cannabisnews.com: Feds Should Respect Court's Ruling for Docs Feds Should Respect Court's Ruling for Docs Posted by CN Staff on November 10, 2002 at 07:55:54 PT By Debra J. Saunders Source: San Francisco Chronicle If the federal government were right that medical marijuana has no medicinal value, why have so many doctors risked their practices by recommending its use for patients with cancer or AIDS? Marcus Conant, the doctor who identified the first cases of Kaposi's sarcoma among San Francisco AIDS patients, can answer that. Imagine you're the doctor for a "40-year-old lady with breast cancer. They put her on chemotherapy and every time she takes her therapy, she throws up." She can't sleep; she's up sick all night. She has trouble caring for her children. Medical marijuana can alleviate her nausea and give her an appetite. Conant wouldn't write her a prescription for medical marijuana. He can't. But he would write a note for her file recommending marijuana. Since his patients have access to their files, they can present a copy of said note to a marijuana club authorized by California's Proposition 215. If they use the note, well, that's their business. Conant sued the federal government to prevent federal law enforcement from investigating or punishing doctors who exercise their First Amendment right to recommend medical marijuana. Last month, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled in his favor. The feds had argued that recommending marijuana was analogous to prescribing it, but the court agreed that this advice entailed "dispensing of information." That distinction goes to the heart of the matter - - the ability of doctors to give their best advice to people who desperately need it. Why not prescribe marinol, the legal pill form of marijuana? Conant said that some patients don't respond well to it: It takes 45 minutes to work. If they take too little, it doesn't work at all. If they take too much, they fall asleep and don't eat. My friend Julia, who is battling cancer, occasionally has used marijuana to help her sleep, but not often. Too much pot makes her think about dying. Still, Julia knows other cancer patients for whom cannabis is "the only thing that stands between them and a complete inability to get down food." Cancer patients can take as many as 12 medications a day. They juggle which pills they can take with or without food, and with or without other drugs. There's something to be said, Julia added, for a drug that you can smoke at any time. It's not clear if federal drug czar John P. Walters will appeal the decision. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/10/ED86920.DTL Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Debra J. SaundersPublished: Sunday, November 10, 2002Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Chronicle - Page D - 4 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:Conant vs. Walters & Judge Kozinskihttp://freedomtoexhale.com//cw.htmMedical Marijuana Information Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmMedical Marijuana Victory http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14703.shtmlWhat U.S. Papers Say About Medical Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14630.shtmlPot Ruling Shields Doctorshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14620.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by Ethan Russo MD on November 12, 2002 at 09:04:19 PT: Dr. Earleywine I was on a panel with him Sunday morning at the MPP/SSDP meeting. His is a highly intelligent, sensitive and honest voice in the debate. I now have an inscribed copy of his book that I am anxious to read. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on November 11, 2002 at 12:40:45 PT Patrick You're welcome. I don't know why I couldn't get my media player to work and I appreciate being able to read what was said. Good job! Thanks Again! [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Patrick on November 11, 2002 at 05:42:05 PT You are elcome FoM :) Thank you for all the work you do providing the rest of us with this beacon of truth!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 20:26:30 PT Thanks Again Patrick I posted the test! LOL! (text) and said you transcribed it instead of saying Newshawk because I know it was much harder then hawking. I really appreciate it too. That was a great birthday present. I am having trouble staying connected because of this unreal storm. Tornadoes all around us. Someone killed in our ajoining county. Thunder, rain,lightning and high winds so I could lose power too but I'll be back as soon as possible if anything happens.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14712.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 18:50:36 PT Patrick I can't believe you did this! Thank you so much! I'll fix the word you missed. That had to take you a long time. I've been off line and just got back on. Bad storms around here tonight. I haven't read it yet because I wanted to thank you first. Now I'll read it! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Patrick on November 10, 2002 at 17:16:19 PT FoM I wrote out the text from the radio program since you can't listen to it. Happy belated Birthday!Text of Dr. Mitch Earleywine interview on NPR hosted by Liane Hansen Liane Hansen… In the election this past Tuesday a number of Marijuana law reform measures were on the ballots, all were defeated. Federal Drug Czar John Walters called it, "A stunning victory of common sense over pro drug propaganda." "While I am up to the challenge," responded Robert Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project, "I say we fight." Marijuana has been a hot button political issue for a while, and a lot of rhetorical smoke continues to be blown by both sides of the debate. Dr. Mitch Earleywine has taken the analytical approach. In his new book Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence he examines all the available research. His conclusion, is that the drug is more complex than the Eco-friendly miracle substance the hemp advocates claim or the dreaded evil weed of the prohibitionists. Its history goes back thousands of years and Dr. Earleywine says that the way that its been used hasn't changed all that much over time. Dr. Earleywine… It all started in 2737 BC when the drug was used more, uh taken orally rather than smoked but at least in the last few hundred years people have been smoking cannabis very much in the same ways they do it now. However, some of the new harm reduction techniques have developed in order to avoid lung damage. Such as using a vaporizer and things like that, have changed the way people smoke cannabis just in the last few years. And these are sort-of gizmos, if you will, that will heat up cannabis in a way that it doesn't actually smoke but it will provide canabinoids in a vapor and will allow people to get the drugs effects without exposing them to dangerous tars and carcinogens. Liane Hansen… The subtitle of your book is A New Look at the Scientific Evidence. First of all, what is that new look? Did you look at new studies that have been done new evidence or are you taking a fresh look at older studies? Dr. Earleywine… I looked at everything all the way from the 1600's up to 2002. And to tell the truth there were a few new things that have come out particularly things that were counter to what we all may have learned in health class in junior high. Things like marijuana's impact on aggression, which seems to be non-existent. The idea that marijuana causes A-motivational Syndrome, which the data also doesn't support. Liane Hansen… What is A-motivational Syndrome? Dr. Earleywine… A-motivational Syndrome was this notion that you would somehow smoke cannabis and suddenly not want to do anything for society not want to contribute not want to hold a job and be incapable of setting goals and obtaining them. In both education and in occupational domains the data just don't seem to support this. For example, college students who smoke cannabis get grades that are comparable to college students who do not. Cannabis users seem to earn as much money and pay the same amount of taxes. Those sorts of things all seem to kind of defy the idea of A-motivational Syndrome. Liane Hansen… One of the other arguments put forth is the fact that for decades that marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances, cocaine, heroin, even some of the designer drugs that are around now. What's your take on that? Dr. Earleywine… I grew up learning the exact same thing and I looked very carefully at those data and devoted a whole chapter to that issue. And as it turns out, 76 million Americans have tried marijuana but we have fewer than say 6 million Americans addicted to drugs like heroin. So it doesn't seem to be much of a gateway under those circumstances. In addition, your chances of tying a drug like heroin if you have tried marijuana are less than 1 in 300. So it doesn't seem to fit the notion that using cannabis suddenly turns you into some kind of ravenous craver of other drugs. Some of the recent work in an effort to prevent "drug" problems has kind of backfired because we're teaching our children that marijuana is a gateway drug then in fact it is counter to their experiences and the experiences of their peers. And then they don't believe anything else we say. So if I go into a class and say hey, "Marijuana is going to make you do heroin." Well they all know marijuana users who don't use heroin and then every single thing that comes out of my mouth after that they are not even going to listen too. And so I feel like in some ways the gateway, the aggression, the impact on motivation as we try to keep battling about these things we are loosing our credibility with our youth. And then when I have to talk about a drug that really is dangerous like MDMA they don't pay attention to me and they don't listen. Liane Hansen… MDMA is Ecstasy? Dr. Earleywine… MDMA is Ecstasy correct. Liane Hansen… What about the idea that marijuana affects thought and memory? The old joke is if you remember the 60's, well you weren't there, It's been a point of disagreement. The evidence that you have looked at what does that indicate? Dr. Earleywine… During intoxication, while people are high, essentially there are definitely some deficits in short memory. So it is very difficult to learn new skills or to memorize material during intoxication. Generally though, long term users, even daily users don't show meaningful deficits in memory when they are not intoxicated. So we might find studies that show list learning tasks where people have to learn long lists of words. And cannabis users might do slightly worse than non-users if they are daily users for two years or more. But often the difference is say, half a word on average or one word on a long list. Liane Hansen… You are on the Psychology faculty at the University of Southern California. You focus on personality and addictive behaviors and you are considered an expert on alcohol abuse. Is it possible, I mean it has been done but do you compare marijuana and alcohol use? Dr. Earleywine… As it turns out alcohol has a lot more negative consequences than cannabis. So alcohol's impact on aggression is markedly worse, alcohol's impact on driving is markedly worse, alcohol's impact on brain function with daily use over time is markedly worse. So in many ways I have to conclude that alcohol is a drug that makes more people suffer more than marijuana does. Liane Hansen… What do you consider the health risks then concerned with the use of marijuana? Dr. Earleywine… The biggest health risk associated with cannabis use right now just all has to do with lung function and although there aren't any documented cases of lung cancer in people who have smoked cannabis and only cannabis not cigarettes. There do seem to be some small changes in the lungs of people who smoke long term say twenty years or more that suggest they might be at risk for developing lung cancer. Liane Hansen… Much of the attention has been devoted to the medical use of marijuana particularly the political attention. Are there recent medical developments? Dr. Earleywine… There are some superb research medical developments all supporting the idea that marijuana can help people who need to gain weight because of illnesses like cancer or HIV related wasting. I think the work on Multiple Sclerosis is extremely promising but again we only have a small number of cases. I am very optimistic about that work. The work on cannabis's impact on migraine headaches seems extremely promising so that people can intervene early on when they first experience some of the symptoms of migraine and seem to cut off a migraine completely. The work on glaucoma is not as promising not because marijuana doesn't seem to work it's just that there other drugs that seem to work better. Liane Hansen… Marijuana has always been dangerous political terrain for decades. How effective do you think the current drug laws that deal with marijuana use are? Dr. Earleywine… My apprehension about the current drug laws is that essentially by lumping marijuana in with the harder drugs, we connect them in the underground market. So people who go to someone to purchase cannabis end up getting exposed to drugs with more negative consequences like Ecstasy, like cocaine, like heroin. Whereas, if marijuana was separated from that, was decriminalized, or legalized or in another domain, suddenly people would be able to purchase this drug in a setting where perhaps, it wouldn't be connected to these harder drugs and they would be much less likely to be exposed to them. Liane Hansen… Do you think that decriminalization is a good thing, a bad thing, or a little of both? Dr. Earleywine… I think it is going to save law enforcement tons and tons of time money and effort. Right now in Australia two territories have essentially decriminalized. And the law enforcement officers really like this because they don't waste half a day taking somebody down to the court, getting them fingerprinted, getting them booked, getting them completes arrested only to find out later that the prosecuting attorney has decided that it is not worth prosecuting. Instead they whip out a ticket, take the cannabis and they are on their way. Liane Hansen… What do you make of the recent commercials that connect the idea of buying a dime bag of marijuana to the killing of a young girl in Latin America? Dr. Earleywine… Well I am looking forward to the commercials that equate gassing up your SUV to supporting Middle Eastern countries that harbor terrorism. The logic just doesn't follow as far as I am concerned. A lot of cannabis is grown here domestically so I think that clearly disputes the idea that somehow buying cannabis here is going to have an impact on any other nation. It is very much comparable to how things were handled in alcohol prohibition. So slowly but surely people will start to think about what is the cost to have these drug policies the way they are and what are the potential benefits of changing them. Lets make small steps and try each new policy and see how it turns out. Liane Hansen… Closing comments plugging the book. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 12:59:52 PT canaman I just tried it and nothing happens. I uninstalled real video. I'm not sure maybe I have something turned off that needs to be turned on. I'll check and see if I can figure it out. Thanks! This audio - video stuff is very complicated to me. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by canaman on November 10, 2002 at 12:57:17 PT FoM Try this link at NPR...hope it helps.http://www.npr.org/audiohelp/index.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by canaman on November 10, 2002 at 12:49:39 PT FoM Windows should play it I have both RealPlayer tends to overide most of audio/video programs I come across but many sites are set up to play RealPlayer, WindowsMedia, or QuickTime (my least favorite). Click on it see what happens. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 12:01:18 PT Question I can't get the program to play. I don't have real video anymore. Is that the only program that can be used to listen to it? I have media player but not real video. Thanks for any advice. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 11:55:17 PT Here is the Audio Link I thought I'd post the direct link to the NPR piece that canaman posted. Here it is. I am looking forward to listeniing to it a little later on. I'm just busy right now and want to concentrate when I listen to it. I'm sure it is very good.http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/wesun/20021110.wesun.05.ram Freedom To Exhale [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 11:10:09 PT canaman Thank you for the link. I bookmarked it and will listen to it today. What's New [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by canaman on November 10, 2002 at 10:30:14 PT National Public Radio Just did a great interview with Dr. Mitch Earleywine. He discounted All the government propaganda. Saying the science says the illegality of cannabis is the problem not the solution. But we knew that. Good listen. They just put the audio online.http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.jhtml?prgId=10&prgDate=currentMarijuana: Host Liane Hansen talks with Dr. Mitch Earleywine about his book Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence(Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0195138937). [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on November 10, 2002 at 10:03:35 PT Obvious solution John Ashcroft could roundup all doctors, place them in a camp for citizens,and re-educate them on what can be prescribed and not prescribed, what can be recommended and not recommended.Release these now newly brainwashed doctors, docile as newborn lambs, and recommend 'compassionate coercion' for their cancer and terminally ill patients. The patients will understand. Their pain and misery will be viewed compassionately by those residing in the ivory towers. Pain and misery are statists bread and butter.Kind of like rounding-up runaway slaves. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment