Pubdate: Wed, 02 Mar 2005
Source: East Carolinian (NC Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The East Carolinian
Contact:  http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/774
Author: John Bream

LIVING IN A CULTURE OF FEAR

Limiting Knowledge Can Have Serious Repercussions

It seems that Peter Kalajian created quite a firestorm with his op-ed 
concerning the decriminalization of marijuana, which, by the way, I am in 
complete disagreement. Marijuana, Kalajian is correct, does not directly 
kill people; however, it has been linked in studies with serious 
psychological disorders such as paranoia, depression and schizophrenia. 
Show me a cigarette that does that, and can linger in the bloodstream for 
up to a month, and I'll advocate for decriminalization. When more research 
is done, Kalajian may well get his wish, but there simply is not enough 
data on the long-term effects of marijuana to allow for its 
decriminalization. If that will still be the case in 20 years, who knows?

But, I digress.

The column intrigued me, being a future medical professional - after all, 
medical marijuana is a hotly debated issue.

But, I drew the idea for this column in conjunction with a radio show 
hosted by Dr. Dean Edell that I was listening to on the long three-hour 
drive back to ECU from my hometown, Rockingham, N.C. Sunday night on 106.1 
WRDU. Marijuana usage was the premise of basically every phone call. Dr. 
Edell answered these questions and had some great information about 
research being done on marijuana.

For instance, data from a study on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, 
has led to the formation of a diet pill that inhibits THC-like chemicals in 
the brain that trigger the "munchies." Another study suggests marijuana 
could be used as a treatment for nausea patients because in addition to 
curing nausea, marijuana increases appetite/thirst and would thus decrease 
dehydration. However, the most fascinating statement Dr. Edell made was not 
concerning w hat marijuana can do, but rather what researchers aren't 
allowed to do because of strict regulation of marijuana research by the 
federal government. The United States government has prohibited research on 
some of the chemicals in marijuana so we may never know if they have any 
medicinal value. Moreover, and more frightening, what business does the 
government have in stopping the ethical pursuit of knowledge?

I will stop short, however, of saying that the government should allow all 
research to be conducted.

But, we're not talking about secretly injecting people with HIV and seeing 
how long it takes them to die or what the effects are (don't kid yourself 
and think that the government has never conducted grossly unethical 
research on humans - you only have to look back to the beginning of the 
20th century). We are talking about testing chemicals that we know aren't 
directly lethal for any possible benefit they can create for mankind. Why 
should the government ban this research?

We can also include stem cell research under this umbrella, specifically, 
the government not appropriating money for research on all available lines 
of stem cells, but on just a few. Why is the federal government limiting 
the vast potential of stem cells that may cure diseases such as paralysis, 
Alzheimer's, etc.?

History has proven that limiting the scope of human knowledge is a terrible 
idea. The lack of interest in the pursuit of knowledge helped spawn the 
Dark Ages and was one of the reasons for the collapse of Rome, the world's 
greatest empire.

I'm not preposterously suggesting that the world's lone superpower is on 
the verge of collapse because of current limits placed on scientific 
research, but am attempting to show that limiting the pursuit of knowledge 
can potentially be dangerous for society.

In our culture we are forced to live with fear everyday - terrorist attacks 
(you know, what we're funding with marijuana purchases ... give me a 
break), what is going on in North Korea and Iran, will our soldiers survive 
in Iraq today? What we should not fear is progress, or the consequences of 
progress, made by ethical scientific research, and we should not continue 
to depress the ethical limits of human knowledge and curiosity.

Living in a world where knowledge and curiosity are limited - that's the 
culture I fear.
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MAP posted-by: Beth