Pubdate: Sat, 26 Dec 2009
Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Copyright: 2009 The Spokesman-Review
Contact:  http://www.spokesman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/417
Author: James J. Flynn

PUT POT IN A PILL

Special interest groups, guided by an attorney, are  exploiting the 
idiosyncrasies of a poorly written state  law about medical marijuana 
and the state law's  conflict with federal law. Law enforcement is 
stymied,  the City Council is beleaguered and medical marijuana 
dispensaries are perceived as fronts for Mexican drug  cartels.

Like any drug, marijuana, or THC, can be therapeutic,  but it can 
also be toxic and potentially lethal if its  dosage, frequency and 
duration of use are not  controlled. The THC content of the marijuana 
sold in dispensaries or on the streets is not uniform 
or  standardized. Some marijuana sold in Missoula was  lab-tested to 
be nothing more than straw and horse  manure.

Educated, compassionate physicians understand this and  prescribe 
marinol or dronabinol, which come in capsule  or pill form. Dosage is 
thus measured, controllable and  therapeutic.

Why don't medical marijuana patients take their  medicine in pill or 
capsule form? The pharmacist is  easier and cheaper to deal with than 
the shadowy  marijuana dispensary dealers or street dealers. Legal 
ambiguity about this matter would "go up in smoke." Law  enforcement 
could relax, and the City Council would  have one less agenda item. 
Also, marijuana emergency  room usage would decrease.

James J. Flynn

Spokane
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