cannabisnews.com: Doctor, Criminologist, Patients Support MMJ Use





Doctor, Criminologist, Patients Support MMJ Use
Posted by CN Staff on November 19, 2004 at 19:15:55 PT
By Tammye Nash, Staff Writer
Source: Dallas Voice
Proponents of legalizing marijuana for medical use say the federal government will not decriminalize the drug’s use because doing so would cut into pharmaceutical companies’ profits and would cut into the budget for the government’s war on drugs.Students for a Sensible Drug Policy at the University of Texas at Arlington, under the auspices of Texans for Medical Marijuana, sponsored a forum last week featuring speakers who said medical marijuana use should be legal, but who agreed the government is not likely to move in that direction any time soon.
Many people with HIV use marijuana to combat both the symptoms of AIDS and the side effects of HIV medications. An article published in 2000 in the National Academies Press said small-scale polls — no comprehensive studies have been done — indicate that most medical marijuana users in the United States are seeking relief from AIDS symptoms or drug side effects.Marijuana also is used to for relief from the symptoms of glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms and the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in cancer patients.A statewide poll conducted in 2004 by Texans For Medical Marijuana indicated 75 percent of Texans would support legislation allowing those with serious illnesses to use marijuana for medical purposes.Jim Quinn, Ph.D., a criminologist and a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work and Addictions at the University of North Texas, said since decriminalizing marijuana, the state of California is saving about $100 million a year.But the federal government is unlikely to follow suit, he said, because “Drugs are big business for the government.”Even though the federal government spends about $12 billion annually in the “war on marijuana,” Quinn said, the government also makes money by seizing money and property.“Charges don’t even have to be filed for the government to be able to seize a person’s money or property,” he added. Marijuana is classified as a “Schedule I” drug, along with drugs such as LSD, heroin and ecstasy. Schedule 1 drugs, according to the federal government, have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and have a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.Such classification for marijuana contradicts even the government’s own studies, Quinn said. “Every comprehensive, objective study done on marijuana over the last 100 years has said there is no justification” for classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug, he said.Quinn said the government includes statistics on marijuana use and arrests in information supporting the war on drugs, playing up the connection between drug use and violent crime even though studies have shown marijuana use tends to decrease violent tendencies in users.Quinn quoted statistics indicating that 72 percent of Americans do not think marijuana users should be jailed, and 80 percent support legal access to marijuana for medical use by seriously ill adults. Yet, most Americans support the government’s war on drugs, including marijuana, “The government glosses over the differences between substances in their drug war rhetoric. That’s what really irritates me,” he said. “We have a war on drugs mainly to finance our criminal justice system.”Dr. Byron Adinoff, M.D., a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who specializes in alcohol and drug abuse research, said studies examining the medical effectiveness of marijuana have been inconclusive at best.“Does it work? Well, you say it works for you, but that’s not how the FDA does it,” Adinoff said. “The studies are showing that marijuana is not very effective for these problems, which just doesn’t jive with what we are hearing from people who use it.”But, he added, most studies have been limited in scope and involve only one of the chemical compounds found in marijuana, usually THC or tetrahydracannabinol, and usually in pill form.Marijuana is made up of more than 400 compounds, and THC is just one of those, Adinoff said. Its effectiveness could come from an interaction between two or more of those compounds which would not be evident in studies using only “pure” forms of one of those 400 compounds.Adinoff said marijuana does “have its bad points, too,” including the possibility of addiction, causing psychoses especially in people with schizophrenia, hampering short term memory and acting as a “gateway” to more harmful drugs.“I always make a real point of the dangers of marijuana,” he said. “The question is, are the potential benefits worth the potential hazards.”But Adinoff said, the decriminalization of marijuana is, in the end, “not a medical issue, but a political issue. … The government doesn’t want it decriminalized because if marijuana is not illegal, there is no drug war. There are many things going on here other than whether or not marijuana is medically useful.”“I think it is silly what we are doing with marijuana,” Adinoff added.Two men who use marijuana for medical purposes, identified as Mr. Jones and Mr. Ballard, told their stories at the forum.Ballard said he injured his back in April 1996, and no conventional medical treatments provided any relief from his pain. In 2002, after hearing that marijuana was effective in treating muscle spasms, Ballard said he tried smoking a joint. He said he woke up the next day without back pain for the first time in six years. Within three months, he added, the muscle spasms in his back were completely gone.Writer Christopher Largen told of his experiences in researching the book he co-wrote with George McMahon, “Prescription Pot: A Leading Advocate’s Heroic Battle to Legalize Medical Marijuana.”McMahon, who suffers from a rare genetic syndrome called Nail Patella Syndrome, is one of only seven people who receive a legal marijuana prescription from the federal government. He has undergone 19 surgical procedures and was previously taking 17 pharmaceuticals daily.McMahon now uses marijuana for relief from pain, muscle spasms and nausea associated with his condition, smoking 10 joints a day, Largen said.Largen outlined the history of medical uses for marijuana in the United States. He agreed with Quinn that reasons for outlawing its use were political and not medically based.Texans for Medical Marijuana is a nonprofit coalition of patients, medical professionals, academics and patient advocates organized last January specifically to lobby Texas lawmakers to legalize medical marijuana use during the 2005 legislative session.For more information, go to: http://www.TexansforMedicalMarijuana.org/Note: Students for Sensible Drug Policy present forum at UT-Arlington; supporters say current policy based on politics, not medical fact.Complete Title: Doctor, Criminologist, Patients Support Medical Marijuana UseNewshawk: MayanSource: Dallas Voice (TX)Author: Tammye Nash, Staff WriterPublished: November 19, 2004Copyright: 2004 Dallas VoiceContact: nash dallasvoice.com  Website: http://www.dallasvoice.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:SSDPhttp://www.ssdp.org/George McMahon's Home Pagehttp://www.trvnet.net/~mmcmahon/Texans For Medical Marijuanahttp://www.texansformedicalmarijuana.org/Poll Finds 75% of Texans Support Med Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19840.shtmlNew Group Backs Medical Marijuana in Texashttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18431.shtml 
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on November 20, 2004 at 03:33:42 PT
Arlington?
 Pubdate: Fri, 19 Nov 2004
Source: Shorthorn, The (TX Edu Arlington)US TX: PUB LTE: The Bible Says Marijuana Is OkThank you for C J Patton's Nov. 11 column "Making Sense Of Weed," exposing the need for credible drug law reform and ending cannabis prohibition. One thing that isn't being mentioned is the spiritual and religious use of cannabis by obedient Christians and others, which exists and should be protected within our freedom of religion. People use cannabis as a sacrament to enhance their relationship with the Spirit of Truth, as described in John 14-16 and 1 John. Re-legalizing cannabis ( kaneh bosm before the King James Version ) is Biblically correct. The Bible tells us God created all the seed-bearing plants and said they are all good on literally the very first page. That's not an accident, and the entire Bible is against punishing humans for using what God said is good. Biblically, it is time to stop caging humans for using cannabis. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1642/a06.html?190080
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 19, 2004 at 19:49:03 PT
News Article from The Associated Press
Petitioners for Marijuana File Signatures By Christina Almeida, The Associated PressNovember 19, 2004LAS VEGAS - A group seeking to legalize small amounts of marijuana in Nevada filed paperwork Tuesday that would compel state lawmakers to take up the issue during next year's legislative session. The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana has filed 84,665 signatures in five counties. They need a minimum of 51,337 signatures of registered voters to qualify. "The marijuana regulation initiative makes sense because it gives society control over marijuana, while our current prohibition policies keep marijuana completely uncontrolled," Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. Kampia was in Las Vegas to turn in signatures and help promote the Nevada initiative, which would legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by adults in the state. If the signatures were verified, state lawmakers would have to consider passing it during the first 40 days of the 2005 session. If they don't, it automatically goes on the 2006 ballot. Larry Sandell with the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana said the group doesn't expect the Legislature to pass the initiative, but hopes a discussion of the issue will help their cause. "It's ... important for the Legislature to have this debate before it goes to the people," Sandell said. "It will help bring more light to the issue and legitimize it." The group failed to get the required signatures needed to qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot. Group officials said the petition would have qualified if a federal judge had allowed about 2,000 signatures of newly registered voters whose information had not been immediately forwarded to election registrars. The committee appealed to the 9th Circuit Court but lost on a 2-1 panel vote, and their request for a rehearing before the full court was refused. "Nevada voters were deprived of the chance to vote on our marijuana regulation initiative a few days ago, but they will have the opportunity to do so in November 2006," Sandell said. Nevada voters have approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons, but in 2002 overwhelmingly rejected the measure to legalize up to 3 ounces of marijuana. The latest plan would increase penalties for providing marijuana to minors or for causing a fatal accident while driving under the influence of the substance. Sale of marijuana would be taxed, and revenue would be earmarked for drug and alcohol treatment and education programs. Copyright: 2004 Associated PressOn the Net: Marijuana Policy Project in Nevada: http://www.mpp.org/NV/
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