Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2016
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2016 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Mary Jane Doe

MEANINGFUL MARIJUANA

94 Percent of U.S. Research Is Aimed at Finding Negative Effects of Marijuana

Greetings readers. This is my first article for the Tucson Weekly. My 
Mary Jane Doe cannabis column will be a mix of news, opinions and 
reviews. Sometimes all in the same article.

I have known and believed in the medicinal power of cannabis since 
the '90s, when my friend credited it with saving his life. His 
illness made it impossible for him to keep food down. He was 
malnourished and dying until he found marijuana.

If a pill had contributed to his recovery, it would have been rushed 
to mass production, but it was weed.

The medicinal power of cannabis is becoming more accepted, but there 
is still a lack of meaningful studies on the positive effects of marijuana.

Stigmas and ignorance still exist. There is a belief that all 
marijuana is the same and only gives you the munchies while you enjoy 
bad TV. That is not true.

With more knowledge comes understanding.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent, reversed his 
opinion on medical marijuana. "We have been terribly and 
systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I 
apologize for my own role in that," Gupta wrote in a 2013 CNN article.

Misleading information helps explain why almost all research and 
tests done on marijuana were aimed at finding negative effects. That 
made it hard for doctors to support medical marijuana, as Gupta 
admits. Just four years before his CNN article, he wrote an article 
for Time magazine about why he was against MMJ.

Ignorance is dangerous. Kowledge is power. History has shown us this 
lesson over and over again. More meaningful tests will show the 
medical benefits of marijuana, and more people will lose their ignorance.

Parents with a sick child should not be criticized for using 
marijuana as an option for their child when there may not be any 
other viable options.

The story of Charlotte Figi was one case of many that showed Gupta 
the medicinal value of MMJ. A 2013 CNN article by Saundra Young 
details the case:

Figi started having seizures after birth and was having experiencing 
300 a week by the time she was 3. MMJ calmed her brain and limited 
her seizures to two or three per month.

"I have seen more patients like Charlotte first hand, spent time with 
them and came to the realization that it is irresponsible not to 
provide the best care we can as a medical community," Gupta wrote.

As more states pass favorable marijuana laws, more people will 
support MMJ. More support will hopefully lead to meaningful studies 
on the positive effects of MMJ.

Only 6 percent of U.S. marijuana studies investigate the benefits of 
medical marijuana, according to Gupta's 2013 CNN article.

Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general, has spoken and written 
about the positive effects of MMJ.

In a 2004 article for the Providence Journal, Elders wrote, "The 
evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of 
pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as 
multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS-or by the harsh drugs sometimes 
used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, 
marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians 
prescribe every day."

Gupta's article shows the importance of medical marijuana and the 
importance of real studies.

"Most frightening to me is that someone dies in the United States 
every 19 minutes from a prescription drug overdose," Gupta wrote. "As 
much as I searched, I could not find a documented case of death from 
marijuana overdose."

I would love to hear your opinions, comments or suggestions for 
future stories. Email me at  ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom