Over the years, there has been sufficient scientific evidence to establish that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine for some of the people prescribed to it. Two pieces of evidence is that it increases the appetite of patients, which increases caloric intake, and it has preserved their vision for years after they were expected to go blind.

September 6, 1988, the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) chief administrative law judge, Francis Young, ruled: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those suffers and the benefits of this substance."

One chemical component of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating AIDS wasting syndrome and the nausea and appetite loss caused by cancer chemotherapy. This pill (dronabinol, trade name Marinol) works because it puts THC into the bloodstream. Marijuana unquestionably puts THC into the bloodstream, which proves its medical value.

For treating a particular condition, there are no medications that are made more effective or most effective -- just effective. The reason is that different people respond differently to different medicines. The "most" effective medication for one person might not work at all for another. Consider all of the over-the-counter pain medications: aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and others. Because patients are different, doctors must have the freedom to choose what works best for a particular patient.

Thousands of patients are already using marijuana because they have found it effective.

However, federal law and the laws of 49 states subject patients to arrest and imprisonment for using marijuana, even if their doctors approve of their use.

With such great programs teaching young Texans about drug awareness, such as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program being taught here in Sweetwater, the challenge of Texas parents is to not send the wrong message, and some proponents believe children should be taught the difference between medicine and drug abuse.

Despite the California and Arizona medical marijuana initiative campaigns -- that received extensive national media attention in 1996 -- there has not been an increase in marijuana use in those states. In fact, there has been a slight decrease.

With its controversial campaigns in the federal government, medical marijuana has been opposed by the American Medical Association and the American Cancer Society, mainly because of its potential dangers of habitual effects.

Source: Sweetwater Reporter (TX)
Author: J. Kyle Martin, Reporter News Editor
Published: Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Copyright: 2003 Sweetwater Reporter
Website: http://sweetwaterreporter.com/
Contact: editor@sweetwaterreporter.com

Marijuana Policy Project
http://www.mpp.org/

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