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| What Do You Say? | |
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By: Sandra Bennett Past President Drug Watch International What do you say to the media when they ask for your input on “medical” marijuana? |
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Over the past two years I have been asked by numerous radio talk show hosts, most of whom had already interviewed medical pot “experts” on their programs, to respond for “the other side.” This happened again this evening when the producer of a talk show in Maryland called and said that more than 50 state legislators had signed on to a bill that would allow terminally ill patients access to “medical” marijuana, and asked me if I would respond. Based on the producer’s questions, which sounded rational, I agreed to do it. Here is a sample of the questions and some of my responses. Question: Don’t you think doctors ought to be able to prescribe anything they want for their patients? Response: Marijuana is not prescribable. It is an illicit drug that has failed to meet any of the FDA criteria for therapeutic drugs. Further, when it comes to pharmaceutical drugs that are controlled substances, doctors may not prescribe them in any manner they please, and pill mill doctors who have been caught handing out unwarranted prescriptions for these substances are often arrested and serve jail time-as has happened in the past with Valium and more recently OxyContin. Question: But they’re asking for marijuana for terminally ill patients. Don’t you think these patients deserve to be relieved from their suffering? Response: First, though the media continues to claim that marijuana would only be used by terminally ill patients, the fact is that all of the initiatives passed to date have been much more broad based than that, and, in fact, an Oregon physician who had written more than 60 percent of all the marijuana recommendations in that state had not examined the patients and had not seen their medical records. He had even given a recommendation to a 14-year-old child for a minor ailment. Further, few of the individuals who received the “recommendations” had “terminal” medical conditions. Question: But if someone is terminal? Response: Even the IOM report acknowledged that there are excellent pharmaceutical medications already available to treat every malady mentioned by those who seek to smoke marijuana. Question: So are you saying that marijuana has no medical properties? Response: Having medical properties is not the same thing as being safe and effective for medical use. Marijuana has 483 compounds, 66 of which are cannabinoids. Several of the cannabinoids have already been developed into FDA approved medications. But these medications are not marijuana. They are pharmaceutical drugs, which can be carefully titrated to the patient's needs. Here is an illustration that may make this easier to understand. Compare marijuana to a chocolate fruitcake. The cake, like marijuana, contains many ingredients, i.e., eggs, flour, sugar, salt, fruit, nuts, leavening, and cocoa. The cocoa is to the cake what THC is to marijuana. However, to a diabetic, or someone allergic to nuts or flour or eggs, there are likely to be some very bad reactions to eating the cake. Using the word “cocoa” interchangeably with the word “cake” is incorrect, misleading, and confusing. However, that is what is being done with THC and marijuana. THC is no more marijuana than cocoa is a chocolate cake. Question: What do you think about doctors who prescribe or recommend marijuana to their patients? Response: There are good doctors and bad doctors just like there are good and bad lawyers, policemen, accountants, and other professionals. I think that a doctor who recommends marijuana to a patient is either a bad doctor or a doctor who is not familiar with the scientific medical literature on marijuana. By the way, many individuals who are terminally ill are on supplemental oxygen. It would be extremely dangerous, not only for the patient, but also for anyone else in the vicinity for the patient to smoke while using supplemental oxygen. Further, for most individuals in this stage of illness trying to smoke anything could pose an extreme fire hazard, again, endangering the lives of others. A question that was not asked by this radio talk show host but usually makes its way into the agenda is one that brings in the question of tobacco vs. marijuana, i.e., “Tobacco kills hundreds of thousands of individuals every year but nobody’s ever died of smoking pot. But pot is illegal. Doesn’t this seem a bit hypocritical?” Answer: Marijuana is a leading cause of drug-related emergency room episodes and emergency psychiatric episodes. Smoking a few cigarettes, or even a package of cigarettes, has never necessitated emergency room medical or psychiatric attention. Long-term tobacco use leads to the deterioration of the lungs, heart, circulation, etc. There are no recorded deaths from smoking tobacco short term. It is known that marijuana undermines the immune system so it is likely that in another 20 years, if use continues to escalate, the death toll from side effects of long-term marijuana use will equal those of longer-term tobacco use. Additionally, because marijuana is hallucinogenic, smokers often indulge in risky or irresponsible behavior that results in tragic or lethal consequences. Sandra S. Bennett, Director |
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