I think it should be legal but HIGHly controlled.
The rebuttal:
THE DANGERS OF LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA:
A PHYSICIAN’S PERSPECTIVE
Testimony of
Mark L. Kraus, M.D., FASAM*
Past President
Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine
*General Internist, Westside Medical Group, Waterbury, CT; Former Medical
Director Addiction Medicine, Waterbury Hospital, Waterbury, CT; Assistant
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine; New Haven,
CT; Chairman, Connecticut State Medical Society Alcohol and Other Drug
Education Committee; Former Co-Chairperson, Governor Rowland’s Blue
Ribbon Task Force Substance Abuse; Member (Non Statutory), Connecticut
Alcohol and Drug Policy Council; Member (Non Statutory), Connecticut Mental
Health Policy Council; Co-Chairman, Physician Education Task Force for
Association of Medical Education and Research Substance Abuse (AMERSA).
Member, Strategic Task Force ASAM; Member, Public Policy Committee ASAM;
Member of Board of Directors American Society of Addiction, Primary Care
Advisory Committee for the National Institute of Drug Abuse
On behalf of the members of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of
Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and the Connecticut State Medical Society I am delighted
for this opportunity to voice our strong opposition to the continuing efforts being made in
Connecticut to legislate marijuana for medical use. The members of ASAM have
devoted their medical careers to further the development of treatment for addictive
disorders, and the associated medical / psychiatric consequences. We are concerned
that marijuana, a dangerous chemical, with life altering properties, is being considered
for use as a viable medicine.
For those who are inclined to support medical use of marijuana, it is usually not
the scientific evidence they consider, but only the unfounded self-reports of how
marijuana relieved pain, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting or HIV-AIDS
Wasting Syndrome. We are deeply concerned that the myths surrounding the medical
use of marijuana pose a grave danger to patients. Proponents of the legalization of
medical marijuana create the impression that it is a reasonable alternative to
conventional drugs. But unlike conventional drugs, smokable marijuana has not passed
the rigorous scrutiny of scientific investigation and has not been found safe and effective
in treating pain, nausea and vomiting, or wasting syndrome.
1. Unlike most drugs administered orally, intravenously, intramuscularly, or by
epidermal patch, marijuana is smoked. Like tobacco, smoked marijuana
contains many of the same toxic or carcinogenic compounds that have been
linked to lung cancer and emphysema. Current findings indicate that the
evidence suggests that the marijuana cigarette, in contrast with the tobacco
cigarette, delivers over four times the amount of tar and much higher
concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, such as the carcinogen
benzopyrene.
2. Marijuana smoked, like tobacco smoked, contains toxins and other foreign
particulates that are known to cause inflammation in the lining of the lungs.
Unlike tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke substantially reduced the alveolur
macrophages, the lungs primary defense against infectious microorganisms,
foreign substances and tumor cells. This is of particular concern for the
immunocompromised HIV/ AIDS patients or cancer patient, who is already at
great risk for opportunistic lung infections. Though the evidence is no means
conclusive, chronic marijuana smoking may be a factor in the development of
acute and chronic bronchitis, and increasing the risk of pneumonia.
3. Smoking marijuana can cause tachycardia and abrupt changes in blood
pressure causing grave concern to those who have cardiovascular disease.
4. There is scientific evidence that long term marijuana smoking alters the
reproductive system.
Contemporary medicine and pharmacology are based on the application of
scientific principles and the use of extensive clinical research to determine the safety
and efficacy of a drug. For each symptom or disease advocated to be treated by
smokable marijuana, there is a well accepted, well researched, and more effective
treatment.
Among these drugs is Marinol (dronabinol), a synthetic version of the naturally
occurring component of marijuana (THC or tetrahydrocannabinol), that is indicated totreat chronic pain, chemotherapy related nausea and vomiting, and HIV / AIDS
associated Wasting Syndrome. Marinol , however, unlike smokable marijuana, is a
pure chemical compound that has been subjected to rigorous chemical research trials
that have established its efficacy, safety, side-effect profile, and proper dosing.
Interestingly, the only known property Marinol lacks is the effect of creating “a high”.
As Addiction Medicine Specialists that are dedicated to the treatment of those
afflicted by the disease – addiction, and to furthering science-based knowledge, we
believe that these proposals to legislate the use of smokable marijuana as a medicine
constitutes a far greater threat than many Americans truly realize. These proposals to
use smoked marijuana as a medicine convey a mixed and ambiguous message to
children, adolescents and adults. These messages undermine the many years invested
by public health to prevent pre- and adolescent onset of the use of tobacco, marijuana,
and other drugs. These proposals provide real contradictions that are not easily
addressed or resolved in school and in family discussions, especially where the images
of the marijuana user intrude into the day to day lives of these young people.
Current research indicates that the use of this marijuana on a regular basis
during adolescence is a strong marker for ensuring drug problems later in life. Young
people are often misinformed and mislead to believe that the use of marijuana is
harmless and that you can not become addicted. No thing is further from the truth.
There is clear evidence that the use of marijuana can result in dependency. These
young people and other individuals dependent on this drug, will make the choice to use
it in physically compromised situations, and will continue to use it putting their
education, jobs, interpersonal relationships, and legal status at a significant risk.
In closing, I urge you to reject the proposal that would change the status quo by
recognizing smokable marijuana as an accepted drug. As a practicing physician and a
concerned member of my community; I can find no redeeming qualities derived from
smoking a weed-marijuana.
It is unconscionable in this era, the 21st century, that our best effort to deliver
effective pain relief, or to treat chemotherapy induced nausea or vomiting, or treat
AIDS wasting syndrome would consist of prescribing smokable marijuana. We
must reject these efforts to give marijuana medical credibility by equating it with other
more pharmacologically advanced drugs that have passed the rigors of scientific
investigation / research and demonstrate significant efficacy in treating pain, nausea,
vomiting (chemotherapeutically induced) or HIV / AIDS wasting syndrome. It has
credibility. It has not passed the rigors of scientific investigation. It has not
demonstrated significant efficacy in symptom relief. And, it causes harm.
As physicians we have a duty to follow the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath we
have taken. “Do no harm.” To lower the level of current control of marijuana would only serve to exacerbate an already grave societal and medical problem. To characterize
those who do not support the legislation of medical marijuana, as less than supportive
of those who are “suffering” is a cynicism in the extreme. This campaign of self-serving
political propaganda, misinformation and deception must stop.
