cannabisnews.com: Why I'm Not Against, Like, Oh Wow Man, Pot





Why I'm Not Against, Like, Oh Wow Man, Pot
Posted by CN Staff on November 30, 2006 at 16:59:57 PT
By Dr. Scott Haig
Source: Time Magazine
USA -- We don't really know how many people smoke it. Some sources say 10 million Americans, others say 35 million. But a lot of people smoke pot and they don't seem very sick. Marijuana just won't go away. Everybody talks about it—many quite fondly. About everyone I know under 55 has smoked it. And they're all right. A few have that pothead "oh wow" personality, but so what? I don't know of one case of serious marijuana-related disease among my friends, family and acquaintances.
At work I have to report the same thing. I've been in hospitals and around sick people for 26 years now. I've admitted plenty of patients who have owned up to using pot. I think I can often tell by how they act. But do the health effects of pot seem very serious? As dangerous as those of alcohol, tobacco, overworking, fashion magazines or overeating? Nope. In fact, the health effects of pot are not nearly as dangerous as the jail they throw you in for possessing it. Not even close. I'm not an oncologist but I haven't seen a case of lung cancer clearly related to dope smoking. Memory loss, depression, anxiety? Could it be as bad as turning 50? As for it being a gateway drug — how about beer? There are some reasonable medical uses for cannabis. One patient I knew could get relief from her chemotherapy-induced nausea from nothing other than smoking joints. She was dying in the Massachusetts General Hospital from Ewing's sarcoma at 19, so no one was going to stop her. The word on our oncology floors is that pot's a pretty good appetite stimulant and anti-emetic. A few patients have asked me for it in connection with this. But no, I have never actually written an outpatient prescription for Cannabinol, THC or marijuana leaf (and I have no idea where they could get one filled anyway). The chief dangers of marijuana, practically, seem to spring from only one of its features: it's illegal. People get beat up, shot up and locked up because of the great amount of money that rides on selling the stuff, stuff that would be about as expensive as lettuce if it weren't against the law. I have treated people seriously hurt by the illegality of pot. Do I recommend using it? No way. Never used it, even in the bad old days, and I hope that none of my kids ever do. There's something repulsive about the half-closed, red eyes — something that's selfish and irresponsible. The biggest reason I didn't smoke it in the 70s, when everybody I knew was trying "to get me high," was that I wanted to be able to tell my kids that I didn't so that they wouldn't. I feel strongly about it—it's really not my bag. But that's who I am. I also feel pretty strongly that nearly every child should study Latin—really—but I don't think we should lock them up if they don't. For me, it's similar to the speed-reading phenomenon. In the 70s and 80s there were all sorts of advertisements for this great system that would help you read the whole Sunday Times in 15 minutes "with complete comprehension and recall." I almost sent away for it. I still wonder about it but am now pretty sure it doesn't work. Here's how I know: I have never met a single person who could do it. Hanging around with many big readers for the past 35 years I should have bumped into at least one who took the course and could actually read that fast. I can't help but think it's the same with pot. Hanging around with all sorts of big dope-smokers for the same 35 years I should have bumped into at least one or two with those "serious health effects". The fact is I haven't. But I would listen to any docs out there who have actually seen or treated diseases truly caused by pot. Another undeniable is that pot has cache among teens. Some kids between 13 and 19 are clearly willing to risk everything to smoke the stuff — they know how much trouble they can get in. The "smoker" label seems as important a part of their personae as their tastes in music and clothing — maybe more so because it's illegal. It's as defining for them as it was for my pothead friends in the 70s. Maybe they'll become investment bankers too. An important "art of medicine" issue is sensitivity to the individual's right to self-determination. We work hard to respect patient choice. Lots of explaining, rebutting and cleaning up messes. And as the government should, we draw a line. I won't prescribe cyanide for a patient in pain, even if he asks for it, and the government shouldn't permit home nuclear bomb experiments, even for garage-inventors who promise to be careful. But some people love cannabis and they're going to get it anyway. Good doctors do learn to persuade and cajole to gently make what we think is the right choice into the patient's choice. ("The girls in therapy really seem to get a kick out of you. Are you sure you don't want to go anymore?") The government equivalent of this is called "drug education" and it's fine. But when you try to change certain things by force, things close to the core about what folks love and hate, about their personalities, you just run into trouble. It doesn't work. You might knock down but you will never build up. This is why the government is better off out of the marijuana business. Note: I have yet to see a patient whose health was harmed by smoking marijuana, but I have treated people seriously hurt by the drug's illegality.Source: Time Magazine (US) Author: Dr. Scott HaigPublished: November 30, 2006Copyright: 2006 Time Inc. Contact: letters time.com Website: http://www.time.com/time/ CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #26 posted by whig on December 02, 2006 at 16:04:20 PT
BGreen
When our bodies die and decay, the cells do not lose their memory, they are in a sense rendered dormant for awhile, until the yeast can come and devour us.And then we are the yeast, and we remember in a different way.But one could choose to be something other than a yeast, you could choose to become a flower instead, if you had a seed planted in your remains.And I give you a tree of renown.Isaiah 55
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Comment #25 posted by whig on December 02, 2006 at 15:53:14 PT
Eh 
I had to go back and reread a bit. Let me re-state -- he's not being our friend in public, he's dismissing us but he's doing so in a way that suggests he wouldn't if he did not have to in order to be heard.And anyhow, cannabis is a living plant, she is not a chemical.
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Comment #24 posted by whig on December 02, 2006 at 15:48:29 PT
BGreen
Yes, I think he's signaling. He said cannabinol. He's not an idiot, he's a doctor with real patients that he treats. He's saying cannabinol helps, and you can't get that except from cannabis. And when a doctor recommends cannabis, he or she does not write a prescription nor knows where a patient might obtain it.That's how it works even here in California. Doctors are just gatekeepers to the cannabis consumers, inasmuch as they verify that the patient has a legitimate medical reason and is not some sort of faking asshole (like maybe a cop or DEA agent who wanted to infiltrate a compassion club.)Now doctors are people too and when they take off their medical practice hat and socialize with their friends, they are more free to be conscious of what they don't know about professionally.I think this is a friend.
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Comment #23 posted by BGreen on December 02, 2006 at 11:24:09 PT
There are no compassion clubs in New York
Compassion clubs are where cannabis prescriptions are filled. Pharmacies are where poison is peddled. This was what Dr. Haig was saying.There are some reasonable medical uses for cannabis. One patient I knew could get relief from her chemotherapy-induced nausea from nothing other than smoking joints. She was dying in the Massachusetts General Hospital from Ewing's sarcoma at 19, so no one was going to stop her. The word on our oncology floors is that pot's a pretty good appetite stimulant and anti-emetic. A few patients have asked me for it in connection with this. But no, I have never actually written an outpatient prescription for Cannabinol, THC or marijuana leaf (and I have no idea where they could get one filled anyway).Look at the context in the preceding paragraph. He says this girl got no relief from anything EXCEPT smoking joints, which must mean Marinol didn't work! Then he says, "The word on our oncology floors is that pot's a pretty good appetite stimulant and anti-emetic." Once again, it's "pot" that is mentioned as being effective and NOT the synthetic and lesser effective Marinol.The good doctor was saying that he sees cannabis as being an effective medicine but his patients wouldn't have a safe, legal source to obtain their cannabis medicine, even if he COULD legally prescribe it.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #22 posted by BGreen on December 02, 2006 at 11:12:49 PT
Marinol is NOT cannabis
That was this doctor's point in what he wrote. That has ALWAYS been OUR point, too.Dr. Scott Haig is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who has a private practice in the New York City area.I think the doctor was being very simplistic in his article, knowing full well the limited intelligence of the people needing this particular message.We ought to stop tearing this article apart and rejoice that we have someone with his credentials on our side.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #21 posted by charmed quark on December 02, 2006 at 11:05:57 PT
Getting it filled
I get my THC prescription filled at CVS - someone should tell this doctor
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Comment #20 posted by charmed quark on December 02, 2006 at 11:04:40 PT
Prescription for THC
Max Flowers - I wondered the same thing. Even my primary physician knows he can write a prescription for THC ( marinol). Unfortunately, they can't write one for cannabinol, as it is schedule 1 for some very odd reason.While the article was OK, I really do wonder if this guy actually had any pharmacology training.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on December 01, 2006 at 18:03:49 PT
comment 17 Mike Alcalay
What a wonderful and extraordinary man! I do hope all the good things he started can keep going without him there. Of course he won't be there and that will be a terrible loss...but surely others... someone, will carry on what he started.What an exceptionaly beautiful memory and beautiful and good deeds Mike Alcalay leaves behind. He will be missed.
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Comment #18 posted by Max Flowers on December 01, 2006 at 10:41:03 PT
Positive article overall, I guess, but...
...a couple of parts were just stupid. This guy is a doctor, yet says:A few patients have asked me for it in connection with this. But no, I have never actually written an outpatient prescription for Cannabinol, THC or marijuana leaf (and I have no idea where they could get one filled anyway).He's either lying, or incompetent. If he wrote a prescription for Marinol ("cannabinol"), the patient could get it filled at any pharmacy in America. So he's shutting his eyes and his mind even to legal, legitimate cannabis-related medicine because of his attitude about "marijuana."Also, when he says this An important "art of medicine" issue is sensitivity to the individual's right to self-determination. We work hard to respect patient choiceI don't believe him for a minute, primarily because of the attitude revealed above, and also because the average American physician simply does NOT act in that way at all. They nearly always act like THEY are the boss, just like laywers do (instead of what they are, a service person providing a service to you, the customer/patient), hurrying you through the consultation, not really listening to what you the patient are trying to tell him. That is my experience with doctors anyway, and I know a lot of people share it.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on December 01, 2006 at 10:21:22 PT
Rest in Peace
Mike Alcalay (1941-2006) Remembered on World AIDS Dayhttp://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=12-01-06&storyID=25770
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on December 01, 2006 at 09:06:39 PT
They are "Tip-Toeing"...
But at least some of them have started moving.People who stand by and watch what is done to people in the name of the war on cannabis are complicit in that persecution. At least some of them are beginning to stand up for the truth.Cannabliss..."Two steps forward one step back" is at least an improvement on "Two steps forward and three steps back".
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Comment #15 posted by OverwhelmSam on December 01, 2006 at 08:43:39 PT
Tip Toe, Through The Tulips
As these Tiny Tim Journalists tip toe around the dreaded "marijuana legalization" subject, the general public comes closer to the manifest epiphany: Justification for marijuana prohibition is without merit.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on December 01, 2006 at 08:02:28 PT
Sam
I can tell a person who is a long time drinker because of their nose. It gets big and red and broken blood vessels on the cheeks is a give a way too.I can also tell a long time consumer of Cannabis. They have a twinkle in their eyes and a big smile that says I know something good that you don't know. 
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on December 01, 2006 at 07:58:53 PT
Broad Time Frame from Time Magazine on Marijuana
They have archived a number of articles and I thought others might to take a look at them too.http://www.time.com/time/searchresults?query=marijuana
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on December 01, 2006 at 07:56:33 PT
Pot: Safer than Alcohol? Friday, Apr. 19, 1968
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838231,00.html
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Comment #11 posted by cannabliss on December 01, 2006 at 07:53:53 PT
Two steps forward one step back
It is rare to find a pro-legalization article that doesn't go out of its way to demonize pot.I'll call it the "dirty diaper" approach. Sure, it should be legal, but Pee-Eww! who would want to go near the stuff.I'd like to ask the Dr. if he would hope none of his kids ever use the following:- alcohol- tobacco- high fructose corn syrup- partially hydrogenated soy oil- etc.All of these result in far more Dr. visits than herb...maybe that's why he dislikes it...it's bad for business!
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on December 01, 2006 at 07:46:42 PT
the GOOD doctor
C'mon y'all, we can forgive him for his little "credibility paragraph". He doesn't want the others at Columbia thinking that he's a big stoner, not to mention the old men on the Medical Review board that will be jealous of Mr. Flashy Young Guy in Time Magazine.as for the disturbing red-rimmed and half-lidded eyes, has he checked out anyone who's been drinking heavily for 20 or 30 years? Their faces are falling right off. It ruins your skin, among other things. Hence the expressions "drinking our faces off". And of course, alchohol gives bloodshot eyes as well. Just check in with people the next morning, you won't see the drunk's eyes at all when he's hunched over the toilet. Or you'll see only the drunk's fist coming at your face if you happen to be a woman or child stuck in an abuser's family.This is great though, it's clear that Time mag. is down with us. They keep coming back to this theme every year or two. I would guess that extends to Time-Warner as well. Do they own any TV stations? 
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Comment #9 posted by potpal on December 01, 2006 at 04:56:55 PT
pothead
Yeah, he still manages to call cannabis users, irresponsible potheads, in the same breath. But he make a couple good points......the government is better off out of the marijuana business. andThe chief dangers of marijuana, practically, seem to spring from only one of its features: it's illegal.You can drop the 'practically, seem to'
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Comment #8 posted by whig on November 30, 2006 at 22:07:05 PT
Thanks, but
this is a really disrespectful article.I mean, he's saying we're right that cannabis isn't harmful, but ewwww..gross. And he's skeptical that it helps anyone.But coming from Time Magazine, it's progress.
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Comment #7 posted by freewillks on November 30, 2006 at 21:34:05 PT
Election issue in 08'
Could the mainstream press be on the verg of seeing the light? My bet is that Nevada, Colorado, and maybe Texas will run ballot mesures in 08'. The republicans are looking for ways to garner more of the young vote, you do the math. More people approve of legal cannabis than do approve of the President Of The United States. This type story will become more previlent over the next year. 
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Comment #6 posted by Wayne on November 30, 2006 at 21:13:53 PT
OT: Chemo may damage brain cells
I just saw this on MSNBC. They say it's especially damaging for children.Reminds me of those old anti-drug commercials where the MRI shows holes in the guy's brain. And to think that cannabis could possibly render all of this obsolete... makes me sad.
Study shows how chemo damages brain cells
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Comment #5 posted by Truth on November 30, 2006 at 21:03:40 PT
Great article
The Truth, from Time Magazine....priceless
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 30, 2006 at 18:26:41 PT
MikeEEEEE
You're welcome.
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Comment #3 posted by MikeEEEEE on November 30, 2006 at 18:18:46 PT
Drug problem is not you....
Drug problem = prohibition = laws = enforcement = prison = social problems = etc. It could take on many other variations.The point is a problem was created to stamp out a PERCEIVED problem.The drug war won't end soon enough. The 80% who represent the herd, have been fed a load of BS long enough, and the old farts are living long enough, to affect elections.I find it pleasing that the past state elections had numbers like 40% and I think 45%. Remember, it only takes 51% to win.I smile and at the same time know the BS will last a little longer.Peace everyone.
FoM, thank you for the kind words on the other thread.
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on November 30, 2006 at 17:49:38 PT
Off Topic
Threats To Internet Freedom All Too Real:
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/november2006/301106internetfreedom.htm
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 30, 2006 at 17:42:12 PT
Want An Answer To The Meth Problem?
Today is national Meth Awareness Day! I know from people who use meth, among other stronger legal and illegal drugs, that one of it's main alures is that it doesn't stay in your system as long as marijuana. Want to alleviate and abate the meth problem? Legalize Cannabis for adults.
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