cannabisnews.com: Debate on Medical Marijuana at Wilton Library 





Debate on Medical Marijuana at Wilton Library 
Posted by CN Staff on December 06, 2007 at 17:29:26 PT
By Frank MacEachern
Source: Wilton Villager 
Wilton, CT -- The debate over legalizing marijuana for medical reasons continued at a public forum at the Wilton Library Thursday. Rep. Toni Boucher, R-143, who represents Wilton in the state legislature and is a vigorous opponent of legalizing medical marijuana, continued her opposition at the forum."It [legalizing medical marijuana] is producing negative outcomes for those communities," in the 13 states where it has been legalized, said Boucher.
In June, Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill which the legislature passed advocating legalization of medical marijuana. It passed both the House of Representatives and the State Senate by comfortable margins. It would have allowed people to grow marijuana at home.Advocates for legalizing medical marijuana contend it helps people who are seriously ill. They argue marijuana smokers report they have less nausea and it helps restore their appetite better than other drugs. Michael Lawlor, D-99, who represents East Haven in the legislature, said the current law isn't working. He's a former prosecutor in the State Attorney's Office in New Haven and is currently Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of New Haven.He said police are not enforcing the law against people who they know are using marijuana for medical reasons."I think it's wrong to have laws ignored by law enforcement," he said. "If the reality doesn't conform to the theory one of them has to change."Lawlor said the public supports legalizing medical marijuana."It's a two-to-one majority in the polls and that's as good as it gets."But Boucher dismissed the polls saying they weren't accurate and said the polls responses are skewed by how the question is asked. Instead, said Boucher, when she talks to people and explains her position she said they oppose legalizing medical marijuana."I think there is more harm to this than people believe; that's why it's a Schedule I drug," she said.The federal government's guidelines says a Schedule I drug has a high potential for abuse and has little medical value.The real issue isn't medical marijuana, said a Bridgeport doctor, rather it's people who want to see marijuana decriminalized."I think there is a powerful lobby out there and they're trying to legalize this drug and the first step is decriminalization [of medical marijuana]," said Seyed H. Aleali, MD.He said there are other drugs available which can be used to treat people instead of marijuana. Those drugs are tested and their strength and side effects are known because they have gone through an extensive regulatory process."I don't think there is any medical reason for me to have it decriminalized," said Aleali. Instead, he said there are increasing studies showing marijuana is a much more addictive drug than previously thought. He said one in 11 people who use marijuana will become addicted to it. Of those who become addicted "forty percent will end up with psychosis. That is scary, that is very scary," said Aleali. Source: Wilton Villager (CT)Author: Frank MacEachernPublished: Thursday, December 06, 2007Copyright: 2007 The HourWebsite: http://www.wiltonvillager.com/Contact: fmaceachern wiltonvillager.comRelated Articles:MMJ Topic of High Debate in Wilton Forumhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23536.shtmlMMJ: Panel in Wilton To Debate The Pros & Conshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23502.shtmlRell Vetoes Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23095.shtml 
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on December 07, 2007 at 20:48:42 PT
1RastaWarrior 
Welcome to CNews.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 07, 2007 at 20:47:19 PT
LaGuardia 
It's good to see you. I've been really busy and didn't say hello. 
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Comment #8 posted by 1RastaWarrior on December 07, 2007 at 19:23:38 PT
Natural Substances = Negative Profits
“What is lacking is a mode of delivery for THC,” Dr. Aleali said of marijuana’s most psychoactive chemical, tetrahydrocannabinol. “We have drugs that are much more powerful” than marijuana, he said. “As a physician, I think I have enough stuff at my disposal.”Aleali articulates what I, and probably everyone on this board, have long known to be true - many doctors would rather have us using artificial, chemically synthesized, highly addictive and toxic pills than a natural plant that contains none of the aforementioned characteristics. It's probably because doctors are conditioned (through their schooling which is heavily influenced by Big Pharma) to believe that artificial chemicals are better for us than naturally occurring substances. Their war of misinformation and discreditation doesn't begin and end with cannabis, but extends to anything not chemically altered. I guess it's hard to profit from things that people can produce for literally nothing outside of their sweat. After all, you don't get commissions from Pfizer for prescribing cannabis to a sick patient. "There's receptors in your brain for THC Jah Jah man, so don't you try and fight the herb from Jah Jah land!"Rootz Underground
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Comment #7 posted by John Tyler on December 07, 2007 at 17:39:32 PT
better meds
I see this type of quote all the time, Seyed H. Aleali, MD said, “there are other drugs available which can be used to treat people instead of marijuana. Those drugs are tested and their strength and side effects are known because they have gone through an extensive regulatory process”. OK then what are they, and why aren’t they used then? By not giving the patients effective meds they need, they are forcing them to turn to cannabis for relief. 
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on December 07, 2007 at 07:05:43 PT
Aleali having a psychotic break?
"Of those who become addicted "forty percent will end up with psychosis. That is scary, that is very scary," said Aleali."Is he sitting at a desk wearing night vision goggles? "Scary. Very scary."That's scary that an educated person could read a flawed meta study and come to such a profound conclusion.
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Comment #5 posted by Graehstone on December 07, 2007 at 05:35:17 PT
Here's the Dr.
http://www.medicalspecialists-fairfield.com/aleali.htmlOne would think that these "learned" folks also had brains.
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Comment #4 posted by RevRayGreen on December 07, 2007 at 05:32:19 PT
Dr. Aleali 
needs his office and e-mail spammed with the truth.Run that new MPP Truck by his place :)
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Comment #3 posted by LaGuardia on December 07, 2007 at 05:25:53 PT
Psychosis
The doctor is misreading a British "metastudy" (i.e. a review of other studies) that has been referenced in this site. That study of other studies, which is arguably flawed (because of bias by the researches and poor methodology used in the underlying studies), found that people who used marijuana were 40% more likely to develop psychosis than the base rate for psychosis in the general population. The base rate for, e.g., schizophrenia in the general population is about 3 out of 1000, so using marijuana arguably raises your chance of developing schizophrenia from 3 out of 1000 to a little over 4 out of 1000.But . . . this is only shown by the metastudy to be a correlative, not a causal, association, so it is as likely as not that people with psychosis just like to smoke pot, not that pot causes psychosis. The base rate of psychosis in the general population is higher than the rate of schizophrenia (which is a subset of psychosis), but the statistic is not that an "addicted" marijuana user has a 40% chance of developing psychosis; the statistic is that pot use correlates to a 40% rise in the base rate of psychosis.Most epidemiologists consider this sort 40% up tick from the very low base rate to be insignificant, but since "marijuana is bad" it becomes headline news and is distorted so that it seems that marijuana users have a 40% chance of developing psychosis (hello "Reefer Madness"). Usually it is only the general public who misunderstands this statistic because it is presented in a misleading way; Dr. Aleali should know better and probably does.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 06, 2007 at 19:19:51 PT
CBS: Marijuana Distributor Files Suit Against DEA
December 6, 2007LOS ANGELES (CBS) ¯ The Arts District Healing Center, a Los Angeles-based medical marijuana provider, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday, claiming that the Drug Enforcement Administration extorted its landlord by sending a letter threatening imprisonment and property seizure.  James Shaw, a spokesman for the center, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Co-plaintiffs are the Healing Center and Union of Medical Marijuana Providers. Complete Article: http://cbs2.com/local/Medical.Marijuana.DEA.2.604609.html
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Comment #1 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 06, 2007 at 17:39:34 PT:
Unbelieveable
"I don't think there is any medical reason for me to have it decriminalized," said Aleali. Instead, he said there are increasing studies showing marijuana is a much more addictive drug than previously thought. He said one in 11 people who use marijuana will become addicted to it. Of those who become addicted "forty percent will end up with psychosis. That is scary, that is very scary," said Aleali."
 40% will end up with psychosis???? Where are your studies to support this doc??Get off those prescription pills and wake up.
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