Pubdate: Sat, 13 Sep 2014
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2014 Asbury Park Press
Contact:  http://www.app.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26
Author: Christopher Ippolito

FEDS SHOULD LET DOCTORS PRESCRIBE MARIJUANA

It's time the U.S. government changes the categorization of cannabis 
as having no medical value and allows doctors to prescribe it to 
patients for relief from cancer and many other diseases.

The U.S. Government's own website, http://cancer.gov, lists several 
"possible" uses for marijuana against cancer. These include the 
obvious such as pain relief, appetite stimulation and control of 
nausea and vomiting.

But the site also discusses the possibility that pot may hinder the 
growth of tumors, kill already existing tumors and even focus potent 
chemotherapy drugs to kill cancerous cells while preserving healthy 
tissue, as it has shown in testing on rats.

Cancer.gov cautions readers' enthusiasm about these findings due to 
lack of extensive testing, due to its classification by the federal 
government. Is marijuana so dangerous that it can't even be used for 
testing? Doctors have the power to prescribe opiates, but marijuana 
can't even be tested?

And that's just cancer. Those who suffer with ALS, multiple 
sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and many others have used marijuana 
for relief, yet the U.S. government won't budge. Even with states 
legalizing pot for recreational use and the government's own website 
citing numerous ways marijuana may help cancer patients, it's 
dismissed without debate.

The only reasonable explanation for the government to not allow 
testing of marijuana is the potential billions it could cost 
pharmaceutical companies and the substantial egg on the faces of 
generations of federal lawmakers and chief executives.

Christopher Ippolito

Ocean Township
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom