GEORGIA GETS A MEDICAL MARIJUANA GREEN LIGHT

At long last, policymakers in Washington have begun to draw a line
between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine.
In March, President Obama’s attorney general announced the federal
government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that
operate in compliance with state laws. This means lawmakers in Atlanta
are now free to decide — without interference from Washington — if
marijuana will fill a medical niche in Georgia.

Thirteen states have already removed criminal penalties for the use of
medical marijuana and actively regulate how, with a medical doctor’s
recommendation, marijuana is made available for patients with cancer,
HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, severe pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and
other chronic conditions. But until now, Washington has disregarded
these state laws. Since California legalized medical marijuana in
1996, for example, federal agents have raided over 100 marijuana
distribution centers there.

WASHINGTON’S FIRST STEP.

The first step has been taken with Washington’s tacit acknowledgement
that closing down state-regulated marijuana clinics is a misuse of
taxpayers’ money and harmful to Americans coping with serious
illnesses. Many thousands of ill people attest that smoking,
vaporizing or orally ingesting marijuana relieves pain, nausea and
other symptoms far more effectively than Marinol, a pharmaceutically
available synthetic version of marijuana.

GEORGIA’S NEXT STEP?

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based advocate
for legalizing medical marijuana, Georgia already has a limited
medical marijuana law on the books. Under this statute, the state is
authorized to distribute marijuana received from the federal
government to a small number of patients taking part in research programs.

Washington’s new medical marijuana policy gives Georgia the freedom to
exercise its historic roll as the primary watchdog for the health and
welfare of its citizens. Whether or not Georgia patients will be given
greater access to medical marijuana is now up to the state
Legislature.

OTHER MEDICINAL DRUGS

Marijuana is not the only targeted medical drug. In all 50 states
federal raids can still close down pain clinics and arrest pain
management physicians who prescribe large doses of opioids, highly
effective, legal painkillers made from opium or synthetics with the
properties of opiate narcotics.

Dr. Joel Hochman, director of the National Foundation for the
Treatment of Pain in Houston, Texas, says the drug-war hysteria is
making it too risky for many doctors to accept patients in chronic
pain and that, with help from the media, federal raids on so-called
“pill mills” paint a false picture that the streets are awash in drugs
carelessly handed out by unprincipled doctors. Instead, he claims,
these clinics provide last-resort care to largely uninsured or
under-insured blue-collar and other limited-income workers, many with
work-related injuries, who can only afford a five-minute visit at high
volume, low-cost, low-profit clinics.

What to do? “End opiophobia and fantasy-driven public policies,” says
Hochman. “Confront the fact that law enforcement agencies and prisons
are all strung out on the drug prohibition laws and need to be brought
back to reality.”

Here is a rare opportunity for elected officials in Georgia and in
Washington to take a long hard look at how harsh drug laws are
undermining medical care in America. For the millions of people
desperately coping with chronic ailments, let’s not waste it.