Pubdate: Thu, 13 May 2010
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2010 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n357/a04.html
Author: Michael Orlin

MARIJUANA NOT TOTALLY SAFE

Re. "Educate yourself on marijuana" by Colette Wilson, letters, May 10

As a medical professional I feel compelled to respond to Colette 
Wilson's letter about marijuana's safety. I am on St. Joseph's 
Hospital Pain Management team, and we have studied the medical use of 
marijuana. It is incorrect to say that marijuana is a totally safe 
drug. The known side effects include immunosuppression, increased 
risk of heart attack and high blood pressure. These side effects are 
probably related to problems created through smoking marijuana: 
marijuana smoke contains 400 different chemicals (including 60 
cannabinoids, the active ingredients). Some studies have shown 
marijuana smoke to be 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic than 
cigarette smoke. Other studies have shown that people who don't smoke 
tobacco but smoke marijuana have a lower risk of developing lung 
cancer than tobacco smokers, but those who smoke both have 
significantly higher odds of developing the cancer. These effects are 
over the long-term and thus are hard to quantify, but it is almost 
certainly wrong to say that no one has ever directly died from the 
use of marijuana causing lung cancer or complicating other medical 
conditions (not taking into account how the sensory altering effects 
can lead to deadly accidents).

Alcohol poisoning is a direct effect from the use of too much 
alcohol, and should not be categorized in the same way as marijuana 
use, which has no known similar effect. Alcohol abuse has well known 
effects over the long-term, such as liver cirrhosis and malnutrition. 
Whether marijuana is safer than alcohol is an apple and oranges 
question. Marijuana is a drug, and like any drug has benefits and 
problems. Users, and those considering using MJ for medical reasons 
should take the advantages and disadvantages into consideration. Most 
literature available is biased towards either the pro or the con side 
of the argument, so it takes careful deliberation of the known 
effects. And, medical marijuana should never be prescribed for anyone 
under 18, who don't typically have the judgment skills to make good 
decisions about the use of this psychoactive drug, just as they don't 
for alcohol use.

Michael Orlin

Silverthorne
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom