ILLEGAL MARIJUANA CAN'T BE GOOD MEDICINE

A recent Gazette guest opinion by a retired Billings physician stated
that "medical marijuana" is a safe and effective drug for use by
patients with chronic pain and by cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy. It asserted that legalizing, taxing and regulating
marijuana production in America could generate $350 billion in
revenue that could be "diverted from the drug lords" and applied to
"education, treatment and a myriad of other societal needs."
Allegations of the "incessant drumbeat of lies" by the Drug
Enforcement Administration regarding marijuana's viability as a
useful drug were also put forth, claiming that DEA wrongly insists
marijuana is "highly addictive" and that it is a "gateway drug."

Registered researchers Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act
in 1970, and DEA was created in 1973 to investigate and enforce it in
order to protect the public health and safety. Marijuana is a
Schedule I controlled substance, and has never been approved by the
Food and Drug Administration for marketing in the United States.
Under the CSA, it is illegal to manufacture, distribute or possess
marijuana for any purpose other than government-approved research.
Regardless, several states, including Montana in 2004, have passed
voter initiatives that allow the possession of marijuana by anyone
who has obtained a physician's "recommendation" that marijuana would
benefit that person's health. Nonetheless, the U.S. Supreme Court has
twice clearly ruled that even though a person complies with a state's
law regarding legalized marijuana, it remains illegal federally.

As of June 2008, more than 100 researchers are registered with DEA to
perform studies with marijuana and its derivatives. Nineteen
researchers are approved to conduct studies with "smoked marijuana"
on human subjects. Some preliminary studies show potential value in
drugs like THC (the primary psychoactive chemical found in marijuana)
for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite
stimulation. Although smoked marijuana delivers THC to the body, it
also delivers harmful substances, including most of those found in
tobacco smoke. The American Medical Association, the American Cancer
Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society and the British Medical Association, among other
organizations, have all rejected smoked marijuana and the
legalization of marijuana as a safe, medically and scientifically
sound substance.

We remember that in the last century, smoking tobacco was encouraged
for its refreshing and invigorating qualities. Now that we've studied
and realized the harmful and addictive effects of tobacco use, no
legitimate physician in the U.S. would ever recommend that a patient
should use tobacco, smoked or otherwise. Why would any physician ever
recommend smoked marijuana (which contains at least 483 different
chemicals, the effects of which are either uncertain or likely to be
harmful to humans) to a patient already suffering from cancer or any
other disease or condition?

Not FDA-approved Psychoactive drugs like marijuana make a person feel
good, but without considering marijuana's actual side effects, it is
not yet approved to FDA standards as a medicine, and therefore DEA
must enforce the law. DEA does not target individual users who are
engaged in "simple possession" of marijuana, even though they are
violating federal law.

DEA vigorously investigates drug-trafficking organizations, often
disguised as "medical" marijuana facilities, involved in marijuana
cultivation, trafficking and distribution. These violators profit
immensely from real patients seeking relief, and they cater to
drug-seeking persons who concoct excuses so either illegitimate or
uninformed doctors will give them a "recommendation" to acquire
marijuana. Those who promote legalization of marijuana and other
dangerous drugs do so for their own selfish or naive reasons without
consideration for the safety, health and welfare of the people of the
United States.