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 - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D