Pubdate: Mon, 06 Aug 2012 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2012 The Arizona Republic Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Doug Banfelder MEDICAL-POT PATIENTS HAVE RIGHT TO CHOOSE It is very odd to hear Arizona elected officials promoting the primacy of federal mandate over a law passed by the state's voters, as Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk and other county attorneys recently have ("Brewer urged to halt pot program," Republic, Tuesday). It appears that Polk and 12 other county attorneys are all of one mind when it comes to marijuana: Any production and distribution is criminal, and any use of the drug constitutes abuse. They seem to have concluded that the electorate must have been confused when voting for the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), and so now they are simply trying to save us from ourselves. A career prosecutor and co-chair of a county substance-abuse group, Polk, who is generally noted for impartiality, seems incapable of accepting that marijuana has legitimate medicinal benefit, and that patients choosing it over synthetic pharmaceuticals are exercising their right to make an alternative, natural health-care choice. Such patients are everyday Arizonans. Among cardholders are accountants, hair stylists, auto mechanics, entrepreneurs, plumbers, chefs, management professionals, retirees, community volunteers, neighbors, parents and grandparents. The fact is there is no stereotypical medical-marijuana patient. Ms. Polk is dismissive of patients who obtain cards for severe and chronic pain; she recently mischaracterized the condition as "self-defined." This is incorrect. To qualify for a card, a doctor must perform an extensive review of a prospective patient's medical records, clearly making any finding of pain as a qualifying condition doctor-defined. And given that pain management is a $60 billion industry, with nearly 100 million Americans suffering from chronic pain, why is it surprising that so many seek a patient card in order to obtain relief? Put into proper context, it is easy to understand why "severe and chronic pain" is the largest category of debilitating conditions under the AMMA. As for men comprising the majority of cardholders, many of them relatively young, consider the following: Who usually performs the most labor-intensive work? Who is most attracted to extreme sports? Who is most at risk for spinal-cord injury? Men 18 to 24. And as many of us know only too well, the cumulative effects of those activities don't always present themselves until later in life. The American public is well ahead of the political class on marijuana policy. Many of those in power remain tone-deaf to public opinion, ignore mounting evidence of marijuana as medicine and continue favoring (and funding) enforcement-only approaches that have demonstrably failed over the course of many decades. Rather than attacking the Arizona Department of Health Services for creating a responsible program in line with what voters approved, Ms. Polk and company should instead focus on the heroin plague raging in our schools and the abuse of prescription painkillers, which has now reached epidemic levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House Office on National Drug Control Policy calls abuse of prescription painkillers "the nation's fastest-growing drug problem." Leave the AMMA, its patients and businesspeople be. Threatening peaceable, productive everyday Arizona citizens with legal sanctions is contradictory to a pillar of Americanism -- freedom of choice. Voters in an increasing number of states are expressing their desire for more finely attenuated policies that permit marijuana for medicinal use and manage it by way of stringent state regulation. This can be and is being done elsewhere. Arizona medical-marijuana cardholders would welcome productive dialogue with our county attorneys and other community leaders in developing new, more-effective policies for drug education and program management. Doug Banfelder is a non-cultivating caregiver under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and a member of Americans for Safe Access. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt