Pubdate: Tue, 11 Dec 2012
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2012 The Arizona Republic
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Laurie Roberts
Page: B1

MEDICAL MARIJUANA A CHARADE

I was all set to go along with the charade. All the talk of 
"patients," of "caregivers" and "medicine."

But the picture of the teenager holding his skateboard as he came out 
of Arizona's first medical-marijuana dispensary ... Oh, come on. 
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery didn't see the photo in 
Friday's newspaper, but he says it's an accurate reflection of 
Arizona's medical-marijuana program.

"There's not a single state with a medical-marijuana act or anything 
similar that hasn't turned into a recreational-use program," he said.

Potheads have been rejoicing for a week now, ever since Superior 
Court Judge Michael Gordon ruled that Arizona is good to go. The fact 
that marijuana is illegal under the federal Controlled Substances Act 
shouldn't stop the state from doling out doobies, Gordon ruled last Tuesday.

By Thursday, the state's first marijuana dispensary opened in 
Glendale, with another to come in Tucson later this month and 124 
more to follow soon in a neighborhood near you.

"Patients," the dispensary's attorney Ryan Hurley proclaimed, "are 
finally going to have the access voters intended them to have to 
medicine that makes them feel better."

Listening to Hurley, you would think all the state's 
glaucoma-stricken grannies were lining up at the pot clinic last 
week. That's not what I saw, and it's not what the numbers reflect. 
Not even close. Medical marijuana eked its way into Arizona in 2010, 
as 50.17 percent of voters were sold on the law as a way to ease the 
symptoms of glaucoma or provide relief to a loved one battling cancer.

The law allows anyone with a doctor's recommendation to obtain a 
state-issued card, entitling them to 21/2 ounces of pot every two 
weeks. If they don't want to grow their own, they can obtain it from 
a licensed "caregiver" - basically anybody who isn't a certain sort 
of felon - or, eventually, head down to their neighborhood non-profit 
pot dispensary.

Nearly 34,000 Arizonans now hold cards giving them permission to 
smoke or grow weed, according to the Arizona Department of Health 
Services. Of them, a whopping 3.76 percent use marijuana to ease the 
symptoms of cancer. An additional 1.53 percent suffer from glaucoma, 
while 1.06 percent have AIDS.

Meanwhile 89.8 percent - 30,203 people - are seeking relief for 
"severe and chronic pain." Nearly 73 percent of "patients" are men, 
and the people most likely to seek relief from their pain are 18 to 
30 years old. More than 26 percent of cardholders are 18-30, while 13 
percent are over 60.

Meanwhile, just 10 doctors certified 46 percent of all 
medical-marijuana patients during the first 15 months of the program, 
according to an ADHS annual report. One busy naturopath recommended 
2,557 people - about 12 percent of all medical-marijuana patients.

I'm guessing that doctor might have gotten his own card: hand cramp, 
you know, from writing all those recommendations.

Now, before you bash me, I'm all for someone suffering from a 
legitimate illness getting access to pot if a physician feels it'll 
ease his or her pain. But as for those recreational users getting 
dope under the guise of "medicine," let's at least not delude 
ourselves about what's going on here by calling them patients.

The more honest approach would be to go the way of Colorado and 
Washington, where voters legalized marijuana last month. Then, at 
least, we could tax the heck of it, as we do with cigarettes, and put 
the cartels out of the pot-smuggling business.

But if this whole medical marijuana movement is truly about helping 
those in terrible pain, there is a way to do it: Get the U.S. 
attorney general to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug under 
the Controlled Substances Act, allowing it to be prescribed just like 
morphine or oxycodone.

"If you go that route, I, as a law-enforcement official, have no 
problem with it whatsoever," said Montgomery, who is appealing Judge 
Gordon's ruling. "This wink and a nod, it doesn't serve anybody who 
may be able to legitimately benefit, nor does it really serve us as a 
society where we're playing games with the law."

Until that happens, though, I'm hoping to become Patient No. 2,558 of 
a certain naturopath. I, too, have severe and chronic pain, you see, 
or I will soon enough.

The Arizona Legislature convenes in just 34 days.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom