Pubdate: Fri, 25 May 2001
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2001 Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.denver-rmn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Shawn E. Glazer M.D.
Note: Shawn E. Glazer is a metro Denver family-practice physician.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ocbc.htm (Oakland Cannabis Court Case)

COURT'S MARIJUANA RULING WAS NO SURPRISE

The Supreme Court's decision on May 14 that marijuana "has no currently 
accepted medical use" was no surprise. The members of the Supreme Court, 
like the rest of America, have spent decades under the thrall of propaganda 
against the "evil weed." Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Norma 
Anderson, state senator from Lakewood, said, "I'm going to assume our law 
will also be overturned. I will not shed any tears. In fact, I'm quite 
gleeful." I am continually saddened that politicians like Anderson place 
political posturing above the health and comfort of the sickest among us.

As a physician I was initially taught about marijuana only in the category 
of drugs of abuse. It was lumped in with the far more dangerous drugs 
heroin and cocaine.

Once leaving the classroom, my own patients began to open my eyes. One of 
the first to admit to me to using marijuana was an AIDS-infected, 
soft-spoken mother of two. She brewed tea from the flowers and used it to 
combat the nausea that came with the drugs she had to take to stay alive. 
Concerned about her well-being and the safety of her children I urged her 
to stop and gave her prescriptions for marinol, a synthetic derivative of 
marijuana, and different anti-nausea drugs. Over the next few months she 
lost weight and the "T-cell" count that reflected the health of her immune 
system dropped dramatically. She could no longer hold down the medications 
she needed to live. I felt I had violated medicine's primary rule of "First 
do no harm." I relented on my discouragement of marijuana use for her. As 
she began to improve, I began to research the issue on my own.

There is evidence that marijuana can be helpful in a variety of ailments 
including glaucoma, the nausea and loss of appetite that people undergoing 
cancer and AIDs treatment suffer from, and muscle pain and spasms from 
diseases like multiple sclerosis. It has risks, certainly, but no more than 
many other commonly prescribed medications.

The harmful effects of marijuana have been grossly overstated to the 
general public. It does not drive people mad or cause instant addiction. I 
have never once seen or read of a death due to pure marijuana overdose 
while I have seen patients die from overdoses of several different 
prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Every day, doctors prescribe potentially addicting opiates such as codeine. 
In doing so they do not encourage drug abuse, alcoholism, or drunk driving. 
Similarly, as a society, we must distinguish between medical use and abuse 
of any substance.

When an elected official such as Sen. Anderson says she is "quite gleeful" 
about the defeat of medical marijuana legalization, one wonders why. Would 
she be gleeful to watch patients face a choice between the risk of jail or 
taking medicine that decreases pain and prolongs lives? I pray she never 
has to make such a decision in her own life.

We must look at who wins and who loses from keeping marijuana illegal. The 
winners include the pharmaceutical companies that synthesize less effective 
and more expensive medications. Also benefiting are law enforcement 
agencies, which seize property of marijuana users and keep the proceeds.

The losers are the critically ill and their families. Some, like the young 
woman above, are fortunate not to run afoul of the law. Others are not so 
lucky. Activist Peter McWilliams suffered from both cancer and AIDS. He 
kept in decent health with the use of marijuana as an anti-nausea medicine 
- -- that is until drug enforcers arrested him and stopped him from taking 
marijuana. Peter then choked to death on his own vomit.

It is time as a society to make decisions on a higher level, decisions 
based on scientific research and respect for the individual. Like alcohol 
prohibition, marijuana prohibition has done more harm than good. Medical 
decisions belong in the laboratory and the exam room, not the courtroom.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager