THE WAR ON DRUGS TAKES WRONG AIM

The debate on the use of medical marijuana has been written so many
times before. It's a battle that will never be won until more research
is done.

Right now 12 states have legalized medical marijuana, but Florida is
not one of them. The latest state to pass the law is New Mexico this
past March and it went into effect on July 1. The state will now
register users and give permits to distributors.

That's 12 states down and 38 more to go.

To us, the use of medical marijuana is apparent and has helped many
people deal with their sicknesses.

By making medical marijuana illegal the government is automatically
criminalizing patients who need it to ease their pains and
criminalizing the doctors who prescribe it.

There are two sides to the issue. There are those who have found
positive results from its medical use and those who oppose that use
because they have found negative results.

The use of marijuana as a medicine can be traced back 5,000 or so
years ago according to USMarijuanaLaws.com. Here in the U.S., hemp
became a major crop in Kentucky. In 1860 it produced 40,000 tons of
hemp.

Eventually, the use of marijuana became taboo and now here we are
debating on where the legal line should be drawn.

In 2005 the Supreme Court ruled in Gonzalez vs. Raich that the federal
government can prosecute patients who process, grow or consume medical
marijuana in medical marijuana states.

Believe it or not, public opinion actually rules in favor of medical
marijuana. A 2001 poll, conducted by The Pew Research Center, asked
people about their attitudes toward doctors prescribing marijuana for
medical purposes. Seventy-three percent said doctors should prescribe
it if necessary.

The Institute of Medicine released a report titled, "Marijuana and
Medicine: Assessing the Science Base" in 1999 that found that the
accumulated data suggested that marijuana helps with pain relief,
antiemesis and appetite stimulation.

"For patients such as those with AIDS or who are undergoing
chemotherapy, and who suffer simultaneously from severe pain, nausea
and appetite loss, cannabinoid drugs might offer broad-spectrum relief
not found in any other single medication," the report states.

The Drug Enforcement Agency's former chief administrative law judge
said in 1988 that marijuana is one of the safest "therapeutically
active substances known" and that "it would be unreasonable, arbitrary
and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those
sufferers and the benefits of this substance."

Obviously the DEA didn't implement his ruling.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is a British Lung Foundation
report titled, "A Smoking Gun? The Impact of Cannabis Smoking on
Respiratory Health," which listed the cons of smoking marijuana.

The Foundation found that three to four marijuana cigarettes a day
have the same effect as 20 tobacco cigarettes a day. It also claims
that marijuana weakens the immune system.

The report states that lung infections are more common because the
smoke causes damage to the cell lining of the bronchial passage and
impairs the principal immune cells in the small air sacs, which
transfers gases. It also reports that the tar in marijuana cigarettes
contains much of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke. The
concentrations can even be up to 50 percent higher in the marijuana
smoke.

Seven patients are receiving marijuana from the government for their
medical conditions.

Irvin Rosenfeld, one of the patients, who has been to the UCF campus a
few times to speak, has been receiving 11 ounces of marijuana every
three weeks for 25 years.

Rosenfeld has multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a rare bone
disease which causes tumor growth. It causes pain, muscle tears,
muscle spasms, hemorrhaging and inflammation of his joints.

Rosenfeld was prescribed painkillers including morphine and Valium. He
wasn't expected to live into his teen years. Marijuana changed that.

"The cannabis keeps the tumors in check. I have not had a new one or
one grow in 30 years," Rosenfeld said.

Patients like Rosenfeld are being helped by an herb that reduces their
pain better than any pill.

Shouldn't we be rejoicing in a drug that does wonders for such
patients? We should, but we're not.

The country is ready but the government is not. Maybe they figure if
they give us an inch we'll run a mile.

These patients should be given that inch and maybe 11 ounces of
help.