MEDICAL MARIJUANA RELIEVES SUFFERING

As nurses, we are on the front lines of providing care and comfort to
patients suffering from terrible illnesses. Michigan nurses strongly
support Proposal 1, the medical marijuana initiative.

And, frankly, we are appalled at the misinformation being spread by opponents.

There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve
suffering. In a White House-commissioned study released in 1999, the
Institute of Medicine reported, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and
anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana."

Since then, the evidence that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine
has continued to mount. In just the past two years, three separate
randomized, controlled clinical trials -- the "gold standard" of
medical research -- have shown that marijuana can effectively relieve
neuropathic pain, a particularly hard-to-treat type that inflicts
misery on millions of people suffering from multiple sclerosis,
HIV/AIDS, diabetes and other conditions. What was most impressive
about these studies was not just the relief that marijuana provided,
but the lack of serious side effects.

Opponents of Proposal 1 would have you believe that health and
medical organizations are on their side, but that is simply false.
Not only have the Michigan Nurses Association and a variety of state
and national nursing groups recognized the therapeutic value of
medical marijuana, so have the American College of Physicians,
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, American Public Health Association,
American Academy of HIV Medicine, and many others.

In a U.S. Supreme Court brief a few years ago, a coalition of medical
groups, including the Lymphoma Foundation of America and the HIV
Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America,
wrote, "For certain persons, the medical use of marijuana can
literally mean the difference between life and death. At a minimum,
marijuana provides some seriously ill patients the gift of relative
health and the ability to function as productive members of society."

The simple truth is that there are no currently legal medications
that provide all the relief marijuana can give. And that includes
Marinol, the THC pill often touted as a substitute, but which is
harder to dose properly and which, according to the American College
of Physicians, has "more severe" psychoactive side effects than marijuana.

Opponents have also tried to frighten us with wild tales of abuse and
"pot shops," mostly from California. What they don't tell you is that
Proposal 1 is nothing like California's law, which was the first of
its kind and was indeed too loosely worded. They never mention that
the 11 other states with more tightly regulated medical marijuana
laws have had virtually no problems at all.

And even in California, despite the problems, teen marijuana use has
gone down, not up, since their medical marijuana law was passed in 1996.

In Michigan, we've learned from other states' experience. Proposal 1
includes strict controls and safeguards. Participants in the program
will be required to register and obtain an identification card that
will enable law enforcement to quickly determine if someone is a
legitimate patient. There are strict limits on the amount of
marijuana patients may possess, and an absolute ban on use of
marijuana in public or driving under the influence, plus tough
penalties for violating any portion of the law.

Please don't be fooled by misinformation. Proposal 1 is a carefully
written, compassionate measure that will give relief to patients who
suffer terribly and who certainly don't deserve arrest and jail,
while providing tough, commonsense safeguards. Michigan nurses
strongly urge you to vote yes on Proposal 1.