Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2014
Source: Times-Tribune, The (Scranton PA)
Copyright: 2014 Townnews.com
Contact:  http://www.thetimes-tribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4440

LEGALIZE MEDICINAL POT

Marijuana has held an odd place in American culture, especially since 
the federal government specifically outlawed it in 1937. That 
followed the release of the 1936 movie, "Reefer Madness," which today 
is widely lampooned for its over-the-top depictions of pot's 
addictiveness and effects on smokers, along with its warnings about 
other evils - especially jazz.

Marijuana's reputation always has exceeded its actual danger, as 
noted in a recent column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by longtime 
forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht. He said he had seen many cases in 
which legally prescribed narcotics had played roles, but never one in 
which marijuana was the cause of death.

In recent years many state governments have taken a much more 
rational approach to marijuana. Only two states, Colorado and 
Washington, have legalized marijuana for casual use. But 20 states 
and the District of Columbia have approved it for medical use.

Marijuana is prescribed in those areas for an array of conditions 
ranging from late-stage cancer to several neurological degenerative 
diseases and epilepsy.

Every day in every community, doctors prescribe drugs for patients 
that, if misused, are far more dangerous than marijuana. That medical 
professionals may prescribe those drugs but are precluded by law from 
prescribing marijuana to help suffering patients is irrational.

State Sen. Mike Folmer, a Lebanon County Republican, has introduced a 
bill to legalize medicinal marijuana use in Pennsylvania, joining 
longtime advocate Sen. Daylin Leach, a Delaware County Democrat.

Most Pennsylvanians get it. A recent Quinnipiac University poll, with 
just a 2.6 percent margin of error, found that a whopping 85 percent 
approve of physician-prescribed medicinal marijuana.

The Legislature should not act on polls alone, but that public view 
also is supported by science and a clear need. The true reefer 
madness would be to deny the substance to patients whose suffering it 
could alleviate.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom