them at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy. [continues 223 words]
Dear Editor, Regarding the Nov. 5 editorial "Is medical marijuana a big deal?", if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. [continues 98 words]
To the Editor, As a retired police officer and student of history, I would ask Ms. Vamenta to do some research on the topic of marijuana prohibition. It has been the unwritten policy of the federal government to allow no research to prove that marijuana is an effective, low side-effect, low-cost medicine. They know from reading the medical journals prior to 1937 and overwhelming anecdotal evidence that God didn't make no junk. When the Texas Legislature in 1919 prohibited the sale of cannabis, they made an exception for both human and animal use. Ms. Vamenta should learn that when cannabis is legal for medical reasons, the pharmaceutical industry will lose between 1 and 5 percent of its $640 billion gross sales. Follow the money, Ms. Vamenta, follow the money. Officer Howard J. Wooldridge Education Specialist, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Washington, D.C. [end]
