Marijuana: Yes or no to medicinal use?
Sci/Tech |
The use of marijuana for medical purposes has been debated for many years. While some consider the plant to be a phenomenal ailment reliever, others believe that the psychoactive and harmful effects overpower the possible benefits. In the most recent chain of events, on April 20, the FDA rejected medical use for marijuana. Although a number of states have passed legislation allowing for marijuana to be used medically, the FDA says that these laws are inconsistent with the new rulings.
Canada has taken a different route from the U.S., however, and has allowed for medical testing and prescription use of the substance. Canadian researchers have recently discovered that marijuana can cause the neurons in the brain to regenerate.
Marijuana has been on the medical scene in the US since the beginning of the 19th century. Doctors recommended that it should be sold over the counter as a pain reliever, but it soon lost popularity with the development of aspirin. In 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which eventually led to use of the substance being criminalized. The American Medical Association was the solitary opponent to this legislative step. Since that time, marijuana has been outlawed by the federal government and has been banned for medicinal use.
In the 1960s, marijuana was found to reduce intra-ocular (internal eye) pressure and helped patients with glaucoma, helping to prevent blindness. It was also found to eliminate the nausea experienced during cancer chemotherapy. Lastly, marijuana was found to control muscle spasms associated with spinal cord injury.
The part of marijuana that is responsible for the “high” condition associated with the drug was found to be delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The chemical compound was isolated, approved by the FDA, and sold under the name Marinol. Marinol had too many side effects and was too expensive for the common person. Smoking marijuana also immediately releases THC into the blood stream, while taking a capsule took an hour before relief was finally felt.
In 1996, California permitted patients to use marijuana for medical purposes. This led to political contradictions because a state law conflicted with a federal law. The public disagreed with laws that restricted patients’ use of marijuana. The federal government then decided to modify their policies. They did not change their perspective on outlawing marijuana, but allowed for more marijuana research in order to better understand its effects.
The reliability of medicinal marijuana research has been questioned. This is because an effective placebo for marijuana cannot be created, as traditional research methods require. A placebo is an inactive substance that is given as a control and has no therapeutic effects. Using humans as subjects, two groups would have to be created, one that received marijuana and one that did not. The psychoactive properties of marijuana cannot be replicated in a placebo, and thus prevents such an experiment from being conducted.
The debate and controversy surrounding the use of medicinal marijuana is expected to continue until a successful compromise between researchers and proponents is reached.
DdC
http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1229897 "A Drug Warmongers Toll on the Americas"
DdC
"A Drug Warmongers Toll on the Americas"
http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1229897
Professor Lester Grinspoon, Harvard Medical School, USA
"Marijuana is one of the least toxic substances in the whole pharmacopoeia"
President Abraham Lincoln (December 1840)
"Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control mans' appetite through legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not even crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our Government was founded"
Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894
"The commission has come to the conclusion that the moderate use of hemp
drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all. ... ...moderate use
of hemp... appears to cause no appreciable physical injury of any kind,...
no injurious effects on the mind... [and] no moral injury whatever."
Albert Eistein: My First Impression of the U.S.A., 1921
"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."
Panama Canal Zone Report, 1925
"There is no evidence... that any deleterious influence on the individual using [cannabis]"
LaGuardia Commission Report, 1944
"Cannabis smoking] does not lead directly to mental or physical deterioration... Those who have consumed marijuana for a period of years showed no mental or physical deterioration which may be attributed to the drug."
The LaGardia sub-committee of New York 1944
"The use of marijuana does not lead to morphine or heroin or cocaine addiction and no effort is made to create a market for these narcotics by stimulating the practice of marijuana smoking"
"Marijuana is not the determining factor in the commission of major crime....The publicity concerning the catastrophic effect of marijuana smoking in New York City, is unfounded"
Dr J. H. Jaffe, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. L.Goodman and A
Gillman, 3rd edn. 1965
"There are no long lasting ill-effects from the acute use of marijuana and no fatalities have ever been recorded ... there seems to be growing agreement within the medical community, at least, that marijuana does not directly cause criminal behaviour, juvenile delinquency, sexual excitement, or addiction."
1968 UK ROYAL COMMISSION, THE WOOTTON REPORT
"Having reviewed all the material available to us we find ourselves in agreement with the conclusion reached by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission appointed by the Government of India (1893-94) and the New York Mayor's Committee (1944 - LaGuardia) that the long-term consumption of cannabis in moderate doses has no harmful effects" "the long-asserted dangers of cannabis are exaggerated and that the related law is socially damaging, if not unworkable"
Marijuana: the law vs. 12 million people
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_magazine1.shtml
Life magazine Oct 31, 1969. 25-35
Jamaican Study 1970
"This study indicates that there is little correlation between the use of ganga and crime, except insofar as the possession and cultivation of ganga are technically crimes"
The Shafer Commission of 1970
Marijuana does not lead to physical dependency, although some evidence indicates that the heavy, long-term users may develop a psychological dependence on the drug"
March 22nd marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the report of the so-called "Shafer Commission" -- the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse -- whose members were appointed by then-President Richard Nixon.
The Shafer Commission's (named after commission Chair, Gov. Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania) 1972 report, entitled "Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding," boldly proclaimed that "neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety" and recommended Congress and state legislatures decriminalize the use and casual distribution of marijuana for personal use.
Nixon Commission Report Advising Decriminalization of Marijuana Celebrates 30th Anniversary http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5097
US Jamaican Study 1974
"... as a multipurpose plant, ganga is used medicinally, even by non-smokers. ....
There were no indications of organic brain damage or chromosome damage among smokers and no significant clinical psychiatric, psychological or medical) differences between smokers and controls."
"No impairment of physiological, sensory and perceptual performance, tests of concept formation, abstracting ability, and cognitive style, and tests of memory"
"[Cannabis smoking] does not lead directly to mental or physical deterioration...
Those who have consumed marijuana for a period of years showed no mental or physical deterioration which may be attributed to the drug."
Cannabis Shrinks Tumors: Government Knew in 74
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n572/a11.html?1979
The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research, according to Jack Herer, who reports on the events in his book, The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
Ryan
"Canadian researchers have recently discovered that marijuana can cause the neurons in the brain to regenerate."
Please stop the distortions.
Replace this with:
"Canadian researchers have recently discovered that [a synthetic cannabinoid] can cause [certain] neurons in [a rat's] brain to regenerate."
Even if you favor medical marijuana, distortions only serve as fodder for rebuttals.
TD
I knew their lie would blow up in their faces as soon as I heard the FDA proclamation. We have incompetent leaders running things in Washington. They are completely out of touch with the people. Marijuana should be regulated for adult use similar to the way alcohol is regulated. It's safer than alcohol.
CAmeduser
I've used medical cannabis (the correct term marijuana) with my doctors approval for over two years now. I and my doctor have found it to be a safe and affective alternative to prescription pain killers. The FDA is just spouting political nonsense.
whig
With all of the problems due to alcohol abuse on and off campus, isn't it time to consider that cannabis is a safer alternative?
How many alcohol-related tragedies must occur on college campuses before our universities quit pushing students to drink and acknowledge that marijuana is safer than alcohol?
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