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LEGISLATURE PASSED MARIJUANA LAW THAT FAILS NEEDS OF PATIENTS

Medical marijuana patients were generally ignored when the Cannabis Patient Protection Act was up for debate this year.  Instead legislators pushing this bill were more concerned with those who would benefit from restrictions on cannabis such as the pharmaceutical industry.  The shortsightedness shown by those pushing this legislation may end up costing patients and others, including the state, in the long run.

In 1974, medical researchers in Virginia discovered that the compound THC in marijuana killed cancerous tumors in lab animals.  That research was reportedly withheld from the American public on orders of the DEA.  However change is happening.  Recently the National Cancer Institute reported, "Cannabis has been shown to kill cancer cells in the laboratory." Just imagine the benefits to patients and society if that research from 1974 had not been withheld from the public.

Today 14 percent of the population is over age 65.  By 2050 the number of those over 65 will double to 30 percent of the population.  Many of those people will be on state funded Medicaid.  Recent research has shown that cannabis has potential medical benefits in treating diseases such as ALS, or Lou Gehrig 's disease, PTSD, epilepsy, Alzheimer's and others that the elderly deal with.

In the future Washington might save a significant amount of funds by using cannabis to replace today's pharmaceutical drugs.  Unfortunately the Cannabis Patient Protection Act doesn't offer much hope.

Michael H.  Wilson, Olympia