Pubdate: Wed, 25 Sep 2013
Source: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (OH)
Copyright: 2013 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
Contact:  http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3143
Author: Jeff Barron, The Eagle-Gazette Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?197 (Marijuana - Medicinal - Ohio)

ADAMH MULLS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Wants to Determine a Policy Should Issue Go Before Voters

LANCASTER - With voters possibly deciding the fate of medical 
marijuana in Ohio next year, the Fairfield County Alcohol, Drug 
Addiction and Mental Health Board wants to have a policy on the issue by then.

The board took the first step Tuesday by hosting a presentation of 
the Drug-Free Action Alliance at the Liberty Center.

The alliance is a nonprofit focused on preventing substance abuse 
that says marijuana should be subject to U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration standards like any other potential medicine and should 
not be decided by voters or the legislature.

Tony Coder, the assistant director of the Columbus-based group, said 
20 states have medical marijuana laws, and two states have legalized 
the drug for recreational use. However, he expressed numerous 
concerns with the issue.

"Is it a medicine?" he said. "I don't know. Components of marijuana 
have promise. It does help cancer, and in New Jersey, we see it helps 
in seizures. It helps in pain symptoms. But there are marijuana-based 
medicines already."

Coder said he doesn't have have a problem with someone who is sick or 
dying using marijuana to ease their pain. But he said the average 
person who is allowed to use medical marijuana in other states is a 
32-year-old male with no health problems. Many are approved for 
medical marijuana uses simply because they claim to be in pain, Coder said.

Coder said the issue is not a moral one, but a matter of policy. He 
said proponents of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use in Ohio say 
it comes from God, it is natural and comes from the ground, and that 
no one has ever overdosed from it. He then compared those statements 
with similar ones made about cigarettes at one time.

Coder said marijuana use is linked to schizophrenia and that 
long-term use can lower IQ numbers by 8 points.

"Now if someone has an IQ of 130 and they lose 8 points, that may not 
be so much," he said. "But the average IQ is around 100. You lose 8 
points there ... you go from average to dull."

He said that could affect school teachers whose job performance is 
based on how well students do on proficiency tests if medical use 
leads to more teens using marijuana. Coder also said marijuana users 
are subject to heart attack risks because the drug speeds up the 
heart. He additionally said marijuana impairs the body's immune 
system and leads to an increase in motor vehicle crashes.

The Recovery Center CEO Trisha Farrar said Coder's presentation was well-done.

"Tony Coder is very informed about the marijuana issue," she said. 
"The stance the Drug-Free Action Alliance takes is that we need to go 
through the FDA as we do for any other medication, and we totally 
support that stance."

Fairfield County Commissioner Dave Levacy said the presentation 
confirmed many beliefs he had.

"The term medical marijuana, first of all, I think is bogus," he 
said. "I think the idea of the medical part is a backdoor approach by 
those who would like to legalize the drug to make that happen."

ADAMH Executive Director Rhonda Myers said it's important that the 
board look at the proposed legislation for medical marijuana, examine 
it from a policy perspective and then determine a position.

"We're in the process of trying to educate ourselves and the 
information from some of these other states is personally alarming to 
me," she said. "But again, I think we need to look at all of the 
policy nuances and weigh everything."

Myers said the board also has talked about listening to a group that 
favors medical marijuana use in making its policy determination.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom