cannabisnews.com: Prescribing Marijuana is Not `Good Medicine'





Prescribing Marijuana is Not `Good Medicine'
Posted by FoM on July 30, 1999 at 17:18:10 PT
Letter To The Editor
Source: Miami Herald
Re medical marijuana is ``humane'' per The Herald's June 2 editorial: Toni Leeman of the Coalition Advocating Medical Marijuana comments that the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine released a report that finds medical uses for marijuana.
John A. Benson Jr., principal investigator of the institute's report, concluded, ``While we see a future in the development of chemically defined cannabinoid drugs, we see little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine.'' He also said: ``Marijuana's medical effects are generally modest, and for most symptoms there are more-effective medicines already available on the market. . .. For patients who do not respond well to other medications, however, short-term marijuana use appears to be suitable in treating conditions like chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, or the wasting caused by AIDS.''This should be tempered by other findings. In an April 7,1997 letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, Donald Tashkin, M.D. of UCLA, wrote; ``Although it is true that smoking marijuana carries no immediate risk of death, there may be serious adverse effects in the very patients for whom medicinal marijuana is most often considered."The institute report found that data do not support the contention that marijuana should be used to treat glaucoma, one of its frequently cited medical applications. Smoked marijuana can reduce some eye pressure associated with glaucoma, but only for a short period of time. These short-term effects do not outweigh the hazards associated with regular long-term use of the drug. With the exception of muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, there is little evidence of its potential for treating movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, the report says.Contrary to Ms. Leeman's contention that the public should ``educate'' the politicians with their votes, the chemistry, safety and efficacy of a potential medicine should be determined in the laboratory, not at the ballot box. Compassion that harms is cruelty.WAYNE J. ROQUESPembroke PinesPublished Friday, July 30, 1999, in the Miami Herald Copyright 1999 Miami Herald
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Comment #1 posted by martin on April 08, 2001 at 06:35:47 PT
hello
u are a drug dealer
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