cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Debate Flares





Medical Marijuana Debate Flares
Posted by CN Staff on October 20, 2002 at 09:24:01 PT
By Elvia Díaz
Source: AZCentral.com 
A compound found in marijuana can help ease pain, control vomiting and stimulate appetite. But critics say it is also potentially harmful and can lead to other diseases. The ongoing debate over marijuana's therapeutic merit is once again at the center of an Arizona ballot initiative that will determine whether people can legally smoke pot for medical reasons.
Although voters in seven other states have passed laws to protect medical marijuana users from prosecution, none of those require state government to hand out the drug.Proposition 203 on the Nov. 5 ballot requires the Arizona Department of Public Safety to distribute the drug to those carrying a doctor's note. It also decriminalizes possession of small amounts of the drug."Marijuana doesn't cure anything," said Dr. John Benson, dean and professor emeritus of Oregon Health Sciences at the University School of Medicine. "It reduces anxiety and could have some additional benefits."In a 1999 study, Benson and a score of other doctors and researchers concluded that tetrahydrocannabinol, an active chemical compound in marijuana, has some medicinal value.But although some patients may find pain relief by smoking marijuana, the drug also could lead to other diseases such as lung cancer or severe bronchitis, said Benson, a lead investigator of the study commissioned by the House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The study called for further research to conclusively determine whether habitual marijuana smoking causes cancer.U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona doesn't dispute the possible benefits, but highlights the study's assertion that there are other legal drugs with the same beneficial chemicals found in marijuana. "The risk of smoking marijuana outweighs any potential benefits," Carmona said in a telephone interview. "Let's do the appropriate research, just like we do with any other drug we put on the market."Opponents also argue that marijuana often serves as a gateway for users to take more powerful illegal drugs.Proposition 203 advocates tout the drug's benefits to patients suffering debilitating diseases such as cancer and AIDS and say adversaries continue to ignore mounting medical evidence of marijuana's benefits."They have no evidence that smoking marijuana (for medical reasons) is harmful," said Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a Phoenix surgeon. "Numerous studies have proven the medical benefits of marijuana. The rest is speculation."A person would have to smoke marijuana in great quantifies for a long period, as tobacco users do, before the drug would have negative health effects, Singer said.Carolyn Barker, a Phoenix resident with breast cancer and severe arthritis, is willing to face the drug's possible risks rather than wait for doctors and politicians to make up their minds about the drug."I know marijuana will not cure what I have," said Barker, 60. "But I would like the option to use it without worrying about going to jail."Supporters say the initiative has safeguards because patients would be given a state-issued card that entitled them only to get as much as 2 ounces of marijuana a month. DPS would either distribute confiscated marijuana, buy it from a federal research program or allow users to grow up to two plants. The agency's director says it could cost as much as $12 million to test the drug for purity, with the cost depending on demand.A joint legislative analysis estimates that 1,100 people would sign up for the marijuana program next fiscal year and that the registry program would be paid in part by the $50 fee charged to issue the card.In Oregon, the first state to have a statewide medical marijuana registration system, the number of people seeking cards increased from 594 in 1999 to 4,125 current users."The program is growing exponentially every year," said Michelle Aarhus, the program's administrative specialist. "We're surprised how popular the program is."In 1996 and 1998, Arizona voters approved a measure allowing marijuana with a doctor's prescription, but lawmakers effectively rejected it by putting prescribing doctors at risk of losing their license. Sidebar: Proposition 203 • People caught with 2 ounces or less of marijuana would not face a felony charge. Instead, they would receive a civil citation punishable with a fine of no more than $250 for first and second offenses. • First- and second-time offenders caught with drug paraphernalia could not be jailed as a condition of probation.• Increases maximum sentences and fine by 50 percent for violent crimes committed while under the influence of drugs.• A person's property couldn't be confiscated until the offender was found guilty.• Requires the Arizona Department of Public Safety to distribute marijuana for free to people with a physician's note.• Requires the Arizona Department of Health Services to set up a registry program and issue a card entitling the person to up to 2 ounces of free marijuana a month. Source: AZCentral.com (AZ)Author: Elvia DíazPublished: October 20, 2002Copyright 2002 azcentral.comWebsite: http://www.azcentral.com/Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/help/comment-form.phpRelated Articles:Pot Plan a Smoke Screen, Foes Say http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14466.shtmlDrug Czar Urges 'No' Vote On Pot Proposition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14424.shtmlDrug Czar Opposes Prop 203 http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14403.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on October 20, 2002 at 16:51:38 PT:
Another pinhead
LT to Dr Benson wrapped around a CRL disc and mailed to him						Professor Emeritus John Benson, MD
c/o University of Oregon School of Medicine
Oregon Health & Science University
3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Rd.
Portland, OR 97201-3098Dear Sir:I had occasion recently to read comments you made in an interview regarding the efficacy of Cannabis and whether Cannabis should be made available to Arizona residents. This is the third time that AZ residents have voted for medical Cannabis and will probably be the third time that they will approve it. One can only wonder what part of “the will of the people” politicians and other meddlers in Arizona politics fail to understand. Worse, yet, is the tendency for learned individuals such as yourself to seemingly be unaware of major studies that refute suggestions that the smoking of Cannabis is of the same level of danger for Cancer as the known carcinogen, Nicotine, which is still marketed freely in America and in fact is subsidized by the federal governmentSticking to the issue at hand, the efficacy of Cannabis, I would like to draw your attention to the study contained herein this CD, “Cannabis Reference Library.”Please find it in folder, “behavior, learning and addiction” the study short-title “Dr Ethan Russo on Chronic Cannabis Use. It is a study of a few of the people still alive enrolled in the Federal Govt.’s own medical Cannabis program.The following extract is from a study titled:  “Health Aspects of Cannabis” which can be found at:         http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/marij1.html#ACUTELeo E. HollisterVeterans Administration Medical Center 
and Stanford University School of Medicine, 
Palo Alto, California PHARMACOLOGICAL REVIEWS 
Copyright © 1986 
by The American Society for Pharmacology 
and Experimental Therapeutics((B. Chronic Studies
The effects of chronic use of cannabis are more to the point when considering the issues of its status as a possible social drug. Three large-scale field trials of cannabis users have been implemented, but the results of these trials have done little to allay apprehensions about the possible ill effects of chronic use. Objections have been made about the small samples used, the sampling techniques, and the adequacy of the studies performed. Jamaica is a country in which cannabis is widely used, under the name ganja. The content of THC in native cannabis is generally high, estimated at several fold that of cannabis generally supplied to users in North America. The average Jamaican user smokes seven to eight cannabis cigarettes a day, such use not being considered deviant in that country. Sixty adult workers, all men, were selected for study. Thirty were ganja smokers, and thirty were not, although the latter may have used cannabis tea. Extensive studies in the hospital revealed no significant physical abnormalities between the two groups. The smokers were found to be at greater risk of functional hypoxia, which might have been due to the fact that tobacco was also used by this group. Smokers claimed to use cannabis to work better, but evidence in a selected subgroup supported slightly decreased performance. The small sample and the fact that impairment may be difficult to detect in unskilled workers make it difficult to be sanguine about these generally negative results (147). A similar study was done in Costa Rica, another country in which cannabis use is prevalent. Two groups of 80 subjects, users and nonusers, were compared by a variety of clinical and laboratory examinations. Essentially no difference between the two groups was detected (34). Forty-seven chronic users of hashish in Greece were compared with 40 nonusers, focusing primarily on tests of brain damage. No evidence of abnormality in function as judged by a variety of tests could be detected in the hashish group as compared with the others. The hashish users had a higher prevalence of personality disorders, probably unrelated to their use of hashish but possibly contributing to it (49). If field studies fail to provide evidence of harm from prolonged use of cannabis, it is unlikely that experimental studies will do better, and such has been the case. The results of a 30-day high-dose cannabis study in which doses up to 210 mg of THC per day were administered p.o. to volunteers were most remarkable in how well the subjects tolerated such large doses (93). Tolerance was probably present in most subjects prior to the study, but it was rapidly augmented during it. Under these conditions, a mild withdrawal reaction was found when the drug was abruptly discontinued. Additional unanticipated findings were weight gain, bradycardia, and an absence of psychotomimetic effects. As the amount of drug absorbed from p.o. administration may be small, these results are only partially applicable to smoking. ))I scanned the study and was struck by the reoccurring comments suggesting that there (MUST be deleterious effects, we just can’t find them), this is my paraphrase. This brings us to your comments:"Marijuana doesn't cure anything," said Dr. John Benson, dean and professor emeritus of Oregon Health Sciences at the University School of Medicine. "It reduces anxiety and could have some additional benefits." In a 1999 study, Benson and a score of other doctors and researchers concluded that tetrahydrocannabinol, an active chemical compound in marijuana, has some medicinal value. But although some patients may find pain relief by smoking marijuana, the drug also could lead to other diseases such as lung cancer or severe bronchitis, said Benson, a lead investigator of the study commissioned by the House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The study called for further research to conclusively determine whether habitual marijuana smoking causes cancer.Sir: Is this the study commonly known as the IOM report 1999?”If not, have you seen the IOM report? The executive report is included in the folder “Gov’t. Reviews.If so, you must be aware that nowhere in that study is it suggested that ANYONE be incarcerated for Cannabis use and that Cannabis should be available under a doctor’s supervision if nothing else seems to work as well.Regarding the smoking of the Cannabis plant, are you aware of so-called “Vaporization” of Cannabis and how this process mitigates and even eliminates the “dangers” of inhaling burning plant matter?For more information on Vaporization and the newest implement known as the “Volcano,” I suggest you contact Dr Ethan Russo in Mizzoula, Montana. He is one of the top Cannabis researchers in the USA.Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing from you in some fashion when you have availed yourself of the wealth of information I have sent you.
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