Pubdate: Thu, 25 Oct 2012
Source: Pine Bluff Commercial (AR)
Copyright: 2012 Stephens Media Group
Contact:  http://www.pbcommercial.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1562
Author: John Lyon

DOCTORS GROUP OPPOSES MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

LITTLE ROCK - A group of Arkansas doctors announced opposition to a
ballot proposal to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes
Wednesday, saying such use lacks scientific validation and could be
addictive.

The group sponsoring the proposed Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act
identified two Arkansas doctors, one practicing and one retired, who
support the measure and maintained many others support it but are
unwilling to do so publicly.

The proposal is Issue 5 on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Early
voting began Monday. Speaking to reporters at Baptist Health Medical
Center, the opposing doctors - 10 from Little Rock and one from Rogers
- - said they have formed a group called the Physician Coalition Against
Medical Marijuana to speak out against the measure.

Dr. David E. Smith, a palliative care physician at Baptist Health,
said supporters have been promoting the measure by stating "personal
preferences and personal anecdotes and not medical observations based
on rigorous research."

"Physicians, good physicians, shouldn't practice medicine based on
that," he said.

Smith said that as a palliative care physician, his sole purpose is to
care for people dealing with pain, many of them from terminal
illnesses. He acknowledged that cannabinoid compounds have the
potential to be medically useful, but he said they also have the
potential to be addictive.

More research and testing must be done to prove their safety and
usefulness, he said.

"My primary message today is that the so-called 'medical marijuana' is
not a scientifically validated way to relieve pain or suffering," Smith 
said.

He said more doctors are in the coalition than the 11 who attended the
news conference, but he did not know how many.

Gary Fults, president of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, told
reporters after the news conference that marijuana has worked for many
patients and said it is not addictive. He said he was not surprised to
see some doctors opposing medical marijuana.

"Think of the thousands of dollars that they make off of pain
medication," he said.

A spokesman for the sponsoring group referred reporters to Dr. David
Crittenden, who practices at the Veterans Administration hospital in
Fayetteville.

"I think there's ample evidence that marijuana as a drug helps people
with certain chronic pain conditions, and it should be legal for them
to use this drug if it helps them," Crittenden said in a phone
interview. "It should not be illegal or immoral to use a medication or
a drug that helps you. I think the safeguards that are in the proposed
act are sufficient. They have worked in other states."

Arkansas for Compassionate Care also issued a news release Wednesday
in which Marvin Singleton of Fayetteville, a retired physician and
former president of the Missouri State Medical Association, endorsed
the proposal.

"Marijuana is well known within the medical community to alleviate the
suffering of patients with MS, cancer, Crohn's Disease and other
serious illnesses," Singleton said. "If a doctor believes that a
patient could benefit from the use of medical marijuana, neither the
doctor nor the patient should face criminal penalties for pursuing
that relief."

Fults said 75 Arkansas physicians have told the group they support the
measure, but he did not have permission to name them.

"They're afraid of losing their jobs," he said.

Under the proposed initiated act, up to 30 medical marijuana
dispensaries would be allowed in the state, but cities and counties
would have the option of banning them. The marijuana would only be
available to people with certain health conditions, including chronic
pain, glaucoma, hepatitis C and those who are terminally ill, and a
doctor's recommendation would be required.

The proposal would allow limited cultivation of marijuana by a
patient, or the patient's designated caregiver, if the patient lives
more than five miles from a dispensary.

The Arkansas Pharmacists Association, Arkansas Sheriffs' Association,
Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police and a coalition of
faith-based groups called the Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Family
Values have come out in opposition to Issue 5.

The Arkansas Medical Society has not taken a position on the issue,
though its governing body is scheduled to discuss it Friday, according
to spokesman David Wroten.
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MAP posted-by: Matt