cannabisnews.com: Medical Association Committee Opposes MMJ!





Medical Association Committee Opposes MMJ!
Posted by FoM on August 28, 1999 at 12:38:43 PT
By Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The Maine Medical Association's public health committee is urging the organization's board to oppose an upcoming referendum to legalize marijuana for medical use in Maine.
Committee members said the list of diseases medical marijuana could be authorized to treat is too long and that doctors would be required to approve use of a substance without knowing how toxic or potent it is. They also said that government-approved forms of synthetic marijuana exist and criticized real marijuana as a ''gateway drug leading users to frequently use stronger illicit or harmful drugs.'' Supporters of the measure believe the committee's recommendation will have little effect on voters. The question going before voters in November asks whether Mainers should be allowed to possess ''a usable amount of marijuana for medical use'' if a doctor can document that a grower has any of several illnesses or if a doctor believes it would help a patient. The proposed law defines a usable amount as 1.25 ounces of harvested marijuana and up to six marijuana plants, no more than three of which may be mature, flowering plants. The list of qualifying ailments includes persistent nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite from AIDS or cancer treatments, glaucoma and seizures or muscle spasms from chronic diseases, such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis. Craig Brown of Mainers for Medical Rights, the group pushing the referendum, argued that the list of affected diseases and conditions is narrow. He said government-approved synthetic substitutes for marijuana are expensive, less effective and sometimes more toxic. He rejected claims that marijuana use leads to use of other drugs and downplayed concerns about varying strength and purity of marijuana. It is unclear what the Medical Association's governing body will decide when it meets in Bar Harbor on Sept. 16. Gordon Smith, the organization's executive vice president, said some doctors are concerned about the referendum's broad scope. ''Clearly there are pluses and minuses,'' Smith said. One factor that likely will figure in the upcoming debate is a report released in March by the Institute of Medicine, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences. The report concluded that marijuana may help treat pain, nausea and other medical problems. But it also recommended more research and advised that researchers should find a better way to deliver the drug, saying inhaling its smoke poses a risk of lung disease. The study said medical use should be confined to the terminally ill and those with debilitating symptoms who do not respond to traditional medication. Mainers for Medical Rights spent $390,167 by July to promote legalizing medical marijuana in Maine. Any use of the drug remains illegal under federal law. Pubdate: August 28, 1999
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Comment #1 posted by Santor on August 28, 1999 at 19:53:23 PT
Doctors Prostitute their Degrees
I bet most of the doctors who voted for this are taking kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies for recommending and prescribing their drugs over a compatitors. A common practice among many doctors in america today. Medical marijuana usage would lower the usage of other pharmaceuticals by about 20%, a hefty chunk of earnings lost to those very same doctors.
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