cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Not a Medicine
Marijuana Not a Medicine
Posted by CN Staff on June 08, 2005 at 21:54:50 PT
By Mark E. Souder
Source: Washington Times
Washington, D.C. -- In the 1890s, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. of Great Britain promised that its product — a substance that consumers were instructed to smoke three times each day — would cure everything, from asthma to influenza to whooping cough. Carbolic smoke balls became widely popular, especially as a "treatment" for influenza. The company's fortunes declined only when one fastidious smoke ball user contracted influenza and sued the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., which had guaranteed that the "medicine" would protect against this epidemic.
Today, we laugh at the quack medicine that led Victorians to perch over carbolic smoke balls, hoping to cure asthma or other ailments by inhaling the smoke. And we shake our heads when we read about how cocaine was similarly abused here in the United States in the name of medicine. But the lure of quackery never diminishes. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled against the "medical" marijuana proponents in Gonzales v. Raich, a case that endeavored to return the United States to 19th-century medicine by legalizing "medical" marijuana. "Medical" marijuana is a myth, no less so than carbolic smoke balls. Marijuana is no more a medicine than cocaine. Like any complex compound, marijuana is composed of hundreds of chemicals, and indeed some of them may, on their own, have medicinal affects. But the same could be said of virtually any substance. Opium poppy provides real medical derivatives, such as morphine, but that doesn't mean that the ill should start using — and abusing — heroin. Indeed, medicinal derivatives of the marijuana plant — Marinol, for example, which contains synthetic THC — already exist, and have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA was created precisely to combat the medical fraud and quackery that led to the phony medicines of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the decades since enactment of the Food and Drug Act, a regulatory system has been developed to protect the public health by ensuring the integrity of medicine. To be approved by the FDA, a drug must be proven to be safe and effective through a wide range of scientific tests, including rigorous clinical trials by the best scientists in the nation. Only then does the FDA allow a new drug to be sold to patients. The FDA's excellent scientists have never determined that smoked marijuana is safe and effective. That is an obstacle that the pro-marijuana forces would like to remove, which is why Gonzales v. Raich sought to make our federal drug-approval process subservient to state referenda. If the FDA is going to stop quackery, after all, the quacks need to stop the FDA. The ultimate goal, of course, is the legalization of marijuana — the "medical" marijuana movement is simply a means to that end. Survey data clearly demonstrate that "medical" marijuana is largely being used for recreational or emotional reasons rather than medical purposes. In Oregon, for example, Dr. Phillip E. Leveque, a pro-marijuana activist and physician, has personally written prescriptions for more than 4,000 people to use marijuana over the last several years. His license to practice medicine was finally suspended in March 2004 by the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners for his failure to provide proper examinations or oversight of this "treatment." The consequences of this kind of quackery are real and tragic. Last year, 14-year-old Irma Perez was laid to rest in California after dying from an ecstasy overdose at a party. Her friends, having recognized that Irma felt unwell after taking the MDMA pill, attempted to give her marijuana because they believed "that drug is sometimes used to treat cancer patients." Had she received early — and real — treatment, Irma likely would have survived the overdose. The Supreme Court has taken a step toward ensuring that more Irmas aren't given carbolic smoke balls in their time of need. Rep. Mark E. Souder, Indiana Republican, is chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources and co-chairman of the Speaker's Drug Task Force. Along with six other members of Congress, he submitted an amicus brief in the case of Gonzales v. Raich. Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Mark E. SouderPublished: June 09, 2005 Copyright: 2005 News World Communications, Inc. Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htm 'Medical' Pot Up in Smokehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20823.shtmlPot Fight Far From Overhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20821.shtmlWill Congress Have The Guts To Tackle MMJ?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20815.shtml
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Comment #29 posted by jose melendez on June 09, 2005 at 22:57:13 PT
The Museum of Willful Ignorance and Fraud
Filling in the Blanks"We cannot allow the state initiative process to undermine" national health and safety standards "on the basis of political -- not scientific -- arguments," Souder said in a statement. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696711 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696609 http://www.freep.com/money/business/whistler7e_20050507.htm"What amazes me is that there are so many people who can get elected to federal office and be so ill-informed. There is absolutely no medical evidence that marijuana has any medical effectiveness," Nalepka added. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11440935 http://www.druglibrary.org/crl/
Open Mouth, Insert Blank. Anyone? Anyone? Hello?
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Comment #28 posted by GreenJoy on June 09, 2005 at 17:30:33 PT
OOps
How...dumb. I meant to correct post #5.
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Comment #27 posted by GreenJoy on June 09, 2005 at 17:26:28 PT
Dumb not stupid correction of post #4
Smart Ft. Waynerds (I know your there) will be glad to know that Men's Health Magazine voted Ft. Wayne the dumbest city in America. Not the stupidist. Big difference! All that didn't vote for Souder can hold there heads high and know that they are the exception. GJ
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Comment #26 posted by global_warming on June 09, 2005 at 16:01:40 PT
Same Old
Washington, D.C. -- In the 1890s, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. of Great Britain promised that its product — a substance that consumers were instructed to smoke three times each day — would cure everything, from asthma to influenza to whooping cough. Carbolic smoke balls became widely popular, especially as a "treatment" for influenza...The company's fortunes declined only when one fastidious smoke ball user contracted influenza and sued the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., which had guaranteed that the "medicine" would protect against this epidemic...Today, we laugh at the quack medicine that led Victorians to perch over carbolic smoke balls, hoping to cure asthma or other ailments by inhaling the smoke. And we shake our heads when we read about how cocaine was similarly abused here in the United States in the name of medicine. But the lure of quackery never diminishes. "One has to wonder, why some people feel that today's modern medicine is any better than what was preached by the medical profession, back in the 1890's, when right here in River City, one could get a hair cut, shave and a tooth pulled.Old Mark Twain wrote an excellent article exposing this myth, how the modern institutions, of the past, used blood letting as the only positive cure, this was the best that medical science had to offer to those in great suffering.Needless to say, one can easily look back and expose the faults of our ancestors; but who can see, how our current ignorance and butchery is any different, oh, let me look it up in my database, let me search the internet, lets see what this author has to say,...on and on, experts can be quoted, these same experts who by the grace of this world, can not ever give a straight answer, not sure if it is covered in my insurance, have to talk to my lawyer...Take some time, to reflect, ..it your gift from this universegw
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Comment #25 posted by runderwo on June 09, 2005 at 14:51:32 PT
contradiction
"Indeed, medicinal derivatives of the marijuana plant * Marinol, for example, which contains synthetic THC * already exist,"So Marinol is both a derivative of the plant as well as synthetic?Why do we let people who know nothing, and aren't ashamed to demonstrate it, write the laws?
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Comment #24 posted by runderwo on June 09, 2005 at 14:49:09 PT
taking matters
"The FDA's excellent scientists have never determined that smoked marijuana is safe and effective. That is an obstacle that the pro-marijuana forces would like to remove"No kidding. Hey, if you're going to obstruct science and cover up programs like Compassionate IND, people are going to take matters into their own hands by referenda. You're just reaping what you sow...
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Comment #23 posted by E_Johnson on June 09, 2005 at 13:05:39 PT
A very special exhibit in the Museum of Ignorance
That's how this piece will be remembered.From the man who admitted he didn't read the bill he authored -- public evidence that he didn't read the court opinion he supported.
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Comment #22 posted by observer on June 09, 2005 at 12:21:48 PT
drugwar_propaganda = 100%
[20]
That is an obstacle that the pro-marijuana forces would like to remove, which is why Gonzales v.
(Sentence 20) re: "pro-marijuana" - Anyone who disagrees with prohibition is attacked as part of the problem. No dissent is permitted. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme8.htm#8 )
[23]
The ultimate goal, of course, is the legalization of marijuana the "medical" marijuana movement is simply a means to that end.
(Sentence 23) re: "legalization", "legalization of marijuana" - Any mention of lessening the harshness of drug laws is portrayed as a sinful "legalization". Only total prohibition (or more jailings) will be righteous. (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme7.htm#7 )
[27]
Leveque, a pro-marijuana activist and physician, has personally written prescriptions for more than 4,000 people to use marijuana over the last several years.
(Sentence 27) re: "use marijuana" - The rhetoric of prohibition will assume that "use" and "abuse" are identical. (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#alluseisabuse ) re: "pro-marijuana", "marijuana activist" - Because they care so deeply for the kids, prohibitionists, we are told, are above reproach. Therefore, the evil legalizers who dare question the authority of prohibition are the ones who must be silenced. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme8.htm#8 )
[36]
Souder, Indiana Republican, is chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources and co-chairman of the Speaker's Drug Task Force.
(Sentence 36) re: "Criminal" - Drugs, scream prohibitionists, cause all bad things in life: crime, violence, insanity, etc. If not for prohibition (i.e., jailing drug users), then criminality, violence and psychotic behavior would explode upon the land, the prohibitionist assures us. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 )
summary: drugwar_propaganda = 100%
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Comment #21 posted by ekim on June 09, 2005 at 11:24:35 PT
MP3 of Howard's lecture at the June NORML meeting.
http://www.normlforboulder.org/The purpose of the NORML for Boulder chapter is to educate; organize; and advocate for the reform and repeals of prohibitions on cannabis; marijuana; and hemp by:
Entering into political informational and educational activities;
Promoting and coordinating with NORML Chapter affiliates throughout Colorado; and
Supporting and endorsing candidates for public office who advocate reforms. An MP3 of Howard's lecture at the June NORML meeting.
(38 min, 11 MB)
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on June 09, 2005 at 11:20:33 PT
CorvallisEric
Oh my how I agree with you.
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Comment #19 posted by CorvallisEric on June 09, 2005 at 11:17:11 PT
FoM
Bush was talking again on the tv and I couldn't take it anymoreTotally aside from his politics, I don't understand people tolerating his half-whining, half-hysterical imbecility. When one of "my guys" sounds like that I just cringe. Regardless of what one may think of Tony Blair, he _sounds_ like a real statesman in comparison.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 09, 2005 at 09:02:26 PT
My Therapy
There is a lot of news over this issue but I believe it's time to try to absorb all the news we have posted already which in itself will be hard to do. Bush was talking again on the tv and I couldn't take it anymore so I muted the sound and put on my Weld CD by Neil Young and am listening to Like a Hurricane. That song is out of this world and I am not under the influence of anything but coffee. Remember we need to make sure the hate doesn't get us down during these trying times.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on June 09, 2005 at 08:55:32 PT
goneposthole
You always know how to make me laugh! Thanks!
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Comment #16 posted by goneposthole on June 09, 2005 at 08:37:28 PT
I've been a fool
All of these years I've been smoking marijuana, the evil weed and I had little idea that it is so harmful. After almost 35 years of smoking marijuana, you would think that I would be deader than a Vioxx victim. But no, I have to keep on living with the deadly effects of the most evil substance on the planet.I am giving it up, thanks to Mark E. Souder. I now see the light and am going back to a regimen of booze and tobacco. The legal alternatives to the wacky tabacky. Glad I have my wits about me now.What a relief. Now I can die a horrific death of lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver knowing all along that the Congressman from Indiana helped me abandon the scourge of mary-joo-wanna addiction.Hats of to Mark E. Souder. He has slam-dunked that old marijuana myth of it being medicine. Do a 'team lift' so he can cut down the net.We need to get behind the cause, the champion of the cause and give it and him all the help they need.Hip Hip Hooray Hip Hip Hooray Hip Hip Hooray Sis boom BAH
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Comment #15 posted by jose melendez on June 09, 2005 at 07:53:27 PT
drug war players conspire against Americans
Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Corporate Drug Warshttp://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4258.html Exxon-Mobil: Silver Medallion (between $24,999 and $15,000)http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/About/Partners/list.aspx Seemingly Unrelated, Demonstrably Nothttp://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1990/03/lines.htmlSigns of the TimesHopng to forestall pending Congressional legislation that threatens to regulate billboard advertising, the billboard industry has generously contributed free public service billboards to several anti-drug campaigns. On March 6, 1990, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) announced that it will donate $5 million worth of ad space on 5,000 billboards to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "Use of billboards for anti-drug campaigns is particularly ironic because addictive products — tobacco and alcohol — are the bread and butter of the billboard industry," says Edward McMahon, director of the Washington, D.C.-based conservation group Scenic America.
Drug Free America Foundation Available for False Comments
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Comment #14 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on June 09, 2005 at 07:40:47 PT
Poll
Here is a poll that ask: Do you think Exxon Oil had a hand in the United States not signing on to the world enviromental climate change Kyoto Accords?http://poll.excite.com/poll/results.jsp?cat_id=1
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Comment #13 posted by jose melendez on June 09, 2005 at 06:04:57 PT
bullspit
" The FDA was created precisely to combat the medical fraud and quackery that led to the phony medicines of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the decades since enactment of the Food and Drug Act, a regulatory system has been developed to protect the public health by ensuring the integrity of medicine.To be approved by the FDA, a drug must be proven to be safe and effective through a wide range of scientific tests, including rigorous clinical trials by the best scientists in the nation. Only then does the FDA allow a new drug to be sold to patients. "MALARKEY:http://vivisection-absurd.org.uk/recent7.html
Support HONEST NPR advertisers . . .
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on June 09, 2005 at 05:30:09 PT:
And what do we call farcical legislation?
Someone should remind Mr. Souder (I refuse to use anything but the basic honorific; he certainly isn't "Honorable") that when you find yourself in quicksand, it's a good idea not to struggle too much or you go down.Souder has jumped into a quicksand of his own lies combined with that of the other antis. You'll note that he makes a blanket statement that cannabis has NO medical uses. Then what is Sativex, Mr. Souder? It is cannabis. Specially blended, with unnecessary components removed, but all the active ones still present. If I take the pulp from fresh squeezed orange juice out of the liquid, it still has Vitamin C and it's still orange juice. If I take the waxes and other useless compounds out of cannabis, but leave all the other components intact, it's still cannabis.Everybody knows the story of the Emperor's New Clothes. Everybody knows what happened to the Emperor. But what happened to his flunkies? The ones who, either out of blind loyalty or cynical ambition, walked along with the Emperor down the streets, calling attention to the Emperor's magical duds? I imagine they were treated to all the scorn they deserved. As will you, Mr. Souder. Someday, as will you.
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Comment #11 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 09, 2005 at 05:10:33 PT
By This Logic
Vioxx, for example, is not a medicine either. It's deadly.
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Comment #10 posted by jose melendez on June 09, 2005 at 04:57:46 PT
Bcc: sentlte mapinc.org, fair fair.org, others!
---Original Message-----
From: airjose onebox.com
Sent: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 07:02:57 -0400
To: letters washingtontimes.comEditor,The Honorable Congressman Mark Souder, author of a law denying marijuana users
access to college loans, continues to promote his counterproductive and
dangerous rhetoric in the June 8 Washington Times essay, Marijuana is Not
Medicine.Mr. Souder commits to print the willful misrepresentation that cannabis is
dangerous because it may only be smoked. Contrary to this false suggestion,
relief may be safely obtained by infusing the herb into teas and food products.
Also, vaporization permits inhalation of the active ingredients without the
benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, toluene or carbon monoxide legally consumed by
cigarette smokers every day.Souder argues that the Food and Drug Administration only allows a new drug to
be sold to patients after it has been proven safe or effective, and that
cocaine is not a medication. Both claims are firmly refuted by the facts. Coca
leaves are legally imported by Maywood, New Jersey firm Stepan Natural
Products, with a Drug Enforcement Administration approved monopoly to extract
and sell pharmaceutical grade cocaine. (1)Certainly, the FDA along with many of the pharmaceutical firms contributing to
the Partnership for a Drug Free America have repeatedly been caught withholding
from the public evidence of harm resulting from their approved alternatives to
marijuana.(snip)Jose Melendez,
Founder, Concerned Citizens Coalition to Criminalize
Prohibition
http://www.CCCCP.org
888 247-8183
386 848-1877(1) http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/imprt/
reg/2004/fr031114.htmsee also: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c104:H.R.3319.IH:http://www.longmontfyi.com/cotter/cotter26.htmhttp://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/ES/SF/case.htmlhttp://www.ccatoxicwaste.org/sept25.htm(2) http://www.ahrp.org/risks/images/Mosholder/01.gifsee also: http://www.ahrp.org/risks/SSRImosholder/index.php
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Comment #9 posted by BGreen on June 09, 2005 at 04:25:43 PT
SOUDER ADMITS CANNABIS IS MEDICINE!
Marijuana is no more a medicine than cocaine.Yes, souder, cannabis IS medicine JUST LIKE COCAINE! Do you know what the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) is? Are you so freakin' stupid that you don't know that Cocaine Hydrochloride is used in hospitals EVERY DAY?Yes, I think you are.The Reverend Bud GreenCocaine Hydrochloride USPDESCRIPTIONCocaine is 2Beta-carbomethoxy-3Beta-benzoxytropane; C17H21N04. Cocaine Hydrochloride USP is a crystalline, granular, or powder substance, having a saline, slightly bitter taste that numbs tongue and lips. Cocaine Hydrochloride is a local anesthetic.CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGYCocaine blocks the initiation or conduction of the nerve impulse following local application, thereby effecting local anesthetic action. Cocaine is absorbed from all sites of application, including mucous membranes and gastrointestinal mucosa. Cocaine is degraded by plasma esterases, with the half-life in the plasma being, approximately one hour.INDICATIONSCocaine Hydrochloride topical solution is indicated for the introduction of local (topical) anesthesia of accessible mucous membranes of the oral, laryngeal and nasal cavities.DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATIONThe dosage varies and depends upon the area to be anesthetized, vascularity of the tissues, individual tolerance, and the technique of anesthesia. The lowest dosage needed to provide effective anesthesia should be administered. Dosages should be reduced for children and for elderly and debilitated patients. Cocaine Hydrochloride topical solution can be administered by means of cotton applicators or packs, instilled into a cavity, or a spray.
Cocaine Hydrochloride USP
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Comment #8 posted by potpal on June 09, 2005 at 04:20:51 PT
Souder gotta go
Vote the vampire out of office. Anyways, no mention of hemp here...how do we educate them?The rise, fall and rise of Brazil's biofuel http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4581955.stmTruth, Hope and Compassion (heard this on pot.tv)
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Comment #7 posted by AlvinCool on June 09, 2005 at 04:18:37 PT
Elected
He was elected by using a ploy that has become prevelent in the last 10 years. When cannabis comes up he goes into a theatrical mode and explains that you shouldn't vote single issue. He then quickly talks about up to three other campain issues. If that doesn't help, rinse and repeat
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Comment #6 posted by Toker00 on June 09, 2005 at 03:09:22 PT
A well deserved title.
People who elect idiots like Souder are nothing more than idiots themselves. Way to go Men's Health Magazine!!!NO PEACE 'TIL CANNABIS PROHIBITION IS REPEALED!!!
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Comment #5 posted by GreenJoy on June 09, 2005 at 02:57:48 PT
FYI
The largest city in Souder's district, Fort Wayne, was voted the stupidist city in America by Men's Health Magazine. Hee Hee Hee Hee.
GJ
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Comment #4 posted by Toker00 on June 09, 2005 at 02:44:27 PT
END CANNABIS PROHIBITION
This Souder animal is a sorry excuse for a human being. No compassion, no tollerance. Anti-Christian, anti-human. Get him out of government. Check his investment porfolio, and I can almost guarantee he has stock in pharmapoisons, piss tasting, and or private prisons. No mention cannabis has never killed anyone and pills do everyday. Death for profit is acceptable in his world. Lies over truth. Just another Corporatician.Ending Cannabis Prohibition is the only solution. The only thing that will end the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives and our unallienable rights. The ONLY thing. Well, that and ending the BOGUS War on Terror.NO PEACE TILL CANNABIS PROHIBITION IS REPEALED!!!
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on June 09, 2005 at 00:55:26 PT
The FDA's excellent scientists
Ha! Vioxx, anyone?
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Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on June 08, 2005 at 23:50:49 PT
Quackery and death
The consequences of this kind of quackery are real and tragic. Last year, 14-year-old Irma Perez was laid to rest in California after dying from an ecstasy overdose at a party. Her friends, having recognized that Irma felt unwell after taking the MDMA pill, attempted to give her marijuana because they believed "that drug is sometimes used to treat cancer patients." Had she received early — and real — treatment, Irma likely would have survived the overdose.The consequences of Drug War quackery are real and tragic. Last year, 14-year-old Irma Perez was laid to rest in California after dying from an ecstasy overdose at a party. Her friends, having recognized that Irma felt unwell after taking an unknown quantity of an uncertain drug, were too fearful of very serious legal consequences to seek medical attention. Had she received early — and real — treatment, Irma likely would have survived the overdose.Note: I don't know anything about this case. What I wrote is just a highly plausible simulation.
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Comment #1 posted by CorvallisEric on June 08, 2005 at 23:03:35 PT
Just a minor disagreement ;)
Marijuana is no more a medicine than cocaine.I don't want to get into the argument about patents and profits, but marijuana extract by GW/Bayer, chemically indistinguishable from other forms of marijuana, will soon be medicine in Canada and is being promoted in the US by Dr. Barthwell. It may have widespread application.Cocaine has limited medical application as a specialized anesthetic.
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