Pubdate: Wed, 26 Mar 2014
Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
Column: Higher Ground
Copyright: 2014 C.E.G.W./Times-Shamrock
Contact:  http://www.metrotimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1381
Author: Larry Gabriel
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - U.S.)

ARWOOD RELUCTANTLY APPROVES PTSD TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIST

Copping Out on Pot.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is the first new condition added to 
the list of qualifying conditions since the Michigan Medical 
Marihuana Act went into effect in 2008. Steve Arwood, director of the 
state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, approved the 
recommendation of the advisory panel last week. Apparently the 
system, as set up in the MMMA -- can work.

As long as it took, it still puts Michigan at the forefront on PTSD. 
Of the 20 states (plus the District of Columbia) with medical 
marijuana laws, Michigan is just the sixth to allow it for treatment 
of PTSD. And, ironically, it came the same week the federal 
Department of Health and Human Services finally gave long-delayed 
approval to the University of Arizona to study marijuana as a 
potential treatment for veterans with PTSD.

Arwood, an appointee of Gov. Rick Snyder, was decidedly less than 
enthusiastic about the approval. His press release read like 
something cobbled together to appease various political concerns. 
First of all he cited the 6-2 vote to approve by the panel, 
particularly that of Michigan's chief medical executive, Dr. Matthew 
Davis, and said that he was required to carefully consider this 
recommendation. So far, so good.

He goes on to say, "I do remain very concerned with the scope of this 
approval and the process in general." Apparently complaining about 
rules that were in place at the time he took the job in January 2013. 
But I'll not quibble much about that.

But here's where he runs off the tracks. He points out that PTSD is a 
mental health issue and that this approval steps away from using 
marijuana only for physical disease. A little later, he gets into his 
concerns over the "insufficient evidence" on the effect of marijuana 
on minors. Then he really goes off the rails in saying: "[I]t remains 
my belief that expansion of the statute should be in the hands of the 
legislature, not the Director of the Department of Licensing and 
Regulatory Affairs."

The guy doesn't want to do the job he was hired to do. In addition to 
the fact that this is the process specifically set up by the MMMA.

Arwood is a political creature. He served as deputy director at the 
Michigan Jobs Commission for Gov. John Engler, and was director for 
the House of Representatives Programs and Policy. To me, the press 
release reads like the guy felt like he had to do it but felt like he 
had to address the concerns of key factions out there. Arwood sounds 
like an old anti-drug warrior who just doesn't want to agree with the 
evidence before his eyes, yet feels he has to.

First of all, he didn't have to approve it. It's up to his discretion 
whether to allow new conditions. I'm sure there was some 
behind-the-scenes dickering from interested parties here. I mean, 
we're talking about a state agency and an issue for which people have 
very strong opinions. But the cop-out of laying it at the 
legislators' feet is amazing. The 11-member MMMA review panel has six 
physicians, and the five non-physician members include a 
psychologist, a professor of pharmacy and other health professionals. 
Only Dave Brogren, president of Cannabis Patients United, could truly 
be considered a nonmedical professional.

My point is that a doctor-heavy panel made the recommendation, yet 
Arwood wants politicians to decide. He wants to quibble about mental 
health issues, although the panel includes a psychologist and a 
psychiatrist, but he prefers politicians to make the call.

That's bass-ackwards, as my father used to say. But that's the way we 
do things when it comes to drugs and drug policy.

David Crocker M.D., a panel member who is founder and president of 
Michigan Holistic Health, with three locations in western Michigan, 
gives us a little perspective on what's going on out there.

"Roughly one-third of doctors are pro-medical marijuana, one-third 
are philosophically opposed to it, the rest are in the middle waiting 
for guidelines," he says. "Acceptability of marijuana is on the rise 
in the general population. ... Almost everyone in the medical 
community agrees that it should be rescheduled to allow for at least 
testing. The politics of marijuana are lagging behind the science and 
behind public opinion at this point."

Crocker services about 10,000 patients at his three clinics in 
Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek. The majority of them are 
chronic pain patients.

While the politics are definitely lagging, there is an evolution 
taking place among politicians because public opinion is evolving. A 
representative of a national pro-marijuana organization once told me 
that politicians used to return their donations, but now they are 
calling and asking for money. There are actually pro-marijuana 
lobbyists working in state capitals and in Washington, D.C.

"Support for marijuana was formerly a form of political suicide," 
Crocker says. "With more people advocating in a public forum, now 
it's to your political benefit in some areas if you are open to the 
idea of marijuana."

Arwood seems like a man caught in the middle. His final statement in 
the press release shows him solidly stuck in the middle. He says, 
"Further legalization efforts belong with our elected 
representatives." Then he flips and says, "I put my trust in the 
medical professionals in Michigan."

Truly a man who seems stuck in the middle.

Gupta's Blind Spots

Last time, I wrote about Dr. Sanjay Gupta doubling down on medical 
marijuana. Having since watched the program I have a few comments. 
First of all, Gupta is covering ground that most marijuana activists 
have covered long ago. He is somewhat behind the curve. However, he 
has an influential voice and he is making a difference. Gupta is 
championing the cause of epileptic children who are getting relief 
with CBD-rich marijuana where traditional medications are 
ineffective. There is a movement that is trying to create a CDB-only 
medical marijuana world. The problem with this is that CBD, and all 
cannabinoids, seem to work better as a group rather than as discrete 
elements. The whole plant is more effective. Gupta approached this in 
his CNN show Weed 2, but gave it such short shrift that some folks 
may have missed it. The other point that Gupta didn't even broach was 
the effects, both anecdotal and scientific, in at least curbing some 
cancers. The only time Gupta mentioned the C-word in relation to 
marijuana was about palliative care. That is using marijuana to 
ameliorate the effects of cancer treatments such as chemo and radiation.

Even Crocker, who is enthusiastic about medical marijuana, gets very 
cautious when it comes to talking about curing cancer.

"At this point, there is just so little evidence of how well 
marijuana works with cancers," he says. "There is some preliminary 
evidence that it's useful. We can't oversell marijuana as a cancer 
treatment. ... Anxiety, pain, weight loss -- all of those things are 
well-managed with marijuana. It matches very well with cancer treatments."

OK, you can't call it a miracle drug, but it does deserve to be part 
of the conversation. Maybe Gupta will look at some of that 
"preliminary evidence" in a Weed 3 show.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom