cannabisnews.com: Sanjay Gupta Backs Medical Marijuana, Apologizes
function share_this(num) {
tit=encodeURIComponent('Sanjay Gupta Backs Medical Marijuana, Apologizes');
url=encodeURIComponent('http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/27/thread27571.shtml');
site = new Array(5);
site[0]='http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[1]='http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[2]='http://digg.com/submit?topic=political_opinion&media=video&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[3]='http://reddit.com/submit?url='+url+'&title='+tit;
site[4]='http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&noui&jump=close&url='+url+'&title='+tit;
window.open(site[num],'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=620,height=500');
return false;
}
Sanjay Gupta Backs Medical Marijuana, Apologizes
Posted by CN Staff on August 08, 2013 at 13:12:31 PT
By Ryan Jaslow, CBS News
Source: CBS News
USA -- One of America's most prominent doctors says he has shifted his stance in support of medical marijuana. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent at CNN and a CBS News contributing medical correspondent, wrote a post today on CNN.com called, "Why I changed my mind on weed," in which he describes his change of heart that occurred while filming a documentary, aptly titled, "Weed.""Long before I began this project, I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive," wrote Gupta. "Well, I am here to apologize."
Gupta says he was too dismissive of the "loud chorus" of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved with help from medical marijuana. He now says, "I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance [a category of dangerous drugs] because of sound scientific proof.""They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true," wrote Gupta, citing patient cases including a 3-year-old whose seizures were dramatically reduced from 300 a week to three a month with medical marijuana's help.He adds that marijuana does not have a high potential for addiction compared to cocaine, or even cigarettes.Gupta is a faculty member in the department of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and in 2009, reports suggested he was offered the post of Surgeon General by President Barack Obama.In the doctor's new post, he did reference concerns about the drug. As a father, he worried about marijuana's effects on the developing brain. Recent research suggests marijuana may affect a teen's IQ or raise risk for psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. He says he wouldn't permit his own kids to try it until they are adults.* Survey: 40% of adults in favor of marijuana legalization with tough laws * Pot smokers may be less motivated due to lack of brain chemical * Study shows 70 percent of Americans take prescription drugs Gupta also lamented on the challenges facing more research into medical marijuana for treating pain, including a stricter approval process that has to go through health agencies like the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). He pointed out tolerance is a real problem in existing medications: People are likely to overdose from a prescription drug every 19 minutes, but he couldn't come across one case of a marijuana overdose. "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that," said Gupta.Medical marijuana is currently legalized in 20 states and the District of Columbia: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington State.Illinois became the most recent state to approve a law Aug. 1, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Maryland also has a hospital-based medical marijuana program.Quantity limits and approved conditions vary by state, but can include chronic pain, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and cancer.A recent survey in the New England Journal of Medicine also indicated support for medical marijuana. When told about a hypothetical case of a 68-year-old woman with breast cancer that had spread to her lungs, chest and spine, 76 percent of doctors surveyed said they would favor the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.But support is not universal.The prestigious Mayo Clinic has come out and said it does not support the use of medical marijuana for young people with chronic pain, citing a link to psychological disease and that people under 25 are more prone to become addicted.New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg made headlines in June when he called medical marijuana one of the "great hoaxes of all time."Recreational marijuana use is currently legalized in Colorado and Washington State, following the November 2012 elections.Source: CBS News (US Web)Author: Ryan Jaslow, CBS NewsPublished: August 8, 2013Copyright: 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc.Website: http://www.cbsnews.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/g2tunmKUCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
Comment #15 posted by The GCW on August 09, 2013 at 06:01:53 PT
heart and soul of good people will help end canna
As Sam Adams indicated, 'misled' more like coerced, indoctrinated, corrupted,...But it something more; Gupta was used and abused, used as a tool to harm other people. Used as a tool to aid discrimination....That strikes a different emotion. One that creates resentment. When humans feel that emotion, it causes change.A lot of people want to do the right thing and when they find they have done the wrong thing due to the action of other people or in this case government, it doesn't sit easy inside the heart and soul.The heart and soul of good people will help end cannabis prohibition, persecution and extermination.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #14 posted by Anomalies on August 08, 2013 at 19:40:01 PT:
Thank You Sir
That Took Nerves
This Man Did Everyones Homework ,,,
And Educated The World.
Good Man
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #13 posted by mexweed on August 08, 2013 at 17:14:06 PT:
16,500 versus 435,000-- or together?
I especially benefited from Sam's research, much thanks! Just seeing that scary number: 16,500 deaths/year from NSAID painkillers, US. gave me what I need to propose following research:Just how much NSAID sales and use, what percent of total, results from H-ot B-urning O-verdose M-onoxide $igarette $moking Related Diseases? Some sources cite 435,000 as yearly $igarette mortality, but how many more does the little NSAID plaguelet add to the $igarette superplague total?Suggestion to Dr. Gupta regarding pre-adult cannabis vape literacy: make sure your sons know how to use a VAPORIZER or a ONE-HITTER, rather than roll up a H-ot B-urning O-verdose M-onoxide joint. One-hitter dosage: 25 mg per lightup compared to 500 mg in a joint. Use cannabis to teach Moderation and Control, and as an alternative to tobacco, help prevent 800,000 kids a year from getting hooked on nicotine $igarettes.Oh, yes, I also endorse using taxpayer money to Bail Out Philip Morris and retrain $igarette-related joblosers. Slogan: Forgive >>> Convert >>> Redeploy. Tobacco farming will shrink to a twentieth of its present size, and owners will be encouraged to convert former tobacco lands to tall hardwood forest by interim raising a year or two of hemp crops, hemp being praised as a supurb PRECURSOR CROP FOR TREES.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2013 at 14:48:28 PT
amazing!
sorry, I had to forward this - in 1999, these people tried to help - just before Vioxx came out (COX-2 inhibitor) and killed 140,000 people in just a few years. They tried to stop it!now read this and consider again what the Mayo clinic and Dr. Gupta are saying about American childrenhttp://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/deadly-nsaids>>> (1999) NSAIDs are truly a silent epidemic that have caused a tremendous amount of pain and death. Public knowledge of this tragedy is virtually non-existent with an enormous amount of information written primarily existing within the sanctuary of medical libraries. Pharmaceutical companies still market and promote worldwide sales of these toxic substances and governmental agencies have done nothing of any substance to alert the public. Pharmaceutical companies are now creating a new class of NSAIDs called COX-2 inhibitors that “maybe” less toxic than their earlier creations. But these efforts come at the same time large numbers of needless hospitalizations and deaths are occurring. And considering that these companies originally created such toxic substances can we trust them to create newer drugs to replace their failures? Also, like the original drugs large scale long term studies are not performed before vigorous market campaigns and sales have promoted these new “safer” drugs. Instead, once again, the people will play guinea pig and years later we will learn the results of their latest experiments.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 14:47:51 PT
Video
Sanjay Gupta Apologizes For 'Misleading' Public About Weed (VIDEO) URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/sanjay-gupta-weed-apology_n_3725380.html
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 14:46:16 PT
Terribly & Systematically Misled about Marijuana
CNN’s Sanjay Gupta: Americans ‘Terribly and Systematically Misled’ about MarijuanaAugust 8, 2013URL: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/07/cnns-sanjay-gupta-americans-terribly-and-systematically-misled-about-marijuana/
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 14:42:11 PT
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: I Was Wrong
Dr. Sanjay Gupta: I Was Wrong About Medicinal MarijuanaBy Liz RafteryAugust 8, 2013
CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is reversing his position on medical marijuana and now endorses its use in a new essay and upcoming documentary."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, who penned an article for Time in 2009 titled "Why I Would Vote No on Pot," writes for CNN.com. "I didn't look hard enough, until now. I didn't look far enough. ... I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.http://www.tvguide.com/News/Sanjay-Gupta-Medical-Marijuana-Apology-1068984.aspx
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 14:39:22 PT
I Was Wrong about Medical Marijuana
Sanjay Gupta: I’m Sorry, I Was Wrong about Medical Marijuana ***Marijuana "doesn't have a high potential for abuse" and has "very legitimate medical applications," writes Gupta
By Katie Mcdonough August 8, 2013URL: http://www.salon.com/2013/08/08/sanjay_gupta_im_sorry_i_was_wrong_about_medical_marijuana/
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 14:36:35 PT
Sanjay Gupta Endorses Medical Marijuana
Sanjay Gupta Endorses Medical Marijuana, Says D.E.A. Is Just Blowing SmokeBy Juli WeinerAugust 8, 2013URL: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/08/sanjay-gupta-endorses-medical-marijuana-says-d-e-a-is-just-blowing-smoke
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2013 at 14:27:48 PT
link
sorry, one last post, forgot the link.......remember the motto of US medicine folks: DEATH before euphoria!! especially for the kids! thanks again, Mayohttp://www.nature.com/ajg/journal/v100/n8/full/ajg2005305a.html
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #5 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2013 at 14:26:12 PT
science
Here's a study for Mayo. 16,500 death per year from NSAID painkillers in the US, including over-the-counter aspirin:>>Low daily doses of aspirin clearly have the potential to cause GI injury as 10 mg of aspirin daily causes gastric ulcers>>The most widely quoted NSAID mortality estimates of 16,500 annual NSAID-related U.S. deaths come from the Arthritis, Rheumatism, and Aging Medical Information System (ARAMIS) database, a surveillance program of 4,258 rheumatoid arthritis patients whose health-care outcomes have been followed for several years
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2013 at 14:22:25 PT
Mayo Clinic
Also, this information about Mayo is appreciated. I'll be sure to avoid their website or getting any care from them in the future.Anyone that would recommend lethal, addictive drugs to children as safer than herbal cannabis is a liar and someone that is actively causing harm to people IMO. I nearly died and my body still has long-term injuries from taking prescription painkillers.>>>The prestigious Mayo Clinic has come out and said it does not support the use of medical marijuana for young people with chronic pain, citing a link to psychological disease and that people under 25 are more prone to become addicted.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on August 08, 2013 at 14:19:34 PT
not quite there
So, cannabis is so incredibly non-toxic that there is no lethal dose. No long-term problems. Hmmmm. I wonder how it can be so toxic to "developing minds".The chemistry must be interesting, something that screws up the "development" of neurological cells during one stage of life, but serves as a neuro-protective agent, and healing agent, for nerve cells in all the other stages of life. Sorry, my BS detector is still going off.This reminds me of snowboarding in the 80's. I started snowboarding very early on, most ski areas did not allow it in the 80's. But gradually as time went on, they all came on board.Killington ski area, the largest in Vermont, was famous for denying snowboarders. They held out for many years after all the other mountains allowed it.Then, one year they finally capitulated, and suddenly claimed to be the best place for snowboarding. Well, I never went there. Their persecution is remembered and they won't be getting a dollar off me.Ditto for this so-called "doctor" who looks more like a propaganda minister to me.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on August 08, 2013 at 13:47:59 PT
Thank You!
"We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that," said Gupta.Yeah, 'misled' more like coerced, indoctrinated, corrupted, criminalized this God given plant and all its users, possessors and producers/farmers/gardeners!And this on CBS... I guess he is ready for retirement, no more good jobs for Sanjay. I'm sure he is well aware of the implications of what he did; career suicide. But, he did the right thing and hopefully, his action alone will increase the acceptance of medicinal marijuana and hence ease the suffering of so many fellow humans...
Cannabinoids Cure Cancers!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 08, 2013 at 13:13:21 PT
Thank You Dr. Gupta
I really appreciate the apology too.
[ Post Comment ]
Post Comment