Pubdate: Fri, 10 Dec 2004
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2004 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Richard M. Beary
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

IT'S DOPE

No, doctors should not be permitted to prescribe marijuana as medicine.

The campaign to legitimize "medical" marijuana is based on the presumption 
that science views marijuana as medicine. This is blatantly false. Smoked 
marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science -- it is not medicine and 
it is not safe.

There are many long-term health consequences of marijuana use. According to 
the National Institutes of Health, marijuana contains more than 400 
chemical compounds. Studies show that someone who smokes five "joints" per 
week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who 
smokes a pack of cigarettes every day.

Smoking marijuana weakens the immune system and raises the risk of lung 
infections. Harvard University researchers report that the risk of a heart 
attack is five times higher than normal in the hour after smoking marijuana.

The American Medical Association has rejected pleas to endorse marijuana as 
medicine; instead, it recommended that marijuana remain a controlled 
substance. The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research views smoked 
marijuana as having no future as medicine.

Any determination of a drug's valid medical use must be based on the best 
available science. Smoked marijuana is not medicine -- it's dope.

Richard M. Beary, Chief of Police, Lake Mary
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D