cannabisnews.com: Can Marijuana Be Medicine?





Can Marijuana Be Medicine?
Posted by FoM on October 26, 2000 at 09:40:15 PT
By Luther Symons 
Source: The Gazette
When voters go to the polls on Nov. 7, they will have the opportunity to provide Coloradoans suffering from debilitating illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS or multiple sclerosis an additional treatment option for their illnesses. Amendment 20 will allow doctors and patients, not the government, to make medical decisions regarding the appropriateness of marijuana as a medical treatment.Marijuana has long been known to provide relief from the nausea associated with chemotherapy treatments for cancer or the wasting syndrome often associated with AIDS. 
Additionally, recent studies have documented the pain management features of marijuana. It is a substance that relieves the painful pressure in the eyes caused by glaucoma.Numerous scientific studies - past and ongoing - provide evidence of these medical benefits. Under current Colorado law, however, should patients seek relief by using marijuana in consultation with their physicians they become criminals. This is because there is no exception to criminal use and possession statutes concerning marijuana for legitimate medical use. It is exactly this situation that Amendment 20 seeks to redress. Amendment 20 provides a tightly controlled process to ensure that only qualifying patients - and no one else - will have access to marijuana legally. Patients will be required to get a written diagnosis of a listed debilitating illness from a licensed physician. The patient (or the caregiver for those too ill to handle their own affairs) will be provided a registry card identifying them as protected individuals under Amendment 20.Generally, in America, we take the view that more treatment options are better than fewer for medical professionals treating seriously ill patients. Amendment 20 will give Colorado doctors and patients one additional useful tool for dealing with the symptoms of debilitating conditions. This is certainly not to suggest that doctors should not pursue other options such as traditional pharmaceuticals but rather that they should have the right to discuss the medical use of marijuana with their patients and recommend it when appropriate. There are those who suggest that by passing Amendment 20, Colorado voters will be sending the wrong message to our children by telling them that it's OK to smoke marijuana. In reality, Amendment 20 sends exactly the opposite message: marijuana should be tightly controlled and used only under medical conditions with the consultation of a doctor. Any other use of marijuana would still be prohibited by law following passage of Amendment 20. Unlike California's Proposition 215, passed in 1996, the Colorado amendment would provide numerous safeguards against abuse. Law enforcement officials will confront little, if any, uncertainty about the applicability of the law to individuals caught using or possessing marijuana since qualifying patients will have proof - their registry cards - that they are protected. Additionally, Amendment 20 specifically states that employers do not have to accommodate medical marijuana in the workplace and patients are prohibited from using medical marijuana in public places.By passing Amendment 20, Colorado voters will be sending the strongest possible message that it is not right to make criminals out of seriously and terminally ill people in Colorado. Rather it is in keeping with the values and compassion of the citizens of this state to declare in the strongest possible terms that our doctors and patients should have the ability to pursue valid treatment options without the fear of criminal sanctions.Coloradans for Medical Rights 2000 is the proponent committee for Amendment 20, the Medical Marijuana Initiative. Please contact us at (303) 753-3625, or e-mail: info medicalmarijuana.comYes: Ballot Proposal Includes Safeguards to Prevent Abuse:Symons is patient spokesperson for Coloradans for Medical Rights 2000.Coloradans For Medical Rights: http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/No: Drug Hasn't Met Federal Standards for Approval:By John Wesley AndersonThis election, Colorado voters will be faced with Amendment 20, the marijuana ballot initiative. This is an attempt to amend our state constitution in order to legalize the medical use of marijuana for persons suffering from "debilitating medical conditions." While this appears on the surface to be a compassionate and humane answer to very serious medical issues, in fact, it is not a panacea, but an approach that will have devastating effects on the future of our state. It is my position that the legalization of smoking marijuana for medical purposes is neither good medicine nor good law. Popular vote is not an appropriate way for Americans to decide which medicines are the safest and most effective cures. It is a misuse of the ballot initiative, an abuse of our constitution and it would undermine the rigorous process already in place through the Food and Drug Administration. Currently, the FDA requires a drug to pass an eight-stage testing process before it can be made available to the public. The smoking of marijuana for medicinal purposes has passed none of these eight stages. The bypassing of FDA scrutiny means that the public cannot be assured that smoking marijuana is a safe and effective medicine or that the benefits of using it outweigh the risks. In addition, over the last 20 years, federal agencies such as the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Public Health Service, have determined that smoking marijuana has no redeeming medicinal value and is, in fact, harmful to one's health.Furthermore, pharmaceutical THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is currently available in an oral prescription form. This prescription is referred to medically as Marinol. However, it has been found that the drug Marinol has several potential adverse effects and the FDA has determined that there are now medicines that have proven to be more effective than Marinol. In addition, based on extensive studies conducted by the manufacturers of Marinol, they have concluded that THC is an extremely harmful drug. Most importantly, according to the Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention, a nonprofit drug awareness organization, marijuana is considered to be a gateway drug for our youth, leading to the use and abuse of more dangerous drugs such as heroin and cocaine. For example, of those who smoke marijuana three to 10 times, 20 percent go on to use cocaine; of those who use marijuana 100 or more times, 75 percent go on to use cocaine. Those who do not use marijuana at all almost never become cocaine users. If we want to decrease the rate of teenage drug use and prevent teen-agers from using more dangerous drugs, lessons taught in our DARE programs, we must continue to oppose all efforts to legalize marijuana.When deciding on how to vote on a ballot issue it is important to closely examine those groups that are in support and those in opposition to the proposal. Opposing Amendment 20 from the public safety community are the County Sheriffs of Colorado, Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, Colorado District Attorneys Council and the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police. Also, in opposition to this amendment from the medical community are the Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Academy of Family Practitioners, Colorado Health and Hospital Association and the Colorado Dental Association. These Colorado-based organizations oppose Amendment 20, while at the same time the vast majority of funding for the campaign in support of Amendment 20 comes from California-based Americans for Medical Rights. We, in Colorado, need to become fully aware of the devastating effects Amendment 20 would have on our society. Recently, in Arizona and California, apathy by citizens in those states led to the approval of this dangerous movement to legalize the medical use of marijuana. In Colorado, we need to overcome apathy, through education, to ensure that the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes does not become part of our state constitution. I would urge you to please send a loud and resounding message to those that want to legalize marijuana for any reason by voting no on Amendment 20.Anderson is El Paso County sheriff.Source: Gazette, The (CO) Author: Luther Symons Published: October 26, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Gazette Address: Tell it to The GazetteP.O.Box 1779, Colorado Springs CO 80901 Fax: (719) 636-0202 Contact: gtop gazette.com Website: http://www.gazette.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Coloradans For Medical Rights http://www.medicalmarijuana.com/Anti-20 Arguments Make You Wonder http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7402.shtmlEndorsement: No on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7217.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Colorado:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=colorado
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Comment #7 posted by 1bluntsmoka on October 31, 2000 at 07:25:45 PT
i agree
hell yea weed is good fo u shit man herb can heal the mid and the soul......trust me
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Comment #6 posted by Stan White on October 27, 2000 at 19:51:03 PT:
kaneh bosm
10-27-00To the Gazette,Dear Editor, Regarding: No: Drug Hasn't Met Federal Standards for Approval: By John Wesley Anderson, Oct. 26, 2000.It prompts me to speak up when Anderson is this far off base.“Popular vote” is the only way to steer the government onto a realistic course so we do not cage the majority of our neighbors and citizens, John. The FDA knows full well that through over 5,000 years of known use, not one soul has ever died using cannabis, which is thus safer than the FDA approved aspirin I buy over the counter. The Concerned Citizens for Drug Prevention uses outdated info and even our own government studies now show that marijuana is not a gateway drug as originally used as government propaganda. The DARE failure that the government is looking into currently is specifically that it does not differentiate between heroin and cannabis, which is not teaching to the highest attainable levels and thought to be core for failing our kids.John, as I closely examine those groups that you list that support caging my sick neighbor for using cannabis I notice that most of those are people that grotesquely profit from the war for profit and should not be good indicators of good law since they benefit from the carnage. Elementary. You conveniently did not list the medical groups that DO indorse the decision of medical use of medical marijuana as an issue between patients and doctors, not patients and the government.John, you said, “In Colorado, we need to overcome apathy” and you do not “want to legalize marijuana for any reason”. As a Christian I am more comfortable through my Father in Heaven treating my neighbor with love and tolerance and compassion instead of your ilk’s Zero tolerance. The governments own statistics also say that 1 out of 4 Americans will have to confront cancer, which means every family will face it just like I have when I lost a 17-year-old boy to Leukemia cancer. The apathy you are encouraging your fellow neighbor to toss will be needed when you see your loved one puking and retching so bad for a week at a time and your informed that marijuana will in some cases help that great discomfort. That gagging is so bad that in some instances it will break a rib in a person. Lord rebuke you, to ask me to overcome apathy toward my neighbor.I hope to see more articles that expose the war for profit, for what it is. Our country is due for sensible realistic revolutionary change, now. Politicians are responsible for giving away something they have no right to give away, our Constitutional Rights. The Government is too aggressive in discriminatarily caging its citizens and thus creating rampid contempt for Government and its laws. Sincerely, Stan White116 Climax Dr.Dillon, CoUSA80435970-468-1379stanwmtn colorado.net 
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Comment #5 posted by ras jams on October 26, 2000 at 16:45:37 PT
"healing of the nation"
cannabis sativa has manifested as "THE TREE OF LIFE".in the book of revelation, 22:1&2, it states the "leaves shall be used to heal the nations". so have no fear of atomic weapons, lies, insane laws; none of these can stop the times. for the herb has manifested in these times as a medical wonder drug with the 1988 findings of cannabinoid receptors; but even more than this, herb has healed the wounded spiritual lives of the world's people. FOR HERB IS TODAY A BOOK MARK IN THE HOLY BIBLE THAT SHOWS ALL MANKIND THAT WE, AS A PEOPLE, HAVE MADE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT TO THE FINAL DAY...WHICH IS NOW IN "THE CIY OF GOD" AND TO THE FINAL JUDGEMENT OF THE ALMIGHTY IN THE BIBLE..."the grace of the lord jesus be with all." this is known as a "reggae redem"...reggae redemption in case you don't know. give all praise and thanks to JAH RASTAFARI who liveth and reigneth in I and I.many rastas still linger in the old testment...but be not fooled for as rasta bob marley sang "revelations reveals the true revolution."...the reason only one in a thousand rastas has a complete overstanding of the ETERNAL REDEMPTION is the ALMIGHTY'S ALL-FORGIVING GRACE which forgives the ALL for the sins of the past, present, and future...even for those who never repented their evil...but then this world truth truly makes it "AMAZING GRACE". 
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Comment #4 posted by observer on October 26, 2000 at 14:02:43 PT
No Mention of Jail, Again
Popular vote is not an appropriate way for Americans to decide which medicines are the safest and most effective curesClassic red-herring by a typical law-enforcement ("we don't make the law, we just enforce it") liar.The whole issue is over whether or not to JAIL people for using this plant. The issue being voted on is not whether or not this or that medicine is more effective than this or that other substance. JAIL, PRISON, INCARCERATION. That's the issue. These prohibitioni$t illegalizer$ constantly throw that red-herring at people, and people fall for it way too often. Jail, jail, jail! Notice that the law-enforcement-liar never mentioned jail there? That omission was no accident. He, the DAs and the prison gaurd unions opposing this issue don't give a hoot about the relative effectiveness of medicines; they care about their income, money, their bottom line: an income that is threatened by returning to adult Americans this tiny sliver of traditional freedom. Let's cut their income off completely, and restore these traditional freedoms over the most fundamental of all posessions: our very own bodies. 
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Comment #3 posted by kanabys on October 26, 2000 at 10:38:49 PT
///
>>Popular vote is not an appropriate way for Americans to decide which medicines are the safest and most effective curesOh, so I guess hiring an army general to do so is????
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Comment #2 posted by mungojelly on October 26, 2000 at 10:28:10 PT:
Sheriff Anderson
If Sheriff Anderson actually examined any of the "extensive studies" of Marinol, then he is a liar. Perhaps he merely had them summarized to him by a liar. Or, most likely, he hasn't heard anything about the studies even second hand, and his statements were pure fabrication. That "THC is an extremely harmful drug" is not something which the antis actually consider up for debate. They do not care what the studies say, except when they can find in them some misleading statistic to use as a tool of propoganda. Their only relationship to science is that they have discovered how easy it is to lie about it. The average American does not read scientific journals; they do not have their own labs in their basements; they have no way to double-check the conclusions of government "scientists." Therefore the only check on this rampant dishonesty is the willingness of the scientists, the media, the people who are paying attention -- YOU AND ME -- to come forward and challenge their absurd assertions. We have been bullied into allowing these creeps to put forward anything they like as "scientific facts." Let us start standing up and telling them that we will not let science be yet another victim of their ignorance and singlemindedness. 
mungojelly
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan on October 26, 2000 at 09:55:52 PT:
damned lies
"In addition, based on extensive studies conducted by the manufacturers of Marinol, they have concluded that THC is an extremely harmful drug." This fellow is sworn to uphold the law, and truth. How can he say this? Marinol proved to be so dangerous that the it was downscheduled from II to III last year by the DEA since no diversion, and no dependency issues arose. The same should apply to cannabis itself, which medically is far more useful. Perhaps Roxane Labs would like to sue this fellow for libel.
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