Pubdate: Wed, 5 Nov 2008
Source: State Hornet, The (CA State, Sacramento, Edu)
Copyright: 2008 State Hornet
Contact: http://www.statehornet.com/home/lettertotheeditor/
Website: http://www.statehornet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1400
Author: Princess Calabrese
Referenced: The OPED by Joycelyn Elders 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n498/a02.html
Cited: Medical Marijuana ProCon http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA: WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

I've just finished watching a commercial from the advertising 
campaign Above the Influence. You know, those extremely factual 
commercials that show legit reasons for not smoking weed. Remember 
the commercial when the girl goes into the kitchen to grab something 
to drink and her dog starts talking to her about her habit?

What did I learn from this? If you smoke a little green, dogs will 
start talking to you. Yes, you will actually be able to speak to 
animals. Now don't go thinking this is cool or anything. If you spark 
up a joint, animals will follow you and incessantly comment on why 
they think you should quit smoking. So don't start.

What do people find so alluring about weed anyway? It will not only 
destroy your future, but also your bones. Yes, you read that 
correctly: Marijuana will destroy your bones. I learned this from 
another Above the Influence commercial I saw awhile back. Apparently, 
once you start smoking weed, all your bones completely disappear! The 
commercial doesn't exactly state how they disappear, but the pothead 
in the commercial is nothing but a saggy sack of human flesh draped 
onto the couch. So this is what I gather from that: smoking weed = 
complete bone loss.

Surprisingly, I don't think the real issues with marijuana are the 
talking dogs or the bone loss. I think it's the fact that people 
can't seem to agree whether or not the reefer should be considered a 
legitimate drug that deserves the federal government's stamp of approval.

In March 2004, former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders wrote an 
editorial in Providence Journal stating, "The evidence is 
overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, 
nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as 
multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS - or by the harsh drugs sometimes 
used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, 
marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians 
prescribe every day."

Is it true? Is marijuana really less harmful?

On June 24, 2005 procon.org sent a Freedom of Information Act request 
to the Food and Drug Administration. The organization wanted 
information on the number of deaths caused by marijuana versus the 
number of deaths caused by 17 FDA-approved drugs. Twelve of the 17 
drugs are frequently issued in place of medical marijuana and five 
are just commonly used by society.

Procon.org found that marijuana (otherwise known as Cannabis sativa 
L), is the primary suspect of zero deaths in the United States and is 
the contributing suspect to 279 deaths. The other 17 drugs approved 
by the FDA are the primary suspects of a total of 10,008 deaths and 
are the contributing suspects to 1, 670 deaths.

So if Mary Jane isn't the primary suspect of any recorded deaths and 
it has been proven to actually help people, what's the big deal? 
There are people out there who actually need medical marijuana to 
alleviate their pain. Those people shouldn't get shunned aside 
because of the propaganda behind marijuana. Let the doctors do their 
jobs. If they see medical marijuana as a necessary prescription for 
their patients, then let those patients have their medicine. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake