Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2012
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Ed Gogek
Note: Dr. Ed Gogek is an addiction psychiatrist and board member of
KeepAZDrugFree, the committee opposing Arizona's "medical" marijuana law.

'MEDICAL' MARIJUANA A HEALTH RISK FOR SOCIETY

Since California passed the country's first "medical" marijuana law in
1996, 15 other states have passed similar laws. However, many in these
same states are now fighting to repeal or restrict these laws.

Citing increased crime and decreased property values, cities in
California are fighting for the right to ban dispensaries. Washington
and Delaware just halted their dispensary programs. Colorado passed a
law requiring doctors to actually evaluate their patients before
prescribing marijuana. Hawaiian legislators are considering several
bills to eliminate the worst abuses of their marijuana law. And in
Montana, the Legislature voted to repeal their law. It was only spared
by the governor's veto.

Voters also have become more wary. Some of the earlier "medical"
marijuana initiatives, in Maine, Montana and Nevada, received more
than 60 percent of the vote. In 2010, however, Arizona's initiative
squeaked by with just 50.1 percent, South Dakota's lost with only 37
percent in favor, and Oregon voters rejected adding dispensaries to
their program.

There's good reason for the growing opposition. These programs are
barely medical; the marijuana goes almost entirely to recreational
use.

That shouldn't surprise anyone. The idea that smoking marijuana is
medicine didn't come from doctors or medical researchers. It came from
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
That organization and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), another
group whose sole mission is to legalize pot, are behind every
"medical" marijuana law in the country.

Their main message is an impassioned plea to allow suffering,
terminally ill people access to "medicine." However, once these laws
pass, most "medical" marijuana users claim pain, not serious illness.
In Arizona, 85 percent get their marijuana for pain. In Colorado and
Oregon, it's 94 percent.

Pain is a medical problem, but it's also a favorite complaint of drug
addicts. It's easy to fake and impossible to disprove. And there's
good evidence that most of these patients are not telling the truth.

An analysis of 23 studies found that more women than men seek help for
chronic pain. Another study, from Australia, found that pain patients
were 55 percent female. On the other hand, the latest National Survey
of Drug Use and Health found that adult cannabis users are 74 percent
male. So if the marijuana patients are genuinely seeking help for
pain, then they will be mostly female. If they are substance abusers
who are pretending to have chronic pain, then they will be about
three-fourths male.

Only two states report on the gender of their "medical" marijuana
patients. In Arizona, 75 percent are male. In Colorado, it's 69 percent.

How can these patients be mostly male if they're almost all claiming
pain, and pain patients are mostly female? The only explanation is
that the vast majority are either faking or exaggerating their
symptoms just to get high.

Doctors try to screen out drug abusers, but most marijuana patients
get their prescriptions from a handful of doctors who realized they
could get rich by writing marijuana recommendations to just about
anyone who pays their fee. In Montana, eight doctors have written
three-fourths of all the recommendations. These docs even advertise:
marijuana evaluations, no appointment needed. If a doctor advertised
and prescribed Oxycontin that way, he'd lose his license and go to
jail. But "medical" marijuana laws are written to protect these pot
docs. It's a huge loophole.

That's why there's a backlash. People feel hoodwinked. They voted for
compassionate care, not drug abuse.

Besides, the medical benefit is overstated. Advocates claimed for
years that marijuana can treat glaucoma, but research disagrees. The
Glaucoma Foundation now warns patients against using marijuana because
it can damage the optic nerve and make glaucoma worse.

The most serious problems caused by "medical" pot are auto accidents
and teenage pot smoking. An analysis of several studies, published
this year in the British Medical Journal, found that drivers under the
influence of marijuana had nearly twice as many serious and fatal car
wrecks as nonusers. Both California and Montana documented increased
traffic fatalities caused by drivers with marijuana components in
their bloodstreams, coinciding with increased use of "medical" marijuana.

The National Survey of Drug Use and Health also shows that teenage
marijuana use is 25 percent higher in "medical" marijuana states.
Teens who smoke pot do worse in school and, later on, do worse in
their careers. They also have twice the school dropout rate of
nonsmokers. Teenage alcohol use, on the other hand, is only slightly
correlated with dropping out. Advocates claim pot is not as bad as
alcohol, but for teens who want to stay in school, marijuana is worse.

"Medical" marijuana is almost entirely a ruse, with very serious
social side effects. States with these laws should consider repeal.
States without "medical" pot should count their blessings.
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MAP posted-by: Matt