POLITICIZING PHARMACOLOGY

The real reason why doctors can prescribe cocaine and morphine but not
marijuana has little to do with public health. It is more about profit
margins for a powerful pharmaceutical industry with a strong lobbying
influence in Washington.

Marijuana cannot be patented in its purely natural form, but it could
be easily grown by thousands of patients. Legal drug companies stand
to lose a considerable profit if marijuana were to prove to be an
acceptable medical alternative for dying or chronically ill patients.

Unfortunately, the call for research operates in a circular fashion.
When pro-decriminalization groups call for reform of drug laws, the
government says we need more research. One of the main reasons that we
lack sufficient research is because of the drug laws, and legitimate
scientists who seek to perform controlled empirical tests on marijuana
face daunting bureaucratic hurdles.

In the meantime, while drug companies, politicians and lawyers wrestle
over where to draw the line in the sand, sick and dying people
continue to be arrested.

We should not politicize pharmacology. Our descendants may one day
mock our folly.

Christopher Largen